Marketing & SEO Discussion List - LED Digest

The First Business Email Discussion List

Kim Bayne began her online foray in 1981, and roughly a decade later founded what must be the oldest marketing email discussion list on record, the High Tech Marketing Communicators List (or HTMARCOM). Kim was a moderator before moderators, guiding discussions which revolved around strategic marketing communications. Begun in 1994, HTMARCOM stands alone as the earliest record of a business list. And, while Kim’s intentions were geared decidedly toward the offline industry, her list provided a natural avenue for the discussion of online activities as well. Internet veteran Jim Sterne reflected on the early days of HTMARCOM in his newsletter [new window], published in November of 2001:

"I came across the High Tech Marketing Communicators discussion list server in February of 1994. Moderated by Kim Bayne of wolfBayne Communications, the subject matter was wide-spread and of high value – a lively discussion of all things marketing: trade shows, brochure production, product management issues, and a great deal about how to convince the engineer / founder of a company that marketing was critical to his success.

”In the summer of 1994, the conversation turned to marketing on the Internet: How to get a server running. Where to find the shareware and what techniques could be used to bring in more customers. HTMARCOM was the progenitor of Glenn Fleishman's Internet Marketing List and Kim's been keeping a hand in ever since."

It's always fascinating to peruse the early archives of historical lists. Unfortunately, no archives for HTMARCOM are extant, but I was able to find this welcome message, which was posted to several newsgroups in various forms in 1994:

 From: Kim Miklofsky Bayne
 Subject: MAILING LIST: high tech marketing communications
 Date: 25 Apr 1994 16:04:54 -0400

 HIGH TECH MARCOM FORUM LAUNCHED ON INTERNET

 A LISTSERV (email list) on the Internet, HTMARCOM, has been created 
 to meet the growing needs of high tech marketing communicators. This 
 is the first multi-gateway high tech marcom forum. Subscribers to 
 MCIMail, Compuserve, Prodigy, America Online and other online email 
 systems with a gateway to the Internet can subscribe to this forum 

 FREE of charge.

 *** ABOUT HTMARCOM

 Join the HTMARCOM list. This list is modeled after professional 
 organizations and their monthly "brown bag roundtable" discussions. 
 Subscribers are invited to share information and solve problems 
 about different aspects of marketing communications.

 *** HOW TO PARTICIPATE 

 Feel free to jump in at any time and comment by replying to the 
 group. If you have more than a comment to share, feel free to upload 
 an article that you have written that will be of interest to all. 

 Start a discussion of your own. Ask for some help on some aspect of 
 marcom. Evaluate resources. Provide referrals.

 *** HTMARCOM FOCUS 

 Marcom professionals have responsibilities in such areas as 
 advertising, collateral, public relations, trade shows, sales 
 support, and strategic and tactical marketing communications. High 
 tech marketing communications professionals are involved in the 
 marketing and sales of software, peripherals, semiconductors, 
 board-level products, cards, data communications, systems, and other 
 computer and electronics technologies.  Subscribers to this list may 
 work for a company or agency involved in high tech marcom. Others, 
 such as editors, service providers, publishers, analysts, 
 academicians, or students may subscribe to this list as well.

 HTMARCOM is owned and moderated by:

 Kim Miklofsky Bayne, President
 wolfBayne Marketing Communications

While HTMARCOM had begun under the auspices of traditional “brick and mortar” marketing, the natural course of discussions led subscribers elsewhere. Inevitably there ensued a gradual transition from offline topics to those related to Internet marketing and Web site design, as the current of an evolving Internet led towards the development of full-fledged ecommerce sites seeking traffic. As HTMARCOM began to lose its original focus, Kim grew restless with the direction discussions were taking and began looking for new forum ideas. One of Kim’s original subscribers and an early Web innovator was Glenn Fleishman, now residing in the Pacific Northwest and working as a syndicated columnist. Glenn reflects on the early 1990s and the HTMARCOM days:

“In summer 1994, Kim was getting frustrated that the high-tech list was becoming an Internet list. That was a very different focus. I joined HTMARCOM because I was trying to understand the new industry. I had founded my own Web development firm in June 1994 with three clients signed up for Web sites.”

With Glenn’s pioneering work in Web development, he was a natural fit for a new list dedicated to the emerging field. His Internet publishing company, Point of Presence, was active in areas related to technology and the Internet. Glenn remembers that when Kim was looking for someone to spearhead a new list, he became interested:

“Kim wondered whether anyone wanted to take on a list. I said yes, and thus the Internet Marketing list was born… The list had 1,000 people signed up within a couple weeks and 7,000 at its peak.” 

Glenn's Internet Marketing List (or INET-Marketing) launched in the summer of 1994. Accordingly, Glenn stands alongside Kim Bayne as a pioneer in the field. His list enjoyed a high standard of discussion, reflective of its subscriber base, with rising Internet stars such as Larry Chase, Shel Horowitz, Mark Neely, Jakob Nielsen, Leo Scheiner, John Audette, and Danny Sullivan contributing. Academics were also posting frequently and fervently about everything from site demographics to USENET spam.

The excitement of the early Internet days combined with a large, richly seeded list helped produce a continuous stream of ideas through INET-Marketing's list server. Even today, browsing the discussion archives remains a rewarding and illuminating experience.

Next: The Influence of INET-Marketing