Sally Hooton previews the iDi Marketers Forum, being staged in New York City on March 24.

It has been said many times that reduced ‘noise’ during a recession provides an opportunity for smaller enterprises to gain competitive advantage, as larger firms scale back to curb costs.

Savvy marketers know that grabbing a share of voice leads to a share of market. Thus, a business which sticks its head up over the parapet now and does a bit of shouting is likely to be heard and viewed more favourably when the economy eventually recovers.

As Procter & Gamble CEO A G Lafley, was quoted as saying recently in the Wall Street Journal: “We have a philosophy and a strategy. When times are tough, you build share.”

Building contacts is another way to counter a downturn, since people will always choose someone they know, trust and respect to do business with. Twas ever thus.

Ways to win a share of voice will be explained Stateside this month – during a rare opportunity to network with top-notch industry experts. They will be assembling at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York City, presenting their vast knowledge and offering their time to meet with delegates at the iDi Marketers Forum (March 24). This event – now being co-located with the well-established Publishing Business Conference & Expo (www.publishingbusiness.com) – has been specifically designed to put networking at the top of an agenda packed with thought-provoking debate plus detailed, expert information on current, most effective routes to market.

The forum is the inaugural initiative of DMI-Events (www.dmi-events.com), a joint venture between this magazine’s publisher, Matt Edgar, and the MD of marketing services company 1 Stop Data, Pauline Murphy – who explained: “Everyone we have spoken to has complained there are fewer opportunities to get together to talk business, since conferences and exhibitions have been scaled back around the world. European events have been merged or cancelled and, in the States, the focus seems to have become more on the US and less on global markets. Plus, business travel expenses have been reined in. All this makes it difficult for international marketers to meet like-minded colleagues and potential associates.

“So, we formed DMI-Events, with much help from a quality panel of experts, with a view to it being a platform for our business colleagues – offering a discussion forum combined with a meeting place. Our idea is to offer delegates more than just great ideas for ways forward, but also to present them with the contacts they need to progress their businesses.”

Panel of experts
On the organising panel, and attending the forum, are: Karie Burt (Mardev); marketing consultant Mark Bridges; Gary Dolderer (Brokers WorldWide; Thom Hansen (Direct Media); Doug Sacks (Focus WorldWide); and Merry Law, president of WorldVu.

Law commented: “For many years here in New York, the late, great publisher Al Goodloe staged a business conference which drew an audience from around the world. When Al died, that meeting went with him. Now, we are hoping to breathe new life into an event specially crafted for modern marketers and those who use cross-border integrated marketing services.

“Al would be delighted.”

Edgar added: “We all agreed that regular events were again needed to get direct marketers together to talk business – so DMI-Events was born and this is its first forum – our plan is to take the format around the world – to the UK, Europe, Asia – taking the show to the audience to keep delegates’ costs down and to offer a ‘moveable feast’.”

The forum will boast a ‘concierge service’, in the form of DMI columnist Doug Sacks – who will put delegates together with the experts they particularly wish to talk to. Here’s the alphabetical list of the luminaries available:

Jørgen Andreassen (FEDMA); Barry Burns (USPS); Simon Burrell (Newsweek); Rachel Cronin (PacNet Services); Dominic Duffy (Ceros Media);  Mike Germano (Carrot Creative USA); DMI columnist Ian Hughes (Consumer Intelligence); Jeanniey Mullen (Zinio); Pauline Murphy (1 Stop Data); John O’Donnell (Brokers Worldwide); Bruce Rhodes (Harvard Business Publishing); Dr Diane Rinas (DHL Global Mail); Mark Roy (The REaD Group); DMI columnist Rosemary Smith (Opt-4); Yuko Tanaka (Nikkei BP Japan); Walter Terry (National Geographic); and Michael Vassalotti (Pitney Bowes).

Topics on the discussion agenda include global mailing; profitable marketing; social networking; cross-border privacy laws; better websites; global alliances; international payment methods; managing data; cross-media challenges and more.

There are also numerous opportunities for networking and the exchange of business cards with the great and the good of the direct and interactive industry, all assembling at the iDi.