The Chicago Association of Direct Marketing will host its first mobile marketing panel tomorrow at the IMX08 conference for direct and interactive marketers.

The session, on Tuesday April 29 at 10:15 a.m., will feature Mark Renshaw, digital practice lead and senior vice president of Leo Burnett Worldwide; Jack Philbin, cofounder and president of Vibes Media; Alex Muller, CEO of Slifter; and this writer as moderator. The session is titled "Mobile Marketing in the Multichannel Mix."

"Mobile is becoming the hottest direct response channel, with its heightened immediacy of response," said Scott Reeves, Glenview, IL-based integrated marketing strategist and vice president of the CADM.

"There's a huge sector of development focused on technology for mobile marketing," he said. "The biggest players in the digital space -- Google and Yahoo included -- are building platforms and applications to enable an ever-increasing array of functionality, including mobile tickets, coupons, social networking and video."

The mobile panel's agenda will focus on the state of mobile marketing, key opportunities and challenges and where the medium fits within the direct and interactive marketing.

Other discussions planned for the panel include whether consumers are open to marketing and advertising on the mobile phone, the role played by wireless carriers and ad agencies and examples of mobile marketing campaigns.

Time will be allotted to questions from the audience, which is expected to comprise a mix of direct and interactive marketers.

The panel is the result of a push to introduce CADM members to mobile by Heather Baker, executive recruiter at Bennett Wheelless, Chicago, and interactive marketing special interest group chair at the CADM.

"This year's program represents a continuing evolution that tracks what is occuring in the broader direct marketing discipline," said Ron Marsh, Lisle, IL-based president of Audience Identification Inc. and co-chair of IMX08.

"Direct marketing today truly represents multichannel integrated efforts and our program embraces this with a variety of presentations," he said. "This includes mobile marketing, which although not new, will become increasingly critical in this country. We are confident that the program includes traditional as well as newer media with an emphasis on their integration."

CADM is the nation's leading regional association for direct and interactive marketers.

This year's IMX08 Integrated Marketing Expo, rebranded from DM Days & Expo, focuses on direct and interactive marketing topics from basic to advanced levels. Sessions touch on CRM, database marketing, interactive marketing and business-to-business.

Speakers include executives from such companies as Return Path, Diamond Marketing Solutions, Slack Barshinger, Knowledgebase Marketing, U.S. Postal Service, Deloitte Consulting, ThomasNet and Agora Inc.

The panelists and speakers also include representatives from SPSS, Euro RSCG, Alterian, Susan K. Jones & Associates, CDW Corp., Cisco Systems, Google, Colman Brohan Davis and Penn Garitano Direct Response Marketing.

The show runs April 29-30 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.

"We have a number of new exhibitors for the 2008 show, including Corporate Express/IntelliMail, R.R. Donnelley Response Marketing Services and Creative Automation Company," said Nancy Artz, president of Northbrook, IL-based Artz Consulting Services and co-chair of IMX08.

"We also have quite a few returning exhibitors who have faithfully supported the event over the years," she said. "We have about 60 booth spaces in the exhibit hall."

The CADM on April 29 will also honor Draftfcb marketing chief Sid Liebenson as the 2008 recipient of the Charles S. Downs Direct Marketer of the Year.

Mr. Liebenson has been actively involved with the CADM, John Caples International Awards and the Direct Marketing Association's Echo Awards.

The luncheon keynote speaker on day one, April 29, is Mark J. Mitten, senior vice president of marketing and legacy at Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Team.

"Our focus is to reach out and invite professionals from the diverse disciplines of direct," said Mike Becker, Northbrook, IL-based vice president of national sales for MackayMitchell Envelope Co. and CADM president.

"The direct world is vibrant today with the utilization of multiple channels with the goal of communicating to consumers and customers," he said. "CADM continues to engage professionals in each area, from interactive and mobile to broadcast and mail."