The IAWTV is currently preparing to elect five new members to the board of directors and someone nominated me. Last week I accepted the nomination and submitted the following candidate’s statement. Regardless of whether I win or lose, I will continue to advocate the contents of this statement which I hold very highly.

Thanks to the person(s) who nominated me, I appreciate your vote of confidence!

Thank you for nominating me to run for a seat on the board of directors. I am very passionate about our industry and driven to uplift our achievements and professionalism. Here is an outline of my thoughts on where I feel we should take the academy in the coming months. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

International- Though the IAWTV has held meetings in Los Angeles and New York, the web series industry is not restricted to these cities and we should be mindful not to exclude our international membership. As an international member (Canadian), I proposed the live-stream for the last meeting in Los Angeles and I feel it’s important to continue this inclusive way of thinking, and to encourage the international community, with the help of the Membership Committee, to join the academy and help educate and build the communities in their area. All this can be simple with some basic equipment and guidance from the Technologies Committee.

Education- Education is a wonderful tool to build exposure and community in our organization. I’d like to help the Events Committee oversee regional (local) member-organized workshops, public live-streamed peer-group panels, and blog posts on the IAWTV web site to help build our community involvement, knowledge and industry as a whole.

Advocacy- It’s time to get back on track to advocate our professionalism and devotion to this field by following up on the many issues that have recently plagued our community (e.g. Net Neutrality, IMDb excluding web series, etc.). I would like to work together with the Communications Committee to prepare statements on the issues, help the Industry Standards Committee create standards and best practices, and assist the Events Committee in facilitating protests.

Awards- I feel it’s important to celebrate our community and its’ achievements by giving it the awards show it deserves. Like many of you, I was dismayed by this year’s Streamy Awards and would like to work together with the Awards Committee to oversee the script, content, security and guest treatment guidelines for next year. Our show needs to represent the spirit and hard work of our industry and its’ stars (whether they be from the web or the mainstream) in a respectful tone.

About me: I have been working in the web TV industry since 2005 and have appeared in over a dozen web series. I have written about the industry for The Guardian, spoken on numerous panels across Canada and the US, and coordinated open community-based meetings to share knowledge with those interested in the field. Aside from being a member of the IAWTV, I am also a judge of the Canadian New Media Awards and have organized meetings with SAG and AFTRA on behalf of New Media West to discuss the details of their new media contracts. I have a Diploma in Communications, a Bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies and worked as a diplomatic assistant before pursuing my career in new media full time. I speak English, French and Korean. (For more, see my biography and resume.)

Casey McKinnon
New Media Producer/Actress

All candidate statements should be emailed to the IAWTV membership and posted on the forum today. May the best candidates win.