Free Speech Coalition is the national trade association to
the adult entertainment industry. We
exist with the sole purpose of serving the industry and, more specifically, our
members.
Like many organizations, FSC is a work in progress,
ever-changing and growing as time goes by.
In the past year alone, FSC has seen the arrival of a new Executive
Director and some changeover among our Board with a nearly simultaneous
reduction in staff caused, in large part, by the enormous cost of our ongoing
2257 litigation and others to protect adult companies from increasing
government intrusion.
Along the way, many other, equally important, issues have
surfaced that demand the attention of FSC as the voice of the industry,
including (but not limited to) piracy, the adult toy ban, zoning issues, the
Utah Un-Spam case, proposed taxes on adult goods and services, etc., etc. The list is nearly infinite – FSC’s financial
resources, finite.
Through it all, one thing has remained the same. FSC was formed by and for its members – and
our focus remains steadfast in that arena, recognizing that everything we do,
whether through litigation, lobbying, the development of ‘value added’ benefits
and services, publications, reports, public education, piracy or the myriad of
things we work so hard to achieve, is all done on behalf of our membership.
FSC acknowledges some shortcomings. We readily admit that we have not been as
transparent to the adult entertainment community as we probably should have been. We recognize that we often fail to keep
members adequately informed of the things we’re working on as we do them. We acknowledge that the broad issues facing a
multi-segmented adult entertainment industry sometimes stretch our limited
resources beyond our realistic capacity.
We pledge to improve in these areas as follows:
1. In an effort to
increase the transparency of our organization, we will be more forthcoming with
reports, both favorable and not-so-favorable, describing our progress (or lack
of it) in areas of endeavor, stated goals and financial stewardship.
2. In an effort to
better meet the needs of our members, we will find more active ways to solicit
feedback from our membership, beginning with a survey of our membership in
September 2007, so that we can more effectively focus our limited resources in
the areas of greatest importance.
3. In an effort to
meet the ever-increasing demands of many separate industry segments and niches,
FSC will focus our energies in the areas that seem to most globally affect all
segments, and/or to create segment-specific programs whenever resources allow.
FSC is an organization involved in a wide variety of
activities. Our notoriety and identity
are aligned, not surprisingly, with our recent 2257 litigation. We have publicly pledged to continue that
battle because of its importance to the adult entertainment community as a
whole; however, in addition, FSC is striving toward becoming a full-service
trade association in furtherance of our members’ bottom lines and in
furtherance of our members’ needs for trade association benefits and services.
The industry is growing and evolving and FSC must grow and
evolve with it. Members’ feedback is of
the utmost importance to us. Please feel
free to contact us at 1-818-348-9373 with your suggestions.
With that in mind, FSC will soon announce the introduction
of discounted 2257 record-keeping software for those companies who seek
it. In addition, after months of
research and negotiations, FSC will soon be announcing the availability of
brokered insurance services to individual and corporate members through a
nationwide insurance program available through the largest privately-held insurance brokerage in the world. We already offer a variety of other member
services and, as time goes by, other benefits of membership will be announced
and introduced, including travel discounts and others. We’re very excited to be on the cusp of
offering such important services, with more to come.
In November, FSC will be publishing its annual
State-of-the-Industry Report. This
widely-read and highly-valued report will detail the industry in all of its
segments and aspects, and will become a useful tool in lobbying and other
activities FSC engages in to support its members. This year’s report is larger and more
comprehensive than ever before.
In early 2008, FSC will publish its first-ever (to my
knowledge) Annual Report, in conjunction with the agency’s Annual Meeting,
usually held in February. This Report
will provide a detailed narrative of the many things. It will give the industry perhaps the first
opportunity to see a synopsis of FSC’s fiscal picture, following the completion
of a CPA-led external audit as we demonstrate good financial stewardship, not
only to the IRS, but to our members.
FSC is your trade
association. We were formed in 1991 by
concerned industry leaders to serve you.
More than 15 years later, we’re still here, growing, expanding, and fighting
on your behalf – in service to you.
Are we perfect in these efforts? No. ut
we will continue to strive for excellence in the work we do for our members and
the industry as a whole.
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, We may all have come on different
ships, but we’re all in the same boat now. How true it is for FSC today.
With many separate segments, all with separate and
overlapping needs, and an entire country of members to represent, we have many
different issues and many competing concerns.
In the end, though – we’re all in the same boat as we fight governmental
oppression and legislation, and promote positive environments where adult
entertainment businesses can exist and flourish. Despite our external separateness, we are one
voice, with one purpose.
It’s easy to tip over someone else’s boat as it moves along
in the water, but this is a time for collective effort, rowing in the same
direction, at the same time. We need the
entire industry to unite under one mission – and one purpose – for our mutual
success.
Please! Get onboard,
grab an oar, and become part of the solution.
Only when united may we stand.
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