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Summary of Proceedings
EMA Board of Directors Meeting
July 16, 2007 - Las Vegas, Nevada
The EMA Board of Directors discussed the following agenda topics and took the indicated actions at its July 16, 2007 meeting, held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I.Board Members
It was announced that Tom Paine of DVD Now would serve on the Board as a representative of iDEA.
Steve Oliver (Amazon.com), Leigh Ann Moore (Circuit City Stores), John Marmaduke (Hastings Entertainment), Kathy Slocum (iDEA), Jim Loperfido (iDEA), Bob Geistman (Ingram Entertainment), and Cindy Holland (Netflix) were reappointed to the Board.
II.2007-2008 Officers
At the organizational meeting of the 2007-2008 Board of Directors, the following were elected as officers for 2007-2008:
•Bob Geistman, Chairman of the Board
•Tracey Koller, Vice Chairman
•Leigh Ann Moore, Secretary
•Marty Graham, Treasurer
In addition, Chairman Geistman appointed Chuck Porter to an at-large seat on the Executive Committee.
III.Financial Report
The Board reviewed the financial reports for the first five months of 2007, which showed net income to be slightly better than budget. The positive financial performance was attributed to better-than-budget interest income and savings in payroll, which more than offset a shortfall in dues income.
IV.Home Entertainment Events Issues
The Board was informed that attendance at EMA's Home Media Expo 2007 would be down from prior years, due primarily to a decrease in registration by independent video retailers, but that attendance by major retailers would be better than anytime in the recent past. It was also noted that the home entertainment divisions of all the major motion picture studios, with one exception, would be participating in the Expo.
V.Entertainment Consumption Behavior
The NPD Group made a presentation on the patterns of entertainment consumption by "power users," heavy users of entertainment products across multiple platforms.
VI.Government Affairs
The Board received an update on pending legislation in New York state that would impose restrictions on the sale or rental of certain video games to minors. By a unanimous vote, the Board authorized the President of the Association to take whatever legal action he deems appropriate in relation to the legislation, if it is enacted.
VII."Benefit Denial" Technology
At the request of the Association's Loss Prevention Committee, the Board unanimously approved the following policy statement:
EMA encourages the development and testing of benefit denial technology on optical discs in order to reduce shrink, both in the backroom and on the sales floor, and to improve sales.
["Benefit denial" is the concept of denying a shoplifter or internal thief the benefit of the product by preventing its use.]
VIII.Association Bylaws
By a unanimous vote, the bylaws of the Association were amended to eliminate provisions that were related to the 2006 merger that created the Entertainment Merchants Association and to modify certain provisions related to the allocation of funding for the Independent Dealers of Entertainment Association.
IX.Membership
The Board voted unanimously to accept the 39 membership applications received between March 9 and July 2, 2007.
X.Ratification of Minutes
The Board unanimously ratified the minutes from its March 21, 2007 meeting.
XI.Other Issues
The Board received written reports on high-definition discs, windows, media content issues, iDEA, and the Association's government affairs and public relations activities.
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