The Email Experience Council (eec), the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) email marketing arm, today announced its call for entries for the eec’s first award competition recognizing email marketing excellence. Chosen directly by eec members, the Email Performance Award will be presented to an individual or organization that has created an email marketing campaign that demonstrates the full power of the channel.

Entries will be evaluated for their marketing strategy, creative components, and, most importantly, results. Permission-based email marketing campaigns from any industry vertical — including B-to-B, B-to-C, nonprofit, education, etc.— are eligible for entry into the award competition as long as results described have been achieved within the last 12 months.

Nominations close on Monday, December 10, 2007. For more details about submission guidelines and entry forms, click here.

The members of the eec will select the winner from among the Email Performance Award finalists, which will be determined by the eec’s leadership and announced in mid-January. The winner will receive free admission to the Email Evolution Conference at the Sheraton Hotel & Marina in San Diego, where the Email Performance Award will be officially presented on February 13, 2008.

The winner of the Email Performance Award will also be placed into the semi-finals of the Direct Marketing Association’s International ECHO Awards. Since 1929, the ECHO Awards, which are presented each October, have recognized the world’s outstanding multichannel direct marketing campaigns based on excellence in strategy, creativity, and results.