The following advice was distributed this week from the International Buegrass Music Association website on the resignation of the IBMA Director Mr Dan Hayes.
The Board of Directors of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) announced today that it has reluctantly accepted the resignation of Executive Director Dan Hays, effective February 29, 2012. In doing so, the Board expressed its profound appreciation for Hays’ 21 years of effective, dedicated service in the position, noting that his contributions have been indispensable to the organization’s stature as a force for professionalism within the industry and as an advocate for the music in broader circles.
Citing new opportunities facing the music and the organization in coming years, Hays noted that:
“Bluegrass has achieved amazing and very different kinds of success over the last seven decades. Today, bluegrass is poised to reach new heights, and IBMA has embarked on the challenge of reinventing itself in an age of major change in the entertainment world. I’m fully in support of IBMA addressing the challenges of this era and have given my best to help set the stage for another positive evolution.”
“Approaching 2012, IBMA is poised to open doors to a new generation of opportunities – in creativity, in how we do business, and in how we connect with fans. The role of the Executive Director will be critical, not only in helping us to walk through those doors, but in solidifying and strengthening the emerging roles for the organization in coming years. It’s exciting to be where we are and, in my judgment, this is an opportune time for a leadership transition.”
Hays’ contributions are intertwined throughout the organization’s efforts of the past two decades, including:
- establishing the IBMA