The following have been named to the Freech Speech Coalition Board of Directors: Al Bloom from M&M Sales; Allan B. Gelbard, First Amendment Attorney, Mark Kernes, AVN legal editor; Gloria Leonard, Free Speech Coalition president; William Margold of PAW, Carol Queen, writer/editor; Scott Tucker, president of Topco Sales and David Wasserman, First Amendment Attorney.
Bill Lyon is the Coalition's new Executive Director. Lyon comes from a communications background.
Lyon: "I bring about 35 almost 40 years of work in lobbying, marketing and mangement, both in non-profit and for profit companies. I was the vice president of marketing and business development for Persona Partners, a software manufacturer; I was also vice president of client services for Unimark which is a very large advertising, marketing and public relations firm. I've worked for the Exceptional Children's Foundation as far as non-profits go. I was head of marketing there. At one point I also owned a 23-store specialty retail chain called The Incredible Christmas company."
G. Ross: "You almost sound like Mr. Mainstream."
Lyon: "As far as I'm concerned I am mainstream. And as far as I'm concerned this industry is mainstream. It's a huge industry and has a huge consumer base. There's no reason why it shouldn't be mainstream. I believe that the biggest part of my job is to present the industry as a mainstream industry. I have only been here a week, so I don't want to go into specific programs. There are certainly things I see we can do a better job of. If anything, we need more programs and more exposure rather than any dramatic changes from things we're currently doing."
G. Ross: "I assume you have a different perspective on things not coming from the legal avenue [as Jeffrey Douglas].
Lyon: "My perspective is from a communications aspect. Our job is to communicate the goals of this industry. There are certainly legal situations constantly involved, but the important thing is we get more exposure with the general public so they come to understand that we're not a bunch of weirdos on the other side of the fence."
