(KANSAS CITY, MO.) ... Lee Marc Stein of Hauppauge, N.Y., will speak on ``Creative Strategies for Acquiring and Keeping Customers in the Age of Disbelief'' during the Kansas City Direct Marketing Association monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 13, at Homestead Country Club, 6510 Mission Rd., Prairie Village, Kan. The meeting is a luncheon starting at 11:30. Cost is $30 for members and $45 for nonmembers.

Stein will offer tools for developing marketing messages that avoid deception and still get customers' attention. He began his career as a copywriter at Prentice-Hall and rose to being senior vice president/direct of Earle Palmer Brown New York. Since starting Lee Marc Stein Ltd. in 1997, his clients have included Golden Rule Insurance and Family Circle and Time magazines.

Workshop
Following the luncheon, Bob Merrigan will present a workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. on ``The ABCs of Effective Letter Writing.'' Attendees will learn how to write letters that drive response, including appealing to an ``audience of one,'' developing leads that grab the reader, building a persuasive case and constructing a close that incites action. Participants may bring their companies' letters for a personal critique. A former president of KCDMA, Merrigan is president of Merrigan & Co., a Kansas City-based marketing communications agency.

For reservations call KCDMA at (816) 561-5323. Or visit the Web site at www.kcdma.org.