~ by Stacy Berver

It's a fiercely competitive environment for marketing consultants and although consultancy is only one of many services that DM360 offers, we're taking to heart many of the lessons we learned in our years as employees of arguably one of the best direct marketers around, Agora Inc.

Celebrating our 3-year anniversary in April, we’ve achieved success beyond what we imagined possible when we set out to help companies expand their international marketing presence…and almost all of that success has come from word-of-mouth referrals from our friends and contacts in the industry.

~ by Merry Law

With each new edition of the Guide to Worldwide Postal-Code and Address Formats, I find a few countries who have established postal codes and there are some again with this edition. In the last two years, there have also been some changes in their addressing formats, particularly in the postal code and province name or abbreviation position. Some countries have made a variety of changes from establishing street delivery to minor adjustments in the address format. The number of minor adjustments has been unusually large and some of the changes are reversals of earlier changes or a return to an earlier format. Before we look at the country-by-country changes, we might want to consider why there are continuing changes and what this means for the future.

I believe there are two major reasons for the continuing number of changes to address formats. First, within countries with address systems (and that is most countries), the major components of the address are well known from traditional usage but the minor points may be subject to individual preference. Until addresses are standardized within a country, one person may give different information than another. The postal personnel who provide information on addressing are influenced by this. Second, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) continues to encourage the establishment of postal codes and the development of modern address systems.

Kudos to the good folks at DMI Magazine for spearheading the International Direct & Interactive (iDi) Marketers Forum in 2009! Attending the inaugural event in New York City last year Global-Z is pleased to be joining this year's events scheduled in co-location with DM Days, June 15-16 once again in New York.

We were saddened to see the DMA's "International Day" go away a couple years ago. This pre-DM Day's event was a wonderful way for internationally-focused marketers- or those that aspire to be- to concentrate on the opportunities and challenges that face them daily. The strategies and tactics that were shared during the formal educational sessions were always so beneficial, as were the networking opportunities. Now, the iDi Marketers Forum has in effect doubled up on this successful model and now brings two information-packed days.

The DMA has moved and re-branded DM Days (now "Digital Marketing Days") back to the Hilton Hotel, more centrally located in Manhattan, co-locating with the iDi and Twtrcon.

We hope to see you there. Please let us know if you will be going, too.

Each quarter this section of GZ News is without exception the most read part of our eNewsletter. Many of our subscribers to GZ News may have never met the GZ team face-to-face so this little glimpse into who we are and what we do helps fill in a bit about what makes us tick.

The way it works is we ask the "featured GZer" to write a brief bit about themselves and then the head honchos provide a bit about the team member. Voila, you have your "Meet GZ" nugget each quarter.

Well, what do you think happens when one of said head honchos, with a passion for hilarity, is requested for their contribution to GZ News? May we introduce, unedited, Mr. Dimitri Garder: