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Tom's take on the "Responsible E-mail Communications Alliance" 24 October 2000 Here's the summary of an article published in the 16 October issue of iMarketing News: RECA ANNOUNCES FIRST BOARD OF DIRECTORS - DM News 10/20/2000 by Jason Gonzalez The Responsible Electronic Communication Alliance, Washington, yesterday announced the names of 11 industry executives who will make up its first board of directors. RECA is a coalition of e-mail service bureaus that formed in September with the goal of promoting a set of best practices for e-mail marketing and list management. The board members are Ashlen Cherry (Digital Impact), Bennie Smith (DoubleClick), Christine Frye (24/7 Media), Donna Cunningham (Radical Communication), Geoff Smith (ClickAction), John Lawlor (Email Channel), Kate Leahy (Bigfoot Interactive), Rick Buck (e-dialog), Reggie Brady (FloNetwork), Rodney Gould (Netcentives) and Todd Love (yesmail.com). RECA Executive Director Peter Arnold also said that the group has decided to open its membership to any companies in the online marketing space that share its views on privacy. Previously, RECA membership was limited to e-mail service bureaus such as 24/7 Media and Acxiom Corp. Here's my reaction. As many of you know, one of RECA's achilles heels is that it's perceived to be a closed organization, "the fox guarding the henhouse" so to speak. Another is that the principles have been set in stone. The result has been that those who are not charter members have felt they'll have no say in directing policy. Clearly, RECA has heard these concerns. Unfortunately, its reaction has proven those fears correct IMHO. The article below was published in last week's iMarketing News. In short: There are now two levels of membership: Regular membership (for everyone) and "supermembership", in which you get a seat on the Board of Directors. Supermembership has been granted to virtually all charter members, and is open to no others. You may become a member if you "share [RECA's] views on privacy". Such a statement makes it hard to believe the organization would brook disagreement with the "draft" principles. The announcement seems to have been snuck in: No mention of it is made on the RECA site. (The article excerpted below will become part of the for-pay archives after a few weeks: in other words, inaccessible to the casual reader.) I don't think anyone's a greater evangelist than I for cooperation among marketers and those who control the flow of e-mail. And no wonder: I, like many reading this, live on both sides of the line. But I've also been in communications for 12 years, and can spot when statements are made in bad faith. RECA has made one such statement. It disheartens me, and makes me fear for the future of cooperation in the e-mail space. --Tom This page was last updated on Thursday, January 05, 2012 at 6:15pm CST. All contents copyright 2005 by Tom Geller.