Mike Sherman, CEO [download PDF]
Mike Sherman provides the leadership and strategic vision that has helped DMS grow into one of the nation’s premier direct marketing firms. He started at DMS as a teenager, helping his father and founder of the company, Ed Sherman, on the weekends. After college, Sherman joined DMS full time, starting on the graveyard shift in production. “Ed was an old-school mentor,” Mike notes. “He let me know that if I was going to have a future at DMS, I had to learn the business from the ground up. At the beginning, I started as machine feeder then ran an inserting machine and eventually a two-color press.”

Mike moved on to the front office, working in sales and eventually management. He worked with several large clients in financial services early on and used that expertise to garner multiple accounts in that arena. He quickly gained an appreciation for the importance of security when working with clients’ confidential data and championed the idea of obtaining SAS-70 certification for DMS. This certification provides clients with assurance that DMS offers the highest levels of digital and physical security available for data protection.

“After we received our initial SAS-70, more and more financial clients made data protection a top priority. Thankfully, we were ahead of the curve and poised to handle the business,” Mike adds. “Now a security infrastructure such as ours is mandated by many businesses – even those not in financial services. As direct marketers, we have access to millions of confidential records, so we have to be the gatekeepers of that data. Clients put their trust in us and we’ve put all the systems in place to guarantee 100 percent accountability.”

In addition to serving DMS’ many clients, Mike oversees the creative and strategic side of the business, which includes a team of direct marketing strategists, writers, graphic designers and production artists. He also plans for the long-term success of the business, keeping his finger on the pulse of industry trends and spearheading strategic planning for DMS.

Steven Sherman, President & COO [download PDF]
As the President & Chief Operating Officer, it is Steven Sherman’s job to make sure that DMS runs smoothly and efficiently so clients get the top-notch service and quality they’ve come to expect – at a pace that is nearly impossible to match in the direct marketing industry.

Steven’s father, Ed Sherman, founded DMS, so Steven was steeped in the strategies and operations behind direct marketing from an early age. Steven began at DMS by sweeping floors and working in print production while still in high school. He came back to DMS in 1994 after a post-college career working in ad sales within the hi-tech industry. He brought several tech giants on board early on and later added retail, financial and telecommunications companies to DMS’ client roster.

Today, he still manages DMS’ top accounts while overseeing every aspect of the company’s day-to-day print production operations. This department consists of over 150 employees and nearly 60,000 square feet of production space and machinery.

Steven has a wealth of expertise in all facets of direct marketing, but production operations and the practical considerations of producing direct mail are his passion. He is especially proud of the fact that DMS is still managed with the same work ethic, attention to detail, and customer service that Ed Sherman built the business on over 25 years ago.

“DMS has grown quite a lot over the past few years, but we’ve maintained the kind of small business mentality that helps ensure that clients always comes first,” Steven says. “You don’t have to deal with complicated corporate hierarchies if you have questions or concerns at DMS. Clients can call me about anything and everything and I will personally make sure they get an answer.”

Sheldon Silverman, Managing Director [download PDF]
Sheldon Silverman’s entrepreneurial roots run deep, making him the ideal person to spearhead Direct Marketing Solutions’ expansion into new services, including print advertising, out-of-home media, direct-response TV and life-cycle campaigns. With 20+ years experience developing integrated marketing strategies for many of America’s most highly recognizable brands, Sheldon has expanded DMS’ client roster as well. DMS has recently launched comprehensive new campaigns for SallieMae, West Suburban Bank, Pre-Paid Solutions and BlueSky Auto Finance based upon Sheldon’s leadership and strategic approach.

Sheldon started his marketing career as an entrepreneur, opening Liquid Marketing shortly after college. Liquid Marketing provided services for heavyweights in automotive, consumer goods, financial services, cellular and hospitality categories. The firm also consulted with ad agencies on successful campaigns for Sears Credit, Southwestern Bell and the launch of the Harley Davidson Credit Card.

In 1998, Sheldon became one of the founding executives of ShopTalk, the first voice portal in the U.S. This led to strategic initiatives with Jiffy Lube, QVC, Pizza Hut and Blockbuster. He went on to co-found BridgeDialog in 2001, based upon patent-pending technologies that enable voice-activated electronic shopping. This resulted in leading edge interactive customer-care platforms for QVC, ShopNBC and others.

Melding his strategic marketing savvy with top-notch technical expertise, Sheldon went on to serve as senior vice president of Strategy/Development at Protocol Marketing Group where he led channel integration for the Protocol Direct Marketing Agency. This spawned successful client relationships with McLeodUSA, InfoNXX, Discover, Jenny Craig and Amnesty International.

Sheldon joined the executive team of DMS in 2005, opening the company’s first office in the Midwest. He splits his time between Portland and Chicago when he’s not on the road serving DMS’ national clientele.

Michael Gama, Director of Strategic Services [download PDF]
With over 30 years experience in direct marketing, Michael Gama brings a breadth of experience to his role as Chief Marketing Strategist that is hard to match. Michael began his career as a copywriter, but he quickly moved into management roles as he pioneered new processes in market segmentation, target audience profiling and database statistical analyses in the early 1980s.

This led to director positions within marketing firms and market leaders in technology and financial services, including The Geneva Companies, Central Point Software, NOW Software, QUALCOMM and Bank of America. In fact, Michael survived and thrived through several tech company mergers by creating innovative new ways for these companies to solidify their brands, increase sales and boost profitability through direct marketing that hinged on savvy data analysis.

Michael first worked with Ed Sherman, founder of DMS, over 25 years ago when Ed was president of a direct marketing firm based in Los Angeles. After Ed started DMS in Portland, they collaborated on cutting edge campaigns for several of the companies Michael worked at over the next two decades.

“The eighties were the wild, wild, west in the early days of direct marketing for banks,” Michael explains. “Ed helped me execute some radically different campaigns for Bank of America that would have likely gotten me fired if they hadn’t worked. And because of the amazing results we got, we continued that successful relationship when I moved on to QUALCOM.”

Michael’s keen interest in the development of new ideas and increased legitimacy for the direct marketing industry led him to start the Direct Marketing Association of Orange County in 1985. After returning to Portland in 1989, Michael also began teaching graduate and undergraduate classes in direct and database marketing at Marylhurst University and The Oregon Graduate Institute.

When DMS offered him an in-house strategic role in 2000, it was an opportunity too irresistible to pass up. Michael had enjoyed a long relationship with DMS as a client and now uses his considerable expertise to drive strategic initiatives for many of DMS’ regional and national clients in retail, banking, insurance and other categories.

Jeremy Bessire, Director of Creative Services [download PDF]
Jeremy Bessire is unlike many creatives in that he is constantly thinking about what will get results for clients. “In direct marketing, you have to tell a compelling story that will prompt people to act on the offer, not just remember the brand,” he explains. “And as a designer, you have to know when to stop – when you’re at the point that nothing more will help sell the product or idea.”

Working at one the busiest, bottom-line focused direct marketing firms anywhere, it would be easy to speculate how Jeremy arrived at that perspective, but he actually came to DMS with that philosophy firmly ingrained. “I learned early that it’s easy to over-design,” he adds, “but that often doesn’t help the agency or its clients make money. I always want our work to look great, but there has to be a strategic reason for it. We’re not just creating pretty pictures.”

Jeremy began his career doing pre-press work while still in college, moving into graphic design shortly upon graduation. After working in-house for a land development firm, he freelanced for companies in hi-tech, healthcare, telecommunications, financial, and retail categories. That work included branding and corporate identity, print ads, point-of-purchase, collateral, and interactive design for the Web and email.

In 1998, Jeremy joined the direct marketing firm of Babcock and Jenkins, where he helped develop and execute creative campaigns for hi-tech leaders such as Intel, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett Packard.

Jeremy joined DMS as a senior art director in 2001 and was promoted to Associate Creative Director and then Creative Director. He has created highly successful direct marketing campaigns for nearly all of DMS’ clients, including Washington Mutual, Hollywood Video, Intuit, and Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield. He has also played a pivotal role in expanding DMS’ creative services beyond direct mail into fully integrated marketing campaigns for recently added clients such as SallieMae and Blue Sky Financial.