I’m happy to report that George Kerscher, representing the DAISY Consortium, an accessibility organization, was elected to the IDPF Board of Directors. The election was for two open seats, and there were seven declared candidates.
It was quite a mandate for George. IDPF’s public announcement of the election results reported that 63 out of a possible 91 members voted (a very good turnout I am told), and George received 30 votes.
The second Board seat, however, is still undecided since it was a tie between Peter Brantley (University of California Press) and Malle Vallik (Harlequin), who each got 24 votes. A runoff between the two is now underway. Again, it is important for the IDPF members to vote in the runoff election (vote due January 19)
Malle and Peter are outstanding candidates (as were the other four who ran) — both would make excellent Board members.
In two prior TeleRead articles [1st, 2nd], I urged the IDPF members to vote, and to seriously consider casting one of their two votes for George for the reasons discussed in those articles. It is good to see that many IDPF members believe, as does DigitalPulp Publishing, in the need for Board diversity, and the importance of accessibility.
George is not only a long-time accessibility advocate, but he’s also very knowledgeable about e-books and the e-book industry — he’s been involved with the OEBPS Specification since its very beginning back in 1999. And of course he served as chair of the IDPF Board in the past. The Board is certainly much stronger with his presence.
Again, congratulations, George!
P.S. Thanks to Nick Bogaty (IDPF Executive Director) and IDPF for making the voting results public information. This transparency greatly benefits IDPF.
