None of us could do any better than to learn from Drayton Bird -- and in the process, to be wonderfully entertained by him.

Drayton's credentials are impeccable, of course. His close personal friendship with David Ogilvy (he's still close with David's widow, Herta, who resides at the Ogilvy Chateau in France) and his experience running Ogilvy Direct are bottomless wells of great stories and life lessons. His current experience in direct marketing -- and his tireless work to help the next generation along -- are equally amazing.

What I really love, though, is his great wisdom (he'd crack a self-effacing joke here) -- and his plain, simple, common-sense, no-nonsense "back to the basics" approach to direct response marketing.

My advice: Devour every pearl of wisdom (he calls them "Bird Droppings") you can get from the great Mr. Bird.

P.S. This is NOT an unbiased, objective opinion. Drayton has become a great friend of mine over the past year or so. We exchange e-mails almost daily and conspire on the telephone several times each month.

And in three weeks or so, he's hopping the pond to spend a few days at my home and in my offices. Our agenda: Fine scotch, fine food, bawdy jokes and to plan a possible world tour together (Working title: "The Drayton/Clayton Show").

Cheers, y'all!

-- Clayton