Getting my vision of IOBA off the ground has been a long, arduous, and sometimes painful project. I had a vision but did not have the necessary skills and knowledge to handle all of the technical aspects. I feel being the messenger has been the most challenging thing I have ever done. Stepping back and letting others develop IOBA, each with our own strong opinions, coming to realize that we all had to compromise on different issues, has been challenging for all of us.
Now that the legal aspects have been settled, I am confident that IOBA will be a force to be reckoned with in online bookselling. I was skeptical and somewhat cynical in the organizational stages, but now I feel that what has been accomplished is a great beginning for a good trade association. It was and still is my goal to develop a database, but I think that the new search engine is the next best thing to reaching this goal.
How IOBA develops is now up to you, our members. Personally, the subject of ethics and vetting has become a sore point with me. I don’t believe we should dictate how individual dealers conduct their own businesses. I think at best, we should develop minimal standards, that will be viewed as just good business practices.
We all need to unite, and develop a fair, equitable IOBA, that we can all be proud of. I have faith that all of you will be able to accomplish this. We have an outstanding board working for the benefit of the membership, and I realize this will be instrumental in the success of IOBA.
Sincerely, Sally Hollingsworth
Founder Member-At-Large Finance Chair