The Email Wars

What a year this has been. Not only for all the craziness on all fronts in the world, but for the people in the email martketing industry that have stepped up and really been helpful to so many people out there. These people I wanted to recognize have taken the communication, engagement and social media bull by the horns and I applaud them.

So in a short salute I wanted to thank them for being an active part in the conversation and for the sharing if ideas, knowledge and tips.

Loren McDonald

The Wise Sage. Really I thought I did not sleep, but I find him at all hours of the day and days of the week writing, speaking and sharing where ever the conversation about email marketing is going on. Loren I want to thank you for your level of passion about this industry and your desire to have everyone do better. I know you have some plans in 2010 to get the industry in sync on doing great work and nailing the fundamentals of email marketing and I am really looking forward to many people out there to embrace them.

Andrew Kordek

The Tornado. For a guy that has spent some time always on the “client side” you would think that he had a vested interest in the success of email marketers everywhere. Are you sure you are not an some sort of hidden retainer by everyone out there? Just kidding. I know your passion runs deep for email marketing and you want to see everyone succeed. I thank you not only for all of the articles you write but also for all of the conversations you engage in across the web. So many email marketing managers in companies are a little shy to participate but you have shed that fear and are a great example to many of those people that should find a voice, take a risk and jump into the conversation. I also love how you are never afraid to weigh in with your ideas, opinions and can throw the smack around like no other. For a guy that was at Sears for so long maybe you had a lot of things pent up that you can now share. And I am appreciative of them all.

Shannon Holato

The Engine that Could. From the recesses of North Carolina you jumped on the scene this year taking over some of the social communication role that was left a little empty with the departure of DJ Waldow. You have a strong team and are a great daily participant across the social media stream. Thanks for getting involved and providing very useful information as well as making me laugh most days. You can take the girl out of the OC but hard to shake the OC out of the girl. Looking forward to you getting more involved in events in 2010 as you have a great opportunity to share with all of us.

Chris Wheeler

The Pony Express rides again. For a guy that has been fighting the wars on email delivery for quite a few years you took the stage by storm this year. You have really produced some great articles, ideas, and insightful interviews that help all of us out there making sure that the mail gets delivered and we are all doing the right things to get there. I am appreciative of your offers to the email community as a whole to help them with whatever questions or challenges arise to help them with email deliverability. So many others in your role lock themselves down and spend a majority of their time hating email marketers while secretly helping them behind the scenes. You are a stand up citizen for taking the high road which in the end will lift us all to where we should be.

John Caldwell

The Red Pill. The Blue Pill or the Red Pill? I know tough question and so many good things on each side. For a guy with so many years in the industry it was a shock that we had not met before. You broke into the scene this year with great conversations, ideas, examples and an ability to share so openly on so many levels. Thank you for that. And now you have decided to take on the challenge of penning your own email marketing vendor guide/report for January 2010. It is something that has long been needed as an outside source to help all clients know the real benefits of every ESP out there. With so many choices out there it is a hard decision for many to make. Hopefully this guide will really give a clear guide to making the right decision for all email marketers out there. We know that the “experts” guides can be a little lopsided and incomplete – and I hope your outsiders/users view can deliver it straight.

Well those are my Top 5. But I also wanted to make sure to include some others that are long time soldiers on all sides that give and give and give.

1. Bob Frady – Your posts and straight talk from the client side incites some wars and great conversations. Thanks for the weekly fun. Please don’t go dark on the Email Insiders list. At least poke your head in from time to time to stir it up.

2. Greg Cangialosi – Love the weekly video casts and your energy. You might have logged more miles this year than anyone else I know in the industry hitting events on all coasts and stops in between. PS I am looking forward to a shipment of crab from Baltimore.

3. Bill McCloskey – If there was a personality that makes me laugh no matter what he writes or says (in a good way) it is you man. I have a hard time ever not thinking about the movie “Falling Down” when I hear you drop the bombs in emails or speeches. I wish you the best with your Email Analyst tools and can’t wait to find time to take them for a spin in 2010.

4. Jeanniey Mullen – For someone that has helped to drive so much of the collective organization of email marketers world wide = we thank you. I know you have been eyeballs deep in an industry that is about to break out in 2010 (Digital Reading/Readers/Publishing) and due to this only have been able to surface a few times this year, but thank you for helping to start to bring us all together a few years back with the eec and other events. We are all looking forward to the event in Miami in February and hope to learn so much from our peers.

