News briefs
LENSER CLIENT SUMMIT HIGHLIGHTS
“I had a great time—professionally, intellectually, and personally—at the LENSER Summit.
Thank you and the entire LENSER team for such good programming, great energy, and
grand planning. It’s fantastic to work with people like you.”
The 2007 LENSER Client Summit got right down to business Wednesday afternoon with four Intensive Tracks—Database (Powering Advanced Customer and Prospect Contact Management 
, Why You Need a Real Marketing Database , Imagine the Possibilities , and Moving Data into Context ), Creative (Engaging your customers with Added-Value features and 6 places to look for added value ), Merchandising, and Internet (Hallmarks of a Great Website , Optimizing Search for Maximum Return , and Internet Marketing Priorities ). “I know why they call them intensive,” said one client after the Internet sessions, “but the content was very insightful with good take-aways!”
Wednesday evening was just a bit breezy bayside in John & Marcia Lenser’s backyard where over 100 clients and guests, sponsors and staff gathered for an informal barbecue, but the hospitality was warm and the view of San Francisco Bay was fabulous.
After John Lenser’s opening remarks , Thursday morning started with both bad news and good news in “Understanding and Responding to the Postal Increase” from postal guru Gene Del Polito.
The bad news: You can expect a postal rate hike by next summer. And the good news? It’s likely that the rate-making process will follow the Postal Reform Bill’s new rules, meaning the increase will be subject to inflationary levels. Where catalogers make or lose money “will depend on your ability to change and adjust to the new postal changes and rules,” Del Polito said. “You have to stay on top of the latest requirements and developments.” LENSER’s Michelle Houston & Mike Stahulak of ACG-CompuTech reviewed several of these requirements, along with mitigation strategies, in “Clean, Cut, and Replace.”
If postal puts you to sleep, Ken Burke of MarketLive certainly did not with his “Evolution of the Internet Shopping Experience over the Next Five Years.” The audience was riveted and the most prevalent comments were “too short, and too fast!” as Ken covered a lot of ground and gave tons of great hints for prosperity on the web if you can keep up, not only with Ken’s presentation, but with the rapid changes in web marketing. “Do it by the end of 2008 or you’ll be left behind,” Burke warned. He advised marketers not to take the stance, “I’m a cataloger—I don’t have time.” If you don’t make time, “you’re going to go out of business,” he said.
It’s tough to follow a dynamo like Ken Burke, but kudos to LENSER’s own Michelle Farabaugh with a to-the-point presentation on “Getting Ready for Your Core Season on the Internet” which included an immediate and crucial to-do list for this season.
Right after a buffet luncheon in the Affiliate Solution Room—a venue for showcasing our affiliate sponsors and providing a friendly forum for clients to ask about services they may need—Mitch Siegler led a lively panel with graduates of the “School of Hard Knocks and Lessons Learned,” Renee Thomas-Jacobs of Title 9, Mike Stamn of Eastwood, and our own Al Bessin.
Al Bessin was up next for a full session and received excellent marks with a very practical presentation on “Understanding the Impact of Demand Generation Across Multiple Channels.” Carol Worthington-Levy, LENSER’s Creative Partner, batted clean-up Thursday afternoon with successful “Creative Makeovers,” including Action Bag Co., presented by Jaimey Alumbaugh, and Eastwood, with Peter Kosciewicz.
Everyone was rewarded for a long, hard day of learning with a lively and lovely dinner at the historic Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon, overlooking San Francisco Bay with the city skyline on the horizon.
Friday morning came early with a brief look into LENSER Senior Partner and industry guru Bill Nicolai’s crystal ball with “Evolution of the Direct-to-Consumer Industry, 2008 and Beyond.” Immediately following was “Merchandising Solutions from the Small Catalog” led by Geoff Wolf with veteran merchant Kathy Revello, Colleen Connell, owner of GaelSong, and Bruce Detweiler Breckbill of Lehman’s.
Our final panel was “Let’s Go Green Together” (Part 1 and Part 2 ) with Dick Goldsmith, PGI/Horah, Chuck Teller of Catalog Choice, and Jeff Mendelsohn, founder of New Leaf Paper.
To wrap up the Summit, LENSER was fortunate enough to be able to host Marin County’s own Dr. John Gray, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus and quite literally tons of other best-selling books on relationships and the differences between men and women—including biochemical differences! Dr. Gray’s talk was funny, lively, and very informative on many levels. The take-away? Men need more dopamine, women need more serotonin!
For those attendees who still hadn’t gotten enough “lenserizing,” there were two fun activities Friday afternoon to choose from—the 2nd Annual LENSER Golf Scramble:
and the 1st Annual LENSER Bike Ride:
Mother Nature again favored us and the weather was stellar!
Another quote we heard from a client who attended summing up the whole thing:
“The LENSER Summit really is an impressive event—way more useful to me than other conferences!”
To see more 2007 Summit photos, click here.LENSER Dinner at The Stateroom in Boston, ACCM 2007
With more than 180 clients and industry colleagues in attendance, the annual LENSER Dinner on May 21st held in conjunction with the ACCM 2007 Conference in Boston was a delightful gathering. After an enjoyable cocktail hour of meeting and greeting in the beautiful Harborside Salon on the 33rd Floor atop 60 State Street overlooking Boston Harbor, clients and guests sat down to a delicious dinner just as the sun was setting.
Conversation was lively and the chatter level high at the 19 tables. It was a delightful opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones, find out the latest strategies and who is doing what, where, and when.
We were pleased and honored by the attendance of certain catalog luminaries such as the Curmudgeon-at-Large, Herschell Gordon Lewis, as well as Jim Alexander, Joan and Tim Litle, Coy Clement, and many wonderful industry innovators and colleagues. It is always nice for our clients to meet those folks who have contributed so much to our industry.
LENSER would like to thank our vendor partners and affiliates who helped to make the LENSER Dinner a great success. And a special thanks to all of our LENSER clients who truly made this event memorable and so much fun. We hope that you enjoy a few of the “happy snaps” from the evening.
Did you miss the MCM Live Webinar presented by LENSER partners Bill Nicolai and Michelle Farabaugh presenting “Multichannel Marketing Plan: Bringing It All Together” on January 16th? You may view the webinar again or invite others to view it on the Multichannel Merchant site. Click here.