NEW YORK -- While the exhibition floor was not packed, the few and the proud at the Direct Marketing Association's 2009 DM Days conference last week showed enthusiasm anyway.

The three-day conference focused on relationship marketing, mobile marketing, creative strategies, database marketing, and email and digital marketing. But many said that the economy just would not allow the high attendance that was hoped for.

Mike Gamson, vice president of corporate solutions at LinkedIn, gave a warmly welcomed keynote presentation, while opening-day keynoter Ivanka Trump was admired for her fluency.

Here is what some of the attendees had to say:

Dick Goldsmith, CEO and owner of Horah Group, Pleasantville, NY:
"The Mobile Marketing Pavilion was great " too bad there were only 4 exhibitors. One was you [Mobile Marketer], one was NeuStar and one was iLoop Mobile, an application provider, and Horah, which was the only one that had an application.

"Mobile has a long way to go to get traction in direct. It's like when the Internet started. It really didn't get going till direct marketers got involved.

"It was amazing to us how many people didn't know what a short code or keyword is, and how many people couldn't send a text message. With their smartphones they could text, but only to people in their address book. It was a challenge to be able to enter a short code. We need a lot more education.

"People were very excited by our Per-Keys. Our live demo that allowed people to text a unique keyword and get a response that was personalized to them blew some folks away."

Chris Goumas, senior vice president of retail and marketing solutions at Access 360 Media, New York:
"The show was slower than I was expecting, but the quality of attendees was very high. I spoke with a number of very qualified prospects for mobile SMS services that had come to the show looking for info on new ways to reach and communicate with their customers.

"In terms of suggestions for next year, next year should be built around an entire theme of 'channel integration.'

"Email is no longer a standalone digital channel. It can be supported by SMS and IVR. Print channels communicate some forms of info very well, but are lousy at real-time communications.

"I still see too many marketers focused on one or two or three channels without regard for how the customer's communication patterns and desires are changing."

Neil O'Keefe, vice president of multichannel segments at the Direct Marketing Association, New York:
"It's been a much greater digital experience this year. I felt that the traffic was pretty good considering the economic time we are in. The exhibitors have been telling me that they've had some strong meetings.

"One even sent a tweet that his booth had 30 percent more traffic this year. Because there was less traffic, I think people were more focused on business.

"I think the conference should continue to build its digital presence, get into more detail on what's new in mobile, social networking, email and search. And as far as sessions, there were a lot of choices, but sessions should provide focus.

Matthew Valleskey, senior marketing manager of mobile services at NeuStar, Sterling, VA:
"Traffic was down a bit, but that was certainly a reflection on the economy. DM Days is twice a year [DMA09 is in October], and I think a lot of people said, ?Hey, we'll go to the one in the fall.' People are really trying to save money.

"What's great is that the interest is still in mobile and it seems like vendors, especially, are beginning to get more serious about mobile.

"Next year the conference is moving to a new venue [the Hilton], so that may help. Javits [Convention Center] is tough to get to, but I don't attribute the poor traffic to that. It's truly just a reflection on the economy. Although, I don't think there is any need for a third day."

Michael Becker, vice president of mobile strategies at iLoop Mobile Inc., San Jose, CA:
"So far, I've heard the show is going well. Some have said they have had higher attendance than normal and the people I've seen have been very engaged.

"A year ago, mobile was an anecdotal side show. People came to mobile sessions just to check it out.

"[With this year's show] I think we are finally at a stage where the audience is learning how to execute. This change happened within the last six to eight months and it's a terribly exciting movement in the channel."

Peggy Hatch, group president and publishing director at Target Marketing Group, Philadelphia, PA:
"We've had some good meetings this year, but I think we're all very happy to move to the Hilton next year and leave the Javits Center. We're excited for a different location and a different economic year.

"I've been coming to this show for 25 years and I remember that this used to be the most vibrant show. It started as a one-day event with crazy meeting-and-greeting.

"But after coming to the Javits, the show has started to go through a decline. Even still, people have shown amazing energy the past few days.

"I really appreciated the LinkedIn Keynote session. I found it had amazing insight and gave actual measurements for social networking. There were hints on recession marketing paired with the insight of mixing direct marketing and brands.

"I felt that sometimes you had to really sift for those nuggets of valuable information, but overall I thought most of the sessions were informative. Except Ivanka Trump, that was a bit out of place."