Requirements for ECHO™ Academy Membership
Admission to membership in the prestigious ECHO™ Academy of Direct Marketing Arts & Sciences offers a number of benefits along with the pride of playing an integral role in this internationally respected authority on direct marketing.
The membership application is straightforward and intended to maintain a high standard of excellence within the ECHO™ Academy and ECHO™ judging. It requires solid experience in direct marketing and provides education on ECHO™ judging principles and the ethics of judging.
If you meet the membership criteria and aspire to become a member of this prestigious and respected Academy, please fill out your membership application now.
Membership Criteria:
All ECHO™ Academy applicants are required to have previously served as an ECHO™ judge within the last three years.
If you have previously judged: You may apply for Academy Membership now.
If you have not previously judged: We encourage you to fill out an application for judging. After you have judged you will be considered for ECHO™ Academy membership.
- At least seven years of experience in direct marketing during the course of employment. For new members, the two most recent years of employment must be in direct marketing.
- Must either:
- Work for a DMA Member Company or affiliate.
- If he/she leaves the company to go to a non-member company, that person can become an Associate Member under the following conditions:
- He/She is still an active direct marketer (or at least has been active in direct marketing in three out of the last five years).
- He/She fulfills the other requirements for Associate Membership.
- If he/she leaves the company to go to a non-member company, that person can become an Associate Member under the following conditions:
- Join as an Associate Member of the Academy.
- Associate Memberships are for a maximum term of two years and are not renewable.
- Associate Members pay a $50 annual fee for Academy membership.
- At any time he/she meets the qualifications, an Associate Member may migrate to full Academy membership.
- Work for a DMA Member Company or affiliate.
- Successfully complete a brief online training on ECHO™ judging principles and ethics.
- Sign a "Commitment Form." This states that the applicant will faithfully employ ECHO™ judging principles and uphold the high ethical standards of the ECHO™ Academy when judging the ECHO™ Awards, and will otherwise support the ECHO™ Awards and ECHO™ Academy community.
Requirements for Membership:
A minimum of two days of judging every three years is required to maintain membership.* Those two days can be done in one year (e.g. if a person only judges one year out of three, they will need to judge two full days in that year).
Additionally, Academy Members will need to successfully complete online training every two to three years. This is important as ECHO™ continually upgrades its standards as marketing evolves.
Emeritus status may be granted to exceptional Academy Members who are retired or no longer active in direct marketing (those who are no longer active in direct marketing do not judge).
*Note: Academy Members residing more than 1,500 miles from a judging location must judge a minimum of two days every four years.
