• by Ray Schultz , February 14, 2023

Ryan Phelan, RPE Origin Managing Partner, was named Email Marketer Thought Leader of the Year by the Association of National Advertisers' Email Excellence Center. 

The award was presented last week at the Email Evolution Conference in Washington, DC. 

A 20+-year industry veteran, Phelan has developed email strategy and tactics for retail mass-merchant brands and established account-based marketing programs for technology vendors. 

In addition, he has worked with data providers Acxiom and infoUSA (now DataAxle) and consulted with many other B2C and B2B brands. And he is a past chair of the EEC’s Advisory Board.

“Ryan has been a key leader, and a top contributor in the space since we launched the ANA's Email Excellence Center,” said Bill Zengel, senior vice president, ANA Email Excellence. “I’m delighted to see him get this well-deserved recognition from his peers -- the members of the ANA.” 

Zengel added: “Being a thought leader is not something you can claim for yourself. Your community appoints you a thought leader for your ability, your credibility and depth of knowledge, and your willingness to share and give back to help marketers the way you were helped.”

Phelan commented: “Receiving this award from the Email Excellence Center is doubly gratifying because it comes from people I have known, worked with and admired for years, since the EEC was first founded in 2007 as the Email Experience Council.”