CHATSWORTH, Calif. – Seven candidates are vying for six available seats on the Free Speech Coalition’s 2016 board of directors. Active FSC members will vote this month via electronic ballots sent by Survey Monkey.

Incumbents in the race are Adam & Eve’s Bob Christian, ElDorado Trading Company’s Larry Garland, Moxxx Productions’ Mo Reese, current FSC board chairman and attorney Jeffrey Douglas, NakedSword.com founder and Chief Executive Officer Tim Valenti and Mark “Blazing” Schechter, owner of Adult Talent Managers Los Angeles.

Inga Van Riper, Brand Manager for Honey’s Place, is the sole newcomer.

In alphabetical order by last name, the candidates are:

Bob Christian, director of new business for Adam & Eve
Christian has been employed by Adam & Eve’s parent company, PHE Inc., for 20 years. Currently, he serves as general manager for Adam & Eve Pictures, as well as a member of Adam & Eve’s senior management and marketing team. He helped to create Adam & Eve Retail Stores, which encompasses 62 franchised locations, as well as Temptations Parties, Adam & Eve’s home parties company.

Prior to Adam & Eve, Christian worked as general manager for General Vitamin, one of Adam & Eve founder Phil Harvey’s non-adult businesses. He is a graduate of Duke University and obtained an MBA from the University of North Carolina.

Christian has served on the FSC’s board of directors for four years; as treasurer for two of those years.

Jeffrey Douglas, attorney
Douglas is a Santa Monica, Calif., criminal defense lawyer who has represented all segments of the adult entertainment industry since 1982.  He currently serves as chairman of the FSC’s board of directors and chairman emeritus of the First Amendment Lawyers Association.

A nationally recognized spokesperson for the adult entertainment industry and an expert witness, Douglas appears regularly as a media commentator, and has testified before Congress by invitation. He is the author of numerous magazine articles.

“I have had the honor of serving as FSC board chair for many years,” he said. “I believe that it is important for the organization that I continue to serve as we select [FSC Chief Executive Officer] Diane [Duke]’s successor and help everyone through the transition. I request your support.”

Larry Garland, founder and owner of ElDorado Trading Company
Garland is a graduate of the University of Virginia and has been the president of Eldorado Trading Company for more than 40 years. Eldorado has been recognized as a pioneer in the adult novelty and romance industries, and as the company’s leader, Garland stays abreast of current trends and forces that drive the market.

He received the 2011 AVN “O” Awards Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the StorErotica Hall of Fame in 2013. He and his wife, Wanda, are the proud parents of two and reside in the heart of the Rockies in Boulder, Colo.

Garland is a staunch supporter of the FSC and currently serves as the organization’s vice president.

Mo Reese, owner of MOXXX Productions
Reese is an adult content producer, freelance production manager and photographer with a mainstream background. He was born and raised in Oregon and moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the Art Institute of Seattle in 1997. Once in California, he worked in commercial photography for 10 years before actively making the transition to adult.

A vocal activist for adult-industry rights and welfare, Reese has worked in a variety of production capacities including director, producer, general manager and production manager for several noteworthy studios. He also has performed in several award-nominated POV adult movies. He maintains the blog TheAverageMo.com and hosts a weekly podcast, MORE w/Mo, during which he speaks with everyone from performers to directors about something besides porn.

Mark Schechter, owner of and agent for ATMLA
Schechter, 57, possesses more than 17 years of experience in the adult industry. In 2012, he purchased ATMLA and now is the agency’s sole owner and hands-on operator. Prior to acquiring ATMLA, he worked in affiliate marketing, content production, sales, publishing and distribution as co-owner of award-winning affiliate program BlazingBucks.

In addition to currently serving as an FSC board member, he is an active participant on the advisory committee for Performer Availability Scheduling Services.

“After serving my initial two-year term as an FSC board member, I feel as though I just got started,” he said. “These past two years have been extremely rewarding, being able to give back to an industry that has provided [for] me and my family very well over the past 17 years. I am compelled to continue devoting my time and energy to the efforts of the FSC.”

Tim Valenti, CEO and founder of NakedSword.com
In addition to his role at NakedSword.com, Valenti serves as president of Falcon Studios Group. A pioneer of video streaming, he has been a leading figure in the adult industry for nearly 20 years. His first company, Cubik Media, was instrumental in helping many adult studios to transition online. After founding NakedSword.com, he turned the company into “the Netflix of gay porn” before venturing into award-winning content production.

He currently serves as the FSC’s president.

Inga Van Riper, brand manager for Honey’s Place
Van Riper has been part of Honey’s Place team since 2011. She drew on 15 years of experience in analytics and project management to help the company launch its Build the Store virtual store white-labeling platform. She also possesses significant experience in SEO and online marketing.

Van Riper is the author and creator of Build the Store’s blog, SexyTech, which provides guidelines in ecommerce, including SEO, social media marketing and AdWords. She also has been featured in publications including AVN, Brandignity, Cyber Coders and New York Magazine.

“Working with a sex toy distribution company, its digital marketing and CPC campaigns such as Adwords, I see the entire industry being censored [when] attempting to advertise with search companies such as Google,” she said. “We, as an industry, need to find ways to reach out and to work with Google so our companies can continue to advertise online and continue to be successful. Being on the board of directors of such an influential organization as the Free Speech Coalition, I believe we can make a difference.”

Active FSC members who have not received an electronic ballot may contact the FSC office by phone (818-348-9373) or email.

Voting ends Dec. 17.