5. Stephanie Miller – She might be the fastest and most prolific voice in the email marketing industry. If you have ever had a chance to watch her in action it will floor you how fast she can live blog, tweet, and participate (at the same times) in an industry event. Stephanie is a great person out there often providing some leadership for email marketers at all sorts of events. As the Global Catalyst for Return Path ( just love that title) she is just that to many – an agent that causes an important event to happen. Thanks for your energy and leadership in so many areas and your continued drive to push us all forward.

6. Stefan Pollard – One of my personal favorite guys out there, he has been a little quiet this year. But don’t think it is not watching what is going on across all the places conversations are happening. Stefan has been heads down this year working tirelessly on so many client projects that his energies are being channelled into knocking it out of the park. I hope we get to see him back in the mix more in 2010. But at least I know from his wife that he keeps an eye on me – as I inspire some laughs from time to time I am told.

7. DJ Waldow – For a guy with so many strong feelings about email marketing you sure do so much more. Great work with your continued commitment to blogging, tweeting, and engaging F2F (Face to Face as you like to say). You are a whirlwind of energy and I wish you luck this year as you welcome in Baby Waldow. She might just throw a slight wrench in your works, but on the flip side you will be sleeping so much less than your required 5 hours that you might actually have more time on your hands at odd hours. Who knows – you might find that the untapped markets of Europe and Asia between the hours of midnight and 5am are yours to conquer.

8. Scott Cohen – For a guy who has been at it for four years now driving results for online learning and continuing education, Scott has become very active in this world. He is one of the few client side marketers out there that loves to be part of the conversation. I have enjoyed getting to know him this year and am also thankful for him giving me a ride to the airport after the Email Insiders Summit in Park City. Thanks Scott and looking forward to seeing how we can get you to be involved in some events this year.

9. Mark Brownlow – With his bust out “viral” videos using his kids as sugar bribed actors, Mark is a long time blogger who provides some thought provoking articles and often gives us a view from across the pond as to what we should be thinking about from a global email marketing perspective. His blog is one of the places I personally visit each day looking to see what he has cooking. I hope that we can find a reason for him to jump over to the US for an event this year, but I can’t really blame him for staying put in Europe. Maybe it is me that needs to jump across and pay him a visit.

10. Chad White – Having known Chad since his days as Asst News Editor at Dow Jones and Co I have been amazed to see him grow and provide so much insight for all of us in the retail email marketing side. I remember first talking with Chad when he was first starting to track Top 100 retailers and their email practices. It was simple blog then but always packed with information. He continues this today with daily updates on trends, ideas, new things and great content. Thanks Chad for being there for all of us to learn from and gleam some ideas for our own clients and programs.

11. Morgan Stewart – He might honestly be one of the nicest guys in email. I would say the nicest but he is a Cal Bear and the Pac 10 fan in me has to have a little bias about that fact. Morgan has been a long time voice of calm and clarity from the research he champions for all of us. His depth of knowledge is often shown when you get him in an impromptu conversation about a hot topic or trend in the industry. I am a big fan of his and very thankful for the insight he shares with all of us with every encounter.

12. Tamara Gielen – Our amazingly prolific organizer, speaker and teacher of email in Europe (Belgium) has her hands in helping the industry connect online. He blog is often a great resource for everything going on in email and her Email Marketers Club has been growing in size and conversations over the years. Much of her community development and blogging was started when she was on the client side at eBay leading email marketing in Belgium, but it has continued strong since. I love when she comes to the US to participate in events and look forward to seeing her at the eec conference in Feb. Thanks Tamara for your long friendship and your tireless effort to be a source for news and conversations.

13. David Baker – To wrap up the “Baker’s Dozen” on this second list I cannot forget to give props to Mr. Baker. He is a guy who always gives me some time (and a ride recently) to provide advice and knowledge. His years of experience on the enterprise level have helped me to learn a lot not about email marketing but in the CRM space. It is always about the data and he has that locked up. David thanks for allowing me to serve to help organize in the Email Insider Summit this month. It was a great time and hoping to make it in April in Captiva.

I know that there are many others I could recognize but this group really embodies the passion, cross company communication, community and openness that the email marketing industry is so fortunate to benefit from. I hope when you meet any of these people you make sure to go up and talk to them as they can be a resource to all of you just as they have been to me for many years.

So here we end 2009 and I know that next year I hope that we have some new people joining the list of those that work so hard to make email marketing what it can be.