I attended a Direct Marketing Club of New York luncheon last week-sponsored by American Student List -- and the speaker's topic was "Trends in Youth Marketing-The Net Generation."

I received an interesting press release the other day from ValueClick Media that recapped a recent behavioral targeting panel that took the stage at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago.

The panel featured an industry analyst (David Hallerman, senior analyst, eMarketer), a behavioral targeting product expert (Joshua Koran, vice president, targeting and optimization, ValueClick, Inc.), a brand marketer (Julian Chu, Director of Acquisition Marketing, Discover) and an interactive agency executive (Sam Wehrs, Digital Activation Director, Starcom).
 

Just when you thought it was safe...

While the economy has been a thorn in everyone's side over the past few weeks, we have heard some encouraging words about the online and digital marketing world. Online sales are up, we've heard, and digital marketing may increase in a recession. So all wasn't so bad.

Want to her some good news amdist all of the bad news surrounding the economy?

According to The State of Retailing Online 2008: Marketing Report--the 11th annual Shop.org report based on a study conducted by Forrester Research of 125 retailers--online retail will continue to be a bright spot in the industry with retail sales rising 17 percent this year to $204 billion.

If you are interested in youth marketing and based in New York, why not check it out? (I'll be there!) The luncheon speaker is Sara Laor, a youth industry analyst. According to literature from the Direct Marketing Club of New York, Laor will discuss how e-mail, video, social networking and the mobile Web are important in reaching this group.

If there truly is a rock star in the world of online lead generation, it is Ed Ojdana.

Had a great time at LeadsCon this week.

I was invited to serve on an expert panel of judges for LeadsCon's "In the Spotlight' Company Showcase." The showcase, which took place on April 3, the first day of the first LeadsCon, provided a stage for some companies that may not be well known to a general audience, but had something truly unique to talk about.

According to a recently released study by consumer privacy organization TRUSTe and global market insight
and information group TNS, consumers generally know that their internet activities are being tracked for purposes of targeting
advertising.

Are they OK with it? Not really. They study also revealed a high level of concern associated with that tracking,
even when it isn't associated with personally identifiable information.