Earlier ths week in an email interview with Rory Carlyle by Scott Cohen I’d commented that Rory was on my short list of rising email stars. Josh over at SendLabs asked in a tweet when I was going to post my list. I guess now is a good time….
Let me share my criteria before I start naming names. Since I draw the line on email veterans as more than seven years, I’m drawing the line on rising stars at less than seven years. All have actually hit the send button on email campaigns and all but one comes from the client side; and all are people that I know, have worked with, or have caught my attention for one reason or another.
So without further adieu, here is my short list of rising email stars….
Luke Glasner, Glasner Consulting; 6 years –Luke is co-chair of the Email Experience Council’s Measurement Accuracy Roundtable, co-manager of the LinkedIn Email Geeks Group, and a close personal friend. If you know Luke, you know why he tops this list.
Jennifer Harstad, Online Marketing Manager, Frederick’s of Hollywood; 6 years– I first met Jennifer when she was with Teleflora creating totally cool B2B2C email programs. While a lot of people talk about persona marketing, Jennifer is busy practicing it at Frederick’s of Hollywood. She’s always making cool stuff happen.
Rory Carlyle, Email Marketing Manager, United Business Media – TechWeb; 5 years – I had the unique opportunity to hang out with Rory for about a week between this past Christmas and New Years when he came out for a visit. We talked a lot of email, and let me tall ya, Rory knows his email!
Frances Dugan, Email Marketing Analyst, Permanent General Companies; 5 years – I noticed Frances about a year ago. I liked her perspective and her approach to email. She’s sharp, she’s aware, and instinctively knows that a key to successful email marketing is having a good process for developing, executing, and analyzing email programs.
Scott Cohen, Marketing Copywriter, Western Governors University; 4 years – Scott loves email; there’s no question about it. In addition to being the email department at WGU and a new dad, he finds time to blog at The Email Zoo and Scott Writes Everything. He had me at being the email department….
Remy Bergsma, Senior Email Marketing Specialist, Blinker; 4 years – Remy is the only one on this list out side of the US. I met Remy on Twitter. I think he’s got a good head for email. Since he’s from the Netherlands, I think one of us is staying up much too late.
Chelsea Warfel, Email Marketing Manager, AutoAnything; 3 years – Chelsea holds the distinct honor of being the impetus for this list. Her email skills and abilities belie her time in the space. Chelsea is a natural with email; making it happen and moving it forward.
Amy Garland, Marketing Manager, Blue Sky Factory; 2 years – Amy is unique in that she does email marketing for an ESP. Imagine having the same deployment and production pressures that the average email marketer has, then imagine having them from an ESP with the same objectives as any other business. I can’t imagine, but I’ll be watching….
Kari Hiscox, Email Marketing Specialist, eHarmony.com; 2 years – Kari is new on my radar. I just met her last December. When I talk email with Kari I know that I’m talking with someone who has lived on the front line of a high-volume high-pressure production environment. I’ve been there, I know; and I know that she knows that I know, because she knows, ya know@f3
So, there you go; my short list of rising email stars.
Who’s on your list and why?
I have to give a shout out to Pradeep Mangalapalli at SilverPop (4 years). Pradeep cut his teeth deploying email campaigns and managing deliverability for the Fortune 1000. He’s a power user in the truest sense. Now he uses that knowledge to develop product for popular SilverPop in Atlanta. Follow him at @pmangalapalli.
John: Truly honored to be on this list. To be among the likes of Luke Glasner and the rest of these folks listed is awesome.
A side note, you mentioned in Remy’s shout-out that one of you is staying up too late. My guess–just judging from the timestamps on your DMs to me–I’m leaning toward you being the crazy one.
John,
Thanks so much for including me on this list in such great company. It is really an honor to be here. I will have to sign up for some of the other email programs of my fellow stars to keep with the latest best practices from them. I look forward to learning and connecting with all the stars here.
Talk Soon,
Luke
John is one smart dude and I love this list. I know most of you and some I want to learn more. Congrats everyone.
@AO – props to Pradeep!
@SC – I like your contributions to making the email world a better place. I could be the one staying up too late, but I try to make up for it by getting up early…. 🙂
@LG – Dude. You rock!
@AK – I knew you’d appreciate some cool client-side talent. Rumor has it that Jennifer might be sharing how Frederick’s leverages personas in email marketing at OMMA in San Francisco; stay tuned for more!
John –
Yes! Great to see Amy Garland made your short list. I’ve been working with “Amy G” or “AG” for the past 7+ months at Blue Sky Factory. Amy is a sponge. She craves and seeks out email marketing knowledge. She also happens to be a very kind, caring person and a killer writer. Blue Sky Factory would not be where we are today without Amy G.
Nice to see some other names on this list that I recognize. Those I don’t are now on my “short list” thanks to your strong endorsement.
Rock on…
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow
Very humbled to be on the list, wow! And in great company too 🙂 Thanks John!
Good to see my colleague Remy on this list. Turns out all his tweeting is good for something after all.. 🙂
@DJ – Amy’s cool! It looks like a scheduling conflict won’t have Jennifer at OMMA, but you might see her in SF in April…. 😉
@Remy – Keep making the email world a better place!
@Frans – And here you thought Remy was just playing on Twitter….
This is an honor to be named amongst these All-Stars. I’m looking forward to changing the face of email marketing with all of you. Thank you John. Viva la Email!!
Hey,
I just noticed that 4 of these people blog on The Email Zoo. Would love to have a few more of these rising folks….
Andrew
Hi John,
I am ashamed I am so late here, but THANK YOU for including me! I am very honored (& a little surprised too). Feel free to call me out if you ever see a BSF email that needs some help. After all, I am still a newbie compared to some of you email geeks out there.
And DJ Waldow –
Thanks for the very kind words, dude. Right back at you.
I share Amy’s shame in my tardiness! But a very heartfelt *thanks* for including me on this list. What an honor. It is thanks to you that I’ve had my first client-side foray, and I’m happy to report that I’m loving every minute of it. Thanks again for your kind words.
In addition to the familiar names, there are some here I haven’t had the pleasure of connecting with – I look forward to doing so soon. Keep up the great work everyone!