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Today we meet Jerry Mamola, managing partner at Amity Direct Inc., a direct marketing agency based in Jackson Township, NJ.

Mamola founded Amity in June 2000. Before that, he served as director of membership for the Musical Heritage Society's continuity clubs. He started in the list business at Edith Roman Associates Inc. in 1983. Later he worked for American List Counsel Inc. and Acxiom Corp.

Besides brokering lists, Mamola coordinates space advertising and clients' participation in package insert programs. He provides list brokerage services for business-to-business and gift catalogers, continuity clubs and apparel marketers. His clients include Medallion Smoked Salmon, Kron Chocolatier and Hollywood Gadgets.

Most of the files he recommends are response lists. However, when he does use compiled lists Mamola prefers to choose from multiple interest and demographic selections for more precise targeting. "I am not a big fan of just targeting everyone by age and income in a ZIP code," he says.

Nor does Mamola like lists compiled from large databases by automated software programs. Using the same selection criteria, Mamola has found in his experience that people do a better job assembling more productive lists than automated systems.

"I like having a person who understands the nuances of lists to create the order. There's a person who've I worked with for 25 years who continues to code my orders and the names I get are way different than what I'll get from online systems," he says.

Mamola is married and has three daughters and one son. The agency is named after his wife Amity. Most of his free time is spent with family watching or participating in sports like soccer, tennis, softball, volleyball and horseback riding.

"My wife and kids are my life," Mamola says. "I also enjoy fishing on the Delaware River whenever I can and a good game of chess."

What's important for brokers to consider about list updates?

"I look for lists with 5,000 to 20,000 new names per quarter. That's a reasonable number if you're working with smaller business-to-business marketers or high-end consumer mailers targeting wealthy customers," he says.

It's also important to look for changes in list composition, which result when there are changes in media and creative strategies, mailing frequency, merchandise mixes, target audiences and price points, Mamola points out.

How do you keep up with changes in list markets?

"I've watched lists for years. I get all the mailings and so I see what the list owner is doing. If a list manager says a client has a huge list update and I haven't already seen the catalog, I know I've missed something or the list manager is missing something," Mamola says.

It's important too to know how the names were generated, on the Web, direct mail, insert or catalog, etc. "The most important thing is to look at what generated the response," he adds. "And remember not everything is as it appears or as it is marketed. There's a lot of misinformation out there."

Know someone you'd like to suggest for Meet the Broker? E-mail Jim.Emerson@Penton.com