The Social Media Club, an international organization focused on advancing new media and social media, has announced today the formation of a new interim board of directors. The board is a working group and is charged with taking the organization to the next stages of its development, including the election of a formal board as part of a permanent governing structure. Connie Reece and I are both very proud to be members of the new entity and will keep you updated on all of its activities as we proceed.

According to Chris Heuer, founder of Social Media Club and Partner at The Conversation Group, “The Social Media Club is honored to have so many accomplished and well-regarded industry evangelists come forward to lead the organization. While the interim board will focus on charting the organization’s future direction, our core mission will remain the same: promotion of media literacy; support of industry standards efforts such as Creative Commons licensing, Microformats, Data Portability and OpenID; discussion and promotion of ethical behavior; and sharing our knowledge among our members and the industry community at large.”

Co-Founder and Social Media Club President Kristie Wells added, “We are grateful to have received so much support from around the world over the past two years. With nearly 200 paying members and over 500 open members - we are deeply appreciative of the volunteer efforts to make the Social Media Club a success. With leading corporate members, such as Business Wire and SHIFT Communications, as well as dedicated individual professionals, the Social Media Club will continue to gain momentum and serve the greater needs of the industry while sharing our lessons learned along the way.”

If you think you would like to get more involved with the local chapter or the international organization, please contact us. Social media, digital media, online communications, social networking, and all forms of social media will eventually affect every aspect of communications and society. The Austin Social Media Club is a great organization for bringing together people at all stages, from novices to experts, to learn and shape the future of this important form of human interaction.

Please follow the link to SMC home page announcing the new board: http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2008/07/09/social-media-club-forms-interim-board-to-chart-strategic-direction-and-advance-its-goals/

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~ @ConnieReece and @MikeChapman