It is time to cast your vote in the 2021 ASI Board of Directors election.
ASI is pleased to announce this year’s slate of candidates for positions on the Board of Directors. The Nominations Committee had several goals when working to put together the slate of candidates, all of which focus on securing a strong future for ASI. These goals include the development of a strong Board of Directors that will function well as a whole while also representing the diversity of ASI members and their views; broadening the number of people who are included in ASI leadership at all levels; and ensuring that ASI will continue to have active members with board experience who are willing to take on future leadership roles at the highest levels. We believe the candidates presented here will help achieve all of these goals, and that they will work diligently to further the mission of ASI.
The following candidates have agreed to serve and, if elected, will take office on May 22, 2021 at the ASI Annual Meeting.
Biographies and vision statements appear below. Click on the individual names for more information.
President Elect
Gina Guilinger
Director at Large (Two positions are open in 2021):
————> Click here to complete your ballot. <————
DEADLINE FOR VOTING IS 5 PM PACIFIC TIME, April 16, 2021.
Candidate Biographies and Vision Statements
Gina Guilinger (Candidate for President Elect)
Biography
Gina has been indexing since 2011, specializing in back-of-the-book and database indexing. She has a BA in Law, Societies & Justice from the University of Washington and completed her indexing training through the UC Berkeley indexing course. Her indexing interests and specialties include religion, cooking, earth sciences, parenting, and criminology. Gina currently serves ASI as Director at Large and Membership Committee Chair and previously served as the Chair of the Rocky Mountain Chapter. She lives with her daughter in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, where, in their free time, they like to cook, read voraciously, and attend, (pre-pandemic), theatrical, musical, and circus arts events.
Vision Statement
I have been involved with ASI since the very beginning of my indexing career and credit the warm welcome I received at the first chapter event I attended with giving me the final nudge to pursue training. I believe in ASI’s core mission of advocacy, education and communication about indexing and believe a thriving membership base will support that mission. Through my involvement with the Membership Committee, I have had the opportunity to directly communicate with many new members over the past few years and look forward to continuing to share ASI’s mission with members, authors, publishers, and the public. I hope to continue to engage our current members and to attract new members with ASI’s continued commitment to excellence in training, continuing education, conference programming, and advocacy of the indexing profession.
Heather Pendley (Candidate for Director—three-year term)
Biography
When I struck up a conversation with a PhD on a plane a few years ago, she suggested I consider adding indexing to my copyediting services. That motivated me to take the UC Berkeley course, and I found indexing to be an interesting skill complementing my editing business. Whether back-of-the-book or embedded, most of the indexes I write are for the business/finance industry, but I have also indexed books in the genres of self-help, education, the culinary arts, and even the memoir of a popular 1960s band member.
I enjoyed attending ASI’s 2019 indexing conference in Arizona, wrote a review for one of ASI’s 2020 virtual indexing conference presentations, and often proofread the Key Words indexing journal. I’m currently the membership chair and social media co-chair of the San Diego Professional Editors Network, and I’m finishing a term as a member at large on the EFA Board of Governors. In my spare time, I’m a volunteer Bible teacher, enjoy gardening, reading, watching my daughter surf, helping my soon-to-retire husband with odd projects, and cuddling with our two rescue dogs, Boomer (a chigi) and Stella (a toxirn).
Vision Statement
Indexing is satisfying and has introduced me to subjects I’d never thought twice about, but I can’t imagine a fruitful career without the support of ASI and networking with its members. The continuing education ASI provides, along with its discussion lists, special interest groups, and chapter meetings all contribute to success in this constantly evolving field. As a volunteer on ASI’s membership committee, I am able to sincerely welcome and recommend this invaluable organization to other indexers.
Eileen Allen (Candidate for Director—three-year term)
Biography
I began indexing in 1990 as a result of a course on Indexing and Abstracting that I took during my MLS studies. During that class, I was involved in an OCLC-sponsored study on Index Quality, gaining an intimate understanding of usability and quality issues, and then, as a fresh graduate, was the managing editor for the index to the 40-year run of Film News. While I wrote a smattering of indexes while working as an academic librarian, a researcher, and a research administrator, I finally decided to pursue indexing and copyediting as a business in 2014. In the 1990s I joined ASI (then the American Society of Indexers) and Index-L; I have since returned to the organization that has provided so much support. This year I decided to give back and have become a member of the ASI webmaster team. From this perspective, I hope to make a contribution to the ASI board as a Director-at-large as well.
Vision Statement
Membership in professional organizations has always been important to me. None of us knows everything, and interacting with colleagues, staying abreast of the current research, and being aware of issues both in indexing and in the publishing industry is important in order to provide the best service to our clients. I have always had a philosophy of servant leadership and wish to help support ASI in the background where I can provide a needed service.