Healy Appointed New BISG Executive Director

MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
August 31 – September 7, 2006 Edition

Healy Appointed

New BISG

Executive Director

New York, NY/8/29/06—Michael Healy, Editorial Director of Nielsen Book Services, has been appointed Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) and will be the keynote speaker at the trade association’s Annual Meeting of Members on September 8 at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in New York City, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled about joining BISG during this exciting time in the book industry,” Mr. Healy said. “Many parts of our industry are in a period of transforming change. Going forward, BISG will play a key role in defining new standards for the digital age while strengthening and extending those already in place. Building consensus as we seek to encourage greater efficiency in the evolving supply chain will continue to be a major focus for BISG.”

Michael Healy has more than fifteen years publishing industry experience and has been heavily involved in the development and management of book industry standards. For the past seven years he has been Editorial Director of Nielsen Book Services, one of the world's leading providers of information, transaction and market-measurement services to the book trade.

“My colleagues and I agree that Michael has the perfect combination of experience and knowledge to lead BISG,” said Joseph Gonnella, Chair of BISG’s Board of Directors. “Finding the right person has been a long process and the Board would like to thank the members of BISG for their patience and support as we took the time to find the best person for the job.”

BISG Board member and President of Nielsen Book, Jonathan Nowell added, “While I am very sorry to lose Michael from Nielsen BookData, I am delighted for BISG. There is no one in the world better qualified or more capable of delivering in this role than Michael.”

Mr. Healy is currently Chair of the International ISBN Agency, chair of the international committee responsible for revising the ISBN standard; a director of BIC (Book Industry Communication), the UK book trade's standards body, and chair of its product metadata committee; a member of the ONIX International steering committee, and a director of the International DOI Foundation.

BISG members will have an opportunity to meet Michael Healy during the trade association’s Annual Meeting of Members on September 8, where he will talk about his vision for BISG, the U.S. book industry’s leading trade association for policy, standards and research. “I look forward to talking with as many members as possible during the Annual Meeting,” Mr. Healy said. “It is important to me that I have a thorough understanding of member expectations as we work over the coming year to expand our reach, deliver more results and contribute more value to our members’ continued business success.”

Admission to BISG’s Annual Meeting is open to members only and free-of-charge. Further details, including an updated agenda and registration information, can be found on the web at http://www.bisg.org/conferences/event-cat-3-bisg-annual-meetings.php.

Michael Healy will officially begin his term as BISG Executive Director mid-October 2006. He will be reachable via phone at 646-336-7141 and via email at michael@bisg.org at this time. Anyone with questions in the meantime should contact Angela Bole, BISG Marketing and Communications Manager, at angela@bisg.org.