(NEWS)

Director candidates will stand for election to the IBPA board during the association’s Annual Meeting of Members on April 11, 2015 in Austin, Texas.

As announced on November 5, 2014, IBPA's Board Nominating Committee has been busy reviewing applications for five open seats on the IBPA board of directors.

Over thirty applications were received during the open application cycle. After vetting all candidates, the Board Nominating Committee named the following director candidates to stand for election to two-year terms (2015-2017) on the IBPA board:

1. Ian Lamont, Founder, i30 Media Corporation
2. Karla Olson, Director, Patagonia Books
3. Joshua Tallent, Chief eBook Architect, Firebrand Technologies
4. Elizabeth Turnbull, Senior Editor, Light Messages Publishing
5. Mark Wesley, Publisher, me+mi publishing, Inc.

The names above will appear on the Board Ballot for membership vote during the April 11, 2015 Annual Membership Meeting scheduled during IBPA's Publishing University in Austin, Texas.

As part of their service, the director candidates will align with IBPA's CORE VALUES. These are the implicitly understood, deeply held convictions that guide the spirit and nature of the IBPA board, staff, and volunteers. They include:

• SERVICE, which expresses IBPA’s commitment to openness and accessibility. IBPA’s desire to be authentically and truly helpful (with no other agenda) reflects an understanding that the essence of leadership is service.
• LEADERSHIP, which is expressed through IBPA’s position as the largest professional publishing association in the United States, as well as in its commitment to providing expert programs and perspectives to aid independent, hybrid, and self-publishers in the business of publishing.
• INDEPENDENCE, which reflects a deep commitment to independent points of view and the belief that enabling access to these points of view is essential to creativity and innovation.

With so many qualified applicants, selecting only five candidates was a difficult decision for the Board Nominating Committee. We are sincerely grateful to them for their thoughtful leadership. Those interested can read about the Nominating Committee process in this Briefing Memo from December 2014.

For more information, please email IBPA’s Executive Director, Angela Bole, at angela@ibpa-online.org.