On Thu, Jun 27, 2024 at 2:03 PM Guy Finley <[email protected]> wrote:

 

Dear MESA Members:

I’m excited to share some changes with you regarding MESA membership.

In short, MESA is going to stop being a membership association effective July 1st, and we will provide a home for those member companies (and communities) within CDSA. MESA will evolve to a media-centric news organization that will continue to publish newsletters (including CDSA and EIDR) and the annual M+E Journal.

This change helps eliminate any confusion between MESA and CDSA across our communities regarding which entity to engage with and how they relate. It also reduces our overhead and increases our efficiency to be able to continue delivering the events and community experience you’ve come to expect with us. Your membership in MESA is being “grandfathered” into CDSA and you are under no commitment to continue. When your renewal approaches you will then need to make the decision to continue on with your CDSA membership.

CDSA will continue to have a specific focus on content-related security, but adding existing content-delivery councils and working groups (localization, data, supply chain) under the CDSA umbrella allows those communities to get closer to security issues, and you to them…against a backdrop where everyone has very common needs around things like AI that are dramatically impacting everyone.

We feel this approach to stop MESA membership and move these elements under CDSA is a great win/win. It will also help add more breadth, relevance, and value to your CDSA membership. Your support is what helped make MESA great and I’m so very proud of the brands we built and what we achieved for our industry during the 15 years we worked together.

Caroline, Teresa, and Alesia will continue to be your representatives across the office of the CDSA Secretariat. Caroline will continue to drive the Content Localisation Council and their London event in February. Mary will continue to be our Smart Content director and our DAM(n) subject matter expert. Yonah will continue to lead the LMT Working Group which will nestle under CDSA’s existing, extensive working group schedule and publish their validator via CDSA.

I am already the Executive Director (and will continue to be!) of both CDSA and WiTH. I will continue in my role as business manager and advisor to Hollie and EIDR. And, of course, will continue to be the inspirational leader/facilitator and “master of fun” for all of these communities and their events. After IBC, CDSA members will host an NAB NY event in October, WiTH hosts the SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit (co-located with Infinity Festival in Hollywood) in November, CDSA hosts a UK Quarterly right before Thanksgiving and we’ll wrap the year with the annual CDSA event December 9/10.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, CDSA was started in 1970 by my grandfather, Larry Finley. as ITA, the International Tape Association. With the passing of my father in February I understood the importance of family legacy (Garrett’s, too!) and appreciate your support in making this transition.

Your feedback is always welcome and I look forward to seeing you at the CDSA Summit at the W Hotel and networking reception on Dam Square at Café Zwart on Friday, Sept. 13. In Amsterdam during IBC.

Regards,
GF

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