GAMA Elects Two New Board Members

The Game Manufacturers Association, commonly known as GAMA, has elected two new board members, Stephen Brissaud as the new Vice President and Marie Poole as the At-Large Director.  Stephen Brissaud is the current COO of IELLO and so will bring his knowledge and experience from 25 years in the industry to help grow and expand GAMA and the hobby as a whole.  The first step he says is to first "strengthen the bridges that we have built between our association and the Toy Industry Association (TIA) and the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA)". Marie Poole is the current CEO of Lone Shark Games and will be bringing her experience from the five years in that position along with her 25 years of board experience and degree in non-profit management.  With the election of these two to the board I imagine GAMA is on course to keep growing and expanding in the future and to continue improving the hobby.  You can read the full press release from GAMA below. Columbus, OH – June 28, 2016 – The Game Manufacturers Association’s Publisher/Manufacturer members elected Stephan Brissaud as the new Vice President during the Annual Membership Meeting at Origins Game Fair. Marie Poole was also elected to an At-Large Director position. The new positions are effective immediately. Two previously serving At-Large Directors, Larry Roznai and Mike Webb, retained their seats for a further 2-year term. Aaron Witten was re-elected GAMA Treasurer. Brissaud, the COO of IELLO, USA, has 25 years of experience in the hobby industry and was elected to the GAMA board in June 2015 as an At-Large Director. He succeeds long time Vice President Jamie Chambers, who chose to not seek re-election this year. “It is an honor to have been trusted by GAMA to uphold the function of Vice-President,” said Brissaud, “I am looking forward to working with our President Justin Ziran, the GAMA board, and volunteers from our membership to implement the many systems and services that GAMA needs to propel itself to the next level. I also plan to strengthen the bridges that we have built between our association and the Toy Industry Association (TIA) and the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA). One important project is to follow up and support the TIA lobbying effort regarding toy safety and other legislation relevant to our industry.” The GAMA Board also welcomed Marie Poole, the CEO of Lone Shark Games. She will fill the At-Large Director position left by Brissaud’s promotion. Poole has been a leader at Lone Shark Games for five years and in the business and accounting industry for many more. She also brings with her a strong commitment to volunteerism along with 25 years of board experience and a degree in non-profit management. “I’m very proud to work in an industry that creates so much engaging content that thousands of communities have been built around it,” stated Poole, “I look forward to being of service to our membership and by extension, our fans. I think I can accomplish this best by listening to what our membership has to say. It is my goal to see that people who are new to the industry can receive the benefit of knowledge from our long-time members, hopefully through strong membership, education and mentorship initiatives." Brissaud and Poole join the existing GAMA Board: President Justin Ziran, Secretary Brian Dalrymple, Treasurer Aaron Witten, Directors At-Large: Joe Hauck, Larry Roznai, and Mike Webb, Distributor Chair Bob Maher, Retail Division Chair Travis Severance, President Emeritus Rick Loomis and Director Emeritus Michael Stackpole and Director Emeritus Will Niebling. The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) is a non-profit trade organization dedicated to serving the tabletop game industry. GAMA strengthens and supports all industry professionals by advancing their interests, providing educational programs and opportunities, and promoting unique forms of quality social entertainment. For more information, visit www.gama.org or follow @GamaOnline on Twitter.