Think New Ideas, Pixel Park, Netcreations, Engage Technologies and Flycast Communications Join InterActive Agency, Webstakes, WebPromote and Word of Net In Underwriting Meeting

NEW YORK -- October 26, 1998 ­ Generating a groundswell of charter and prospective members desiring to attend the Internet Direct Marketing Bureau’s (IDMB) first meeting on Wednesday, November 11, the association announced plans to webcast the meeting live from the E-Biz Solutions conference in Scottsdale, Arizona from 3:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET. Those tuning into http://www.idmb.org will be able to view a live broadcast of the IDMB meeting, which will wrap up the inaugural three-day E-Biz event.

The announcement was made by a group of IDMB founding members at the @d:tech conference, which opened here today at the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

"We’ve been very impressed by the industry interest in the IDMB since the association’s official launch three weeks ago at Internet World," said Steve Krein, president of Webstakes and chairman of the IDMB’s Industry Committee. "In fact, five additional companies have now committed to underwriting the Scottsdale meeting, with Think New Ideas, Pixel Park, Netcreations, Engage Technologies and Flycast Communications, joining InterActive Agency, Word of Net, WebPromote and Webstakes."

"We’re also inviting the press to cover this newsmaking online event," added Tony Winders, president of InterActive Agency and chairman of the IDMB’s awareness and education committee. "Besides electing our first officers, we’re planning to announce several major industry initiatives on privacy issues, standards & practices, and anti-spamming."

The Internet Direct Marketing Bureau, consisting of both interactive marketing services companies and their customers, is the first and only industry trade group completely dedicated to ensuring the maximum effectiveness and acceptance of direct marketing on the Internet ­ by focusing on issues related to products, services and marketing practices that make up the Internet marketing mix but are not directly advertising related. Disciplines to be addressed include e-mail marketing, search engine optimization, affiliate partner programs, personalization, collaborative filtering, affinity linking, ROI measurement, site analysis, sweepstakes, online privacy issues and other forms of Internet publicity, promotion and direct marketing.

In addition to Webstakes and InterActive Agency, founding members of the Internet Direct Marketing Bureau include Word of Net, WebPromote, marketreach and Dave’s World. (For a complete list of the IDMB steering committee, see the next page.)

Annual membership in the Internet Direct Marketing Bureau is available under two different pricing packages at a cost of $2,000 and $5,000 respectively, based on the amount of visibility a company wishes to have within the organization. Charter members will receive additional benefits. Companies interested in joining should visit the IDMB web site at http://www.idmb.org for more information.

Designed specifically for marketers and brand managers, e-Biz Solutions addresses the interactive business issues and strategies necessary to make online ventures successful. Industry leaders will present case studies of online business, commerce, and transactions to help you plan your interactive business strategy and stay ahead of the curve. The conference takes place November 8-11, 1998 at Marriott's Camelback Inn and Resort Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.4interactivemarketing.com

The Internet Direct Marketing Bureau (http://www.idmb.org) is a nonprofit trade association formed to serve the emerging Internet direct marketing industry. The IDMB addresses standards and practices for online direct marketing products and services such as sweepstakes, opt-in email lists, database profiling and targeting, search engine optimization, newsgroup seeding, affiliate marketing programs, personalization, linking initiatives and other forms of online publicity, promotion and direct marketing.

CONTACT:
Les Luchter
Bender, Goldman & Helper
LLuchter@bghny.com
(212) 371-0798

IDMB STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Paul Grand, Steering Committee Chairman
Word of Net
pgrand@wordofnet.com

Tony Winders, Awareness and Education Committee Chairman
InterActive Agency, Inc.
tony@iagency.com

Steve Krein, Industry Committee Chairman
Webstakes
steve@webstakes.com

Dave Lalande
Dave's World
dlalande@davesworld.net

Ken Wruk
Web Promote
kenw@webpromote.com

Rod Griffith, Organizational Committee Chairman
marketreach
rod-g@mreach.com

J. Balmer
Dave's World
fbmdog@dave-world.net