By Brian Kelly

Herald Writer

It was the sound of silence: Telemarketers took a break after the terrorist attacks last week, but a dispute is now brewing over when telephone fund-raising efforts can begin again.

H. Robert Wientzen, the president of the country’s largest trade association for interactive marketing, asked its nonprofit members last week to stop all telemarketing calls to new customers until the end of the month. In a message to members, Wientzen said: "It is simply the right thing for our industry to do at this moment."

"People have been upset, anxious, depressed and 27 other emotions," since the attacks, said Lee M. Cassidy, the head of the Direct Marketing Association’s federation of nonprofit members.

"People need some breathing room," Cassidy said. "We recognize that people can find even telephone calls for fund-raising, which obviously in many ways are directly connected to what’s gone on for the past 10 days … upsetting."

"Life is tough enough nowadays," Cassidy said.

Cassidy recalled his own emotions when he learned that the son of an acquaintance had died in the World Trade Center tragedy.

"It took me an hour to recover from that," he said.

But the no-call request has not found supporters everywhere in the $585 billion a year telemarketing industry.

Jason Clawson, executive director of the American Teleservices Association, a lobbying group for telephone call centers and related businesses, said the suggestion was objectionable on many levels. In a statement to the association’s members, Clawson said the no-call measure hurts the industry’s image. Companies in the association voluntarily stopped making calls to New York, Washington, DC, and nearby areas immediately after the terrorist attacks.

"I think for asking for an immediate stoppage of one type of marketing doesn’t make sense to me," said Kevin Brosnahan, an ATA spokesman, explaining that the DMA singled out telemarketers, but not businesses that use direct mail or solicit in other ways.

"A lot of fund-raising is done over the phone. I wouldn’t want a charity to be shut off from their funds because of a horrible terrorist attack," Brosnahan said.

But Cassidy said phone calls are different than a piece of direct mail.

"Telephone fund-raising is a much more intense, involved kind of relationship than is direct mail. When someone gets a phone call, they have to deal with it one way or another, right then."

"Not that there’s anything wrong with a phone call, but they’re much more immediate and emotional than reading a letter," Cassidy said.

He recalled getting a phone call from a mortgage company the day after the attacks. "I found it intrusive at that time. My mind was elsewhere."

Brosnahan, however, said most telemarketers across the country stopped making calls in the first few days after the attacks for just that reason.

"Obviously, when there’s a tragedy like this, people aren’t going to be willing or able to think about their personal business for a couple of days," Brosnahan said.

But the call-stoppage suggestion also doesn’t take into account the fact that the phone solicitors themselves can sense when someone isn’t interested in taking a call. While Brosnahan readily admitted phone calls are more personal and intrusive than direct mail, people can easily opt out.

"Yes, you have to answer the phone — or you can choose not to answer the phone. Yes, they are different, but people can just as easily say ‘This is not a good time,’ and be done," Brosnahan said.

Cassidy said many, but not all, of the association’s members have agreed to stop making fund-raising calls for the rest of the month.

"I think the response has been generally positive. One or two people have said, ‘Well, gee, we think we should continue; we’re doing the Lord’s work.’

"There’s no question they’re doing the Lord’s work," Cassidy said, but he offered a longer view of what’s at stake. "Is this the best way to deal with your donors at this time?"

Doug McCartney, a Lake Stevens resident who has lobbied for stricter enforcement of telemarketing laws, said a temporary halt to telemarketing misses the bigger issue.

"What’s wrong with the rest of the year, when we aren’t in a crisis? Why is it necessary to call then?"

Even so, telemarketing calls are just an annoyance that pales in light of bigger issues, he said.

"It’s kind of a small issue when you think about what’s gone on," McCartney said.

You can call Herald Writer Brian Kelly at 425-339-3422 or send e-mail to kelly@heraldnet.com.