A big thanks to Don Schamber of VistaPrint, who has provided the PMA with information postcards we will be using for events. Our first event is CJU, coming up September 16th.

Many thanks, Don!

Three new pages have been added to this blog. Check these out!

Volunteers

Here is a list people who are actively working to form the PMA. There are over 40 volunteers participating on working groups and the FAB.

FAB and Working Group Leads Contact Info

Feel free to contact these volunteers who are leading the formation charge!

In-Kind Sponsors

These companies have donated products and services towards the formation effort. If you want to provide support too, there’s contact information on this page.

We’ve got our heads down working away on formation. Here are some up and coming milestones:

There is an operation plan being proposed that will allow the PMA to legally form very quickly. The FAB will be presented this proposal tomorrow, August 29th. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to rafity that recommendation within a few weeks. Fingers crossed.

The PMA will have an expo table at CJU in Santa Barbara, being held on Tuesday, September 16th. Thank you CJ, for the complimentary table! If you’re going to CJU, stop by the table to meet with other volunteers.

We are getting very close to formation steps! Stay tuned!

I attended an interesting session at Affiliate Summit today, conducted by four attorneys who discussed litigation and legislation activities around internet marketing. Bennet Kelley, an attorney for the Internet Law Center, made what I thought was a very relevant comment, after describing several industry lawsuits. He said that as an industry, we don’t pay attention to legislation, certainly not at the state level (as the NY tax law demonstrates), which puts us constantly on the defensive. And we’re often outmaneuvered as a result.

He then offered this quote by Carl von Clauswitz, an 18th century military historian:

“Superiority of numbers is the most common element of victory.”

I think that pretty well sums up motivation for forming the PMA. Collectively, we can be more effective than individually. Monitoring state, federal and international legislation is an excellent activity for the PMA to undertake, as well as providing education to help influence legislation. And perhaps we plan our strategy to grow to a size where we can actually employ lobbyists to have a direct impact on legislation that can help or hinder performance marketing.

Thoughts?

We have had three terrific and productive days at Affiliate Summit. The working group and FAB members turned out in force at the show and have been extremely valuable in helping us move closer to formation.

On Saturday afternoon we had our first joint working group/FAB meeting. In all we had about 20 people attend, including 8 out of the 11 FAB members. Here are some of the topics we discussed:

• A balanced and well represented membership is critical. Individual publishers need to have equal voice with the corporate members, and especially the sponsor members.
• The group settled on a membership model that is in three tiers (akin to SEMPO): an individual, a company and a ‘circle’ level. Each level would be priced differently, starting with something reasonable for individual publishers, something more significant for companies, and something substantial for circle (or whatever they are called). What those dollar amounts are and what those level benefits are have yet to be determined. But the group reiterated that membership level shouldn’t cause an imbalance in voting power.
• We opted for this tiered approach, as opposed to a ’segmented’ approach that defines membership by business model. The diversity in size and types of potential members seemed to make that difficult.
• What is the PMA trying to achieve? We need to bring something to the industry and we need to bring something of value to each member. We all recognize the need to raise the visibility and credibility of performance marketing. And at this meeting, the group added that it comes down to the ‘effectiveness of performance marketing.’ We each want to be more effective in our business, and collectively we want the industry to be more effective. Each special interest group or segment within the membership, can help define what effectiveness means to them. And it allows the PMA to evolve the definition of effectiveness as the market evolves.

On Sunday evening, there was another joint meeting, and 16 people attended. This group discussed the concept of ‘charter’ or ‘founding’ membership, and getting the PMA legally established so we can accept memberships, and begin tackling the things the members want to see accomplished.

• Before we can begin accepting members, we need to form officially. It was suggested that a law firm could be the agent for the PMA and hold membership dues and sponsorship donations in escrow until the PMA becomes its own legal entity. The law firm would also help with incorporation and making sure the process we use to elect the initial board of directors meets all legal requirements for a non-profit. We learned this is fairly typical for non-profit industry associations. It was a great relief to hear that recommendation, and now we have this option to pursue, moving us further to formation.

Today there was a Q & A session held, to give the community an opportunity to pose questions about the PMA. We had a great turn out, especially from the working groups and FAB volunteers (probably nearly 30). There were a couple of contentious questions, and I think those were based on frustration that we aren’t yet organized and can’t address industry issues yet, beyond what individuals may be able to do. There is also some concern that we haven’t been inclusive in our efforts, but I think the great turn out (over half our volunteers were there), demonstrated to everyone that we have a very broad and diverse group of people volunteering their time to help form the PMA.

It has been suggested that we post the contact information here for all the FAB members and working group members. That way, people with questions or concerns can reach out to people they know (and with so many volunteers, you probably know someone!). I’ll give those volunteers a brief chance to ‘opt-out’ of that suggestion and then I’ll post their information next week.

Next up:

The working groups are finalizing their formation recommendations, and we hope to have the FAB vote on the formation proposals. We also hope to become official very soon so we can start accepting members.

For all of you who have participated at the show, many thanks and keep up the good work!

I’ll be hosting a Q&A session on the PMA at Affiliate Summit. Many of the FAB and working group members will be in attendance, so this is your opportunity to learn about our progress and provide input.

Monday - 1:30pm - 2:30pm

Classroom C - Harbor View Ballroom

I look forward to seeing you there!

Rebecca Madigan

Founding Organizer - Performance Marketing Alliance

Thank you to all who have participated in the nomination and voting for the FAB. The response and level of participation has been fantastic. Over 115 people were included in the nominee list, and 85 people voted. But this is just the beginning! There are more ways to participate in the formation of the PMA.

Working Groups

Five working groups have been formed and team leads have been chosen, who will keep the working groups on track.

• Sam Harrelson – Scope and Objectives
• Brook Schaaf – Governance
• Peter Bordes – Fundraising
• Durk Price – Membership
• Brad Waller – Operations

The groups have begun their work, but if you would still like to participate, we are accepting volunteers through the end of this week. Please email me (rebecca@performancemarketingalliance.com) if you’re interested. More information on working groups can be found on the working groups category page.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors will be the decision making body of the PMA and will have fiduciary responsibility for the organization. The Governance working group will be recommending a structure for the board of directors, qualifications, the election process, etc. The Governance structure will be ratified by the FAB by the end of August. If you would like to be considered for an executive decision making role within the PMA, please keep a board seat in mind. Check back on this website for more information on the board of directors as it becomes available.

Founding Memberships

The Membership working group is developing recommendations on starting membership for the PMA. Along with the Governance working group, they are learning at what point we need to be organized before we can start accepting memberships. We definitely want to accept memberships at the earliest possible opportunity, and we are exploring the idea of having a founding member designation available. Please check back on this website for more information on when founding memberships will be available.

Sponsorships

The PMA will be able to accelerate its formation and expand its reach if it is funded by sponsorships. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact Peter Bordes of MediaTrust (the fundraising working group lead) at pbordes@mediatrust.com.

The working group team leads have been selected. These professionals will keep their groups on track to accomplish their goals, create their recommendations and hit their milestones. And they are:

Scope/Objectives Working Group

• Sam Harrelson - Principle - CostPerNews and Sam Harrelson Consulting

Governance Working Group

• Brook Schaaf - Principle - Schaaf Consulting

Fundraising

• Peter Bordes - CEO - MediaTrust

Membership

• Durk Price - Principle - eAccountableOPM

Operations

• Brad Waller - VP Business and Affiliate Development - EPage, Inc.

Thanks to these 5 professionals for helping the PMA move to the next milestones: developing recommendations for the PMA to become a reality.

Congratulations to the following industry leaders who have been elected, by their peers, to represent the performance marketing industry in the formation of its inaugural professional association. The FAB 11 are:

Affiliate
Michael Coley - Founder - Amazing-Bargains.com

Scott Jangro - President - MechMedia, Inc.

Merchant

Robert Drumm - Affiliate Manager - ACLens.com

Brad Waller - VP Business & Affiliate Development – EPage, Inc.

Agency

Peter Figueredo - CEO & Co-Founder – NetExponent

Brook Schaaf - Schaaf Consulting

Network

Chris Henger - Group Product Manager - Google Affiliate Network

Adam Weiss - Director, Network Development - Linkshare

“Other” (consultants, journalists, solutions providers)

Angel Djambazov - Business Development - PopShops, consulting

Lisa Picarille - Publisher and Editor-in-Chief - Revenue Magazine

Kellie Stevens - CEO - AffiliateFairPlay.com

The FAB will work closely with the Working Groups in defining the formation of the PMA. Together they will define scope/objectives, governance, membership, operations, and fundraising. More information on the Working Groups, FAB, and upcoming meetings will be found on this blog.

Many thanks to the 100+ who participated in the FAB election process. It is because of your interest and participation that we will be successful in forming the PMA!

To date there are over 45 people who have offered their help on working groups! That is a fantastic amount of help, and should lead to some great perspective and valuable ideas. Since originally posting information on working groups, we’ve added a new group, which is fundraising. The sooner the PMA can raise money, the sooner it can be formally organized and start meeting its objectives.

Here are the working groups defined so far:

Governance

• Defining the decision-making structure of the PMA such as the makeup of the Board of Directors
• Defining the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Directors
• Leading the creation of the PMA legal entity and identifying steps to incorporate as a non-profit
• Writing the by-laws

Scope

• Defining the strategy and value of the PMA to the industry
• Developing the initial objectives of the PMA
• Identifying the 2009 near term objectives

Membership

• Identifying the target membership markets
• Creating the membership application criteria and process
• Developing a membership recruitment plan
• Working with the Financials and Fundraising groups to determine membership dues levels
• Working with the Fundraising group to determine when to begin accepting applications (and dues)

Organizational Management

• Defining roles and responsibilities of the PMA organization and staff
• Building financial models in order for the PMA to self-sustain
• Creating an operating budget and membership targets
• Creating a staffing plan and recruiting staff
• Identifying qualifications for key positions, such as Executive Director
• Working with the Fundraising group to set goals and timelines
• Working with the Membership and Fundraising groups to determine membership dues levels

Fundraising

• Identifying ways for the PMA to raise money including membership dues, sponsorships, etc.
• Pursuing fundraising and revenue opportunities
• Working with the Financials group to set goals and timelines
• Working with the Financials and Membership groups to determine membership dues levels
• Working with the Membership group to determine when to begin accepting applications (and dues)

Coming soon:

• Working group rosters will be compiled and announced
• A working group lead per group will be selected
• Some tools will be provided to the groups, to help facilitate communications
• Results from the interest surveys will be provided to working groups, to help with the recommendations
• Suggestions and ideas from various interviews will also be provided to working groups

Thanks to everyone who has offered to help. And if you’re still interested in joining a working group, it’s not too late. Email me, Rebecca Madigan, at Rebecca@performancemarketingalliance.com.