Donna Gerdin started “The Class Factory” back in 1977. Norm Pegram was a new salesman at National Mail Advertising, freshly hired out of the UT Austin MBA program.
Norm was thrilled when Donna asked him to teach a course on Direct Marketing. His experience as Dr. Linda Golden’s teaching assistant for her Marketing 301 class and writing his MBA Dissertation book on direct marketing gave him the knowledge and skills needed to teach others.
It wasn’t long before Norm became a regular teacher for the Class Factory, and he also taught for Leisure Learning Unlimited (started by Ted Weisgal), UH School of Technology, and various seminars for ad agencies and printing companies who were eager to learn how to use direct mail as a marketing tool.
Norm has been teaching Direct Mail Marketing now for 40 years, most recently for the University of Houston’s School of Technology, in the Digital Media program (DIGM 3350 – Materials & Processes).
“Teaching people and companies that direct mail is the most powerful and profitable form of marketing has been such a rewarding experience, and I look forward to teaching for many years to come,” Norm Pegram, PremierIMS CEO said.
Every semester Norm gives his Digital Media students a behind the scenes tour of the PremierIMS facility. They see first-hand how a direct mail piece is printed and processed to be mailed.
The students are shown the mail processing machines that preform a wide range of services from adhering stamps, labels and post-it notes to stuffing envelopes and high speed addressing.
“It’s important that students have the opportunity to see how a direct mail piece is produced from start to finish. Learning about printing and mailing in a classroom is good, but seeing how it all comes together really helps students to fully understand the process,” Norm said.