CORPORATE HERITAGE AWARD

Merkle, Inc.
www.merkleinc.com

Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency's heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 4,400 employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 16 additional offices in the US and 11 offices in Europe and Asia. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Charles D. Morgan
Chairman and CEO
First Orion Corp.

Charles D Morgan is chairman and CEO of First Orion Corp., a privately held company that developed and markets data-asset telecommunications solutions that enables full call transparency for consumers, business and mobile operators. First Orion delivers three suites of solutions and services that help consumers and companies protect against fraudulent calls, while enriching the calls that need to connect.

Mr. Morgan is on the board of INUVO, Inc., a public company focused on simplifying performance-based advertising. He also serves as a member and is past chairman of the board of trustees of Hendrix College.

Mr. Morgan has extensive experience managing and investing in private and public companies, including Acxiom Corporation, an information services company he helped grow from an early-stage company to an international corporation that generated $1.4 billion in annual revenue during his tenure as CEO from 1972 to 2008. Mr. Morgan has served on the board and in various leadership roles with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), serving in 2001 as chairman of the DMA board. Mr. Morgan was employed by IBM as a systems engineer for six years prior to joining Acxiom, and he holds a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Arkansas.

Mr. Morgan has a lifelong love of auto racing where he participated both as an amateur and professional. He is also an avid golfer, but aspires for a lower handicap.

Mr. Morgan and his wife, Susie, live in Little Rock, Arkansas. They have three children and seven grandchildren.

CORPORATE DISRUPTOR AWARD

Fluent
www.fluentco.com

Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT) is the trusted acquisition partner for both established and growing brands. Leveraging our proprietary first party data asset, Fluent creates marketing programs that deliver better digital advertising experiences for consumers and measurable results for advertisers. Founded in 2010, the company is headquartered in New York City. For more information, visit www.fluentco.com.

Additionally, Fluent's leadership team has established philanthropy as one of the organization's core values. Fluent as a company places a high value on ensuring a positive corporate culture, by focusing on employees' professional development and engaging them in philanthropy. Fluent's philanthropic initiatives engage employees through service activities aimed at inspiring the next generation of leaders. Fluent is committed to fostering meaningful and lasting change by partnering with organizations that champion community development and professional growth.

Fluent contributes to the industry through their wealth of best practice and research study reports focusing on data analytics, data enhancement solutions, data backed marketing strategies , marketing to Gen Z, loyalty programs, streaming services, and more. Since its inception, Fluent has placed a priority on social responsibility, supporting education with the goal of developing the next generation of leaders.

FINANCIAL INNOVATOR AWARD

Dr. Charles W. Stryker (Posthumous Award)
Founder
Venture Development Center

Dr. Charles Stryker — "Charlie" — was a prominent entrepreneur in the data industry, who died unexpectedly following an accident. His late career, through the company he founded, helped give rise to ad tech and mar tech startups and companies that help brands and organizations capitalize on "Big Data" and data-driven customer engagement across online and offline channels.

Dr. Stryker received the B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in computer science in 1975, from New York University. Yet his dedication to advancing marketing practice, and professional development in our field, was lifelong.

He worked at AT&T within its Bell Labs unit, developing application of technology to address large-scale business marketing problems. His interest in complex statistics models led him to form Trinet in the mid-70s, a Parsippany-based consulting firm providing data-driven analytics to large corporations.

Dr. Stryker was a president of InfoGroup, was on the faculty of the Wharton School, and served on many boards of both public and private information companies. In 2014, he was recognized as the Data Innovator of the Year by the direct marketing field, and presented at a TED conference where he described the future of "Big Data."

In 1996, Dr. Stryker founded Venture Development Center, LLC, where he served as chairman and chief executive officer. VDC is a preeminent advisory firm for the information services industry, and the leading provider of data strategy, data monetization, and custom data sourcing initiatives, supporting many of the major information services providers and representing over 120 other, lesser known but highly valuable, sources of unique and transformative data.