DMA Makes Second Round of Employee Cuts

Staff reduced by 19 percent; some events to be cut or rolled into larger events.

By Chandra Johnson-Greene
Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced Tuesday that it has reduced its staff by an additional 19 percent—or by 26 employees—in a second round of cutbacks in recent months. In addition, a few of the association’s events will be either canceled or rolled into larger events.

In a letter to DMA members, president/CEO John Greco wrote that like everyone else, the DMA is “re-setting” to be sure that it’s prepared to ride out this recession. “We are anticipating where the economic pressures will continue to affect us, and restructuring accordingly to ensure that DMA comes out stronger and smarter in serving the needs of the direct marketing community, and enhancing the direct marketing process—which continues to drive nearly ten percent of U.S. gross domestic product,” he wrote.

According to the letter, the areas of the association that will have fewer resources include research and education and skills development. “In education and professional skills development we will do more for our members with fewer resources by using the latest ‘e-platforms’ to quickly deliver the latest best practices, current information on what's working (and what's not) in direct marketing, and how everyone can leverage their resources for the best ROI,” Greco wrote. “We also plan process change in research, such as changing the service delivery model and outsourcing more of the process, but preserving the same high quality, mission-critical knowledge our members depend on.

Greco also wrote that the association must continue “with less dependence on the more volatile parts of our traditional revenue stream, especially our large portfolio of conferences and events.” Signature events such as DMA’09, DMDays, the Non-Profit Federation Conferences and the Email Evolution Conference, as well as partner events such as ACCM, NCOF and NCDM will continue as scheduled, according to Greco. All other existing events will be canceled or included within larger events.

The DMA laid off 21 employees last October, including four high-level executives, with the majority of cuts coming from the marketing and conference departments. With this week's layoffs and the cuts made last year, 83 people remain on DMA's staff.

DMA Lays off Nearly Two-Dozen Employees; Top Execs Included