March is an odd month, particularly for those of us living east of the Mississippi River. While winter-like temperatures still prevail, March is the month that gives us signs strongly indicating that spring is most certainly on the horizon: Temperatures are on the rise, the days are lasting longer, and, of course, spring training has begun (Go Sox!).

Besides baseball, blooming flowers, and taxes, spring brings with it a host of exciting events for the Council to look forward to.

Member Meeting Update: Agenda And Logistics
A draft agenda for our next member meeting -- May 3 and 4 in Naples, Florida, at The Naples Grande Resort -- is now available via your landing page. Among the topics that we will cover during our time in the Florida sun:

• Building an enterprise marketing platform. What it is, what sets it apart from marketing automation, and what are the benefits and risks of undertaking a platform initiative.

• Centralizing for efficiency. How to close the gaps on companywide silos, centralize existing data, and increase performance and efficiency.

• Loyalty process and methodologies. An examination of what influences measurement and examples of how companies have monetized a loyalty program.

CouncilTel Summary: "Building A Stronger Email Marketing Service Provider Relationship"

Members of the Database and Interactive Marketing Councils met via CouncilTel recently to share best practices for selecting an email service provider and effectively managing an ongoing relationship. A recap of the call is available on your landing page.

And Finally . . .
We've been having some great member-to-member interactions in recent weeks, tackling topics like POS best practices and email agency management.

One of the "privileges of membership" in the Council is the ability to bounce an idea off another Council member, so please don't hesitate to contact either Jonah or I if you'd like to take advantage of the tremendous combined expertise of your peers.

Best regards,

Justin Bruton
Senior Advisor, Database Marketing Council

You are receiving this monthly email update as a member of Forrester's Database Marketing Council. As always, I am very interested in your input. If you would like to provide some feedback on or have any questions about these regular emails, contact me at jbruton@forrester.com.

EMAIL: Email this issue to a colleague.

PRINT: View a printer-friendly version of this issue.

VIEW ARCHIVE: View past issues.