DMI columnist Rosemary Smith has been elected to the UK Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Roll of Honour, along with fellow direct marketing stalwart Charles Ping.

They were honoured in recognition of their outstanding service to the direct marketing industry. The accolade has only been conferred on 24 direct marketers, the most recent of whom was another DMI columnist – Alastair Tempest (director general of FEDMA – Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing) in 2008.

David Metcalfe, the DMA Advisory Council chairman, presented Ping and Smith with their ceremonial Rolls of Honour, in front of an audience of 100 representatives of the DMA’s 12 special interest councils, saying: “Rosemary and Charles have both enjoyed distinguished careers in direct marketing and have made major contributions to the development of the industry. As well as being active DMA board members, both have had the distinction of chairing the board. Their achievements as practitioners and as champions of direct marketing deserve not only our gratitude but formal recognition. It is my very great pleasure to present them each with the DMA Roll of Honour.”

Smith has worked in the list and data business since 1989. She worked for Acxiom before starting a trio of companies, including data protection consultancy Opt-4 and direct marketing and data consultancy RSA Direct, which she currently runs. Smith sat on the DMA board from 2000 to 2008 and served as chairman 2007-2008. During her tenure, Smith placed the environment at the heart of the direct marketing industry’s agenda, as well as instigating the strategic review that led to the internal programme of restructure at the DMA.
 

Charles Ping is a multi-channel marketer and has been notable in the industry for championing the use of new and emerging technologies. He worked as head of CRM for Guardian News before taking up his current appointment as client services director for Ai Data Intelligence. Ping sat on the DMA board from 1999 to 2008 and was chairman from 2005 to 2006, when he was active in promoting and developing the integration of new media within the direct marketing mix.