The Other Side Of eMail Spam
Published: Saturday, November 19, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
THE OTHER SIDE OF EMAIL SPAM
Email marketer says trade associations not doing enough
Gambling 911 reported this week on an interesting rant by Bill McCloskey,
CEO of Email Data Source Inc., about Ad Tech and other online marketing
trade shows and associations. McCloskey was part of a panel speaking on email
marketing and decided to liven up proceedings with some provocative perspectives.
The essence of McCloskey's ire was that e-marketing shows and trade associations
are not doing enough to protect practitioners from:
- Vigilante black-listers acting as judge, jury and executioner out of reach of government oversight, law or appeal.
- ISPs unilaterally blocking legal, Can-Spam compliant, opt-in email messages.
- Negative, "exaggerated" stories in the media regarding spam.
McCloskey would like to see positive media stories about people who find email
marketing to be a positive experience: "....one that saves trees, decreases
their postal mail, and is convenient and immediate." And he asks: "Where
is the support for the billions of dollars of commerce that transpires as a
result of e-mail marketing?"
He certainly laid into the trade associations, asking: "How much longer
are we going to support endless and pointless committees whose sole purpose
seems to be the aggrandizement of members' resumes? When the hell are the millions
spent in supporting these organizations going to be used to hire someone who
can actually GET SOMETHING DONE! E-mail marketing needs help NOW. We can't wait
any longer.
"And you need to get mad! You need to get mad NOW! It is time to hold the
leaders of our trade organizations responsible and accountable. It is not about
shows, and dinners, and drinks. It is not about committees, and membership drives,
and press releases. It is about working your butt off in support of our industry.
It is about taking an active role in educating lawmakers, sounding the alarm
to our media outlets, and paving the way for marketers to succeed."
It is unlikely that Mr. McCloskey will find a sympathetic ear among most players
and consumers who are daily inundated by ridiculous and uninvited email offers
from which it is almost impossible to unsubscribe without bringing even more
into one's mailbox.
Mr.McCloskey is undoubtably an ethical email marketer who respects his clients
and the public and practices within professional constraints and the law. But
his "I'm as mad as hell" comment is as nothing compared to the fury
of consumers who have to waste time consigning spam to their junk boxes.
Done properly and ethically, email marketing is a powerful and respected tool.
Unfortunately it is too often not done ethically or professionally.
