Just got back from the DMA Conference in Las Vegas and have a few observations. First, the number of online companies exhibiting appeared to be somewhat less than in prior years. I especially remember the conference in San Francisco in 2006 – that show seemed to have a much larger participation from the online industry.

Second, the online companies seemed to be congregated towards the back of the exhibit hall.  Seems odd to me. Even though this is a direct marketing conference, there are several sessions devoted to online marketing. Industry studies are showing that in 2008, marketing departments are shifting their spend away from traditional print to online.

My expectation was that this DMA show would feature the online opportunities and bring the online exhibitors to the front of the floor. Apparently there’s still a stronger tangible divide between direct marketing and online marketing.

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