San Francisco Rumble

Two apparent anti-“junk mail” activists were thwarted in their attempt to crash the Direct Marketing Association’s executive committee meeting at the San Francisco Marriott last month.

Hotel guards stopped the two young men-casually dressed in khakis and carrying a duffel bag-before they could reach their destination. Shortly after the incident, piles of sealed envelopes and other paper products were found inside the entrance of the DMA fall conference in the Moscone Convention Center. DMA senior vice president Connie LaMotta says this was the first time she could recall protesters at an annual show.

At about 12:30 p.m., on Saturday, Oct. 10, Britt Schwendinger, the DMA’s manager of conference logistics, was stationed outside the executive committee meeting in the hotel’s lower level, and was speaking with two hotel security guards as the men walked toward the meeting room. She asked if she could help them. They responded “No,” and continued walking. When she persisted they said, “We’re going to the executive committee meeting.” Schwendinger asked if they had something to give a meeting participant, and they said, “No, we’re doing a demo.”

“They had their backs to us the whole time,” she says.

The men then hurried toward the meeting room, yelling “Stop junk mail” and “Save the trees.” The guards chased after them and escorted the activists out of the hotel.

Six people were picketing outside the Marriott but it is unclear if they were connected to the two who tried to enter the meeting.

The protesters handed out literature from a group called ReThink Paper. The organization’s outgoing voicemail message says it is a project of Earth Island Institute and that it is “dedicated to catalyzing a shift to an ecologically sound pulp and paper industry.”

Within an hour after the incident, Tana Stellato, the DMA’s vice president of conference operations, was informed by the conference center’s staff that a pile of unopened letters, flyers and other paper materials had been dumped near the large “General Sessions” directional sign on the esplanade lower lobby just inside the hall’s north entrance. A smaller pile was by the door.

Valarie Collins, event manager for the Moscone Center, said the piles amounted to about what would fit in a duffel bag. It was a “pretty big pile,” she says. The refuse was immediately cleaned up but about 20 minutes later another pile was found at the exact location, though nothing was found near the door. This time, Collins says she noticed used credit card receipts among the materials.

The DMA credits its expert operations staff, and especially Schwendinger’s alertness, for the quick resolution to the incident outside the meeting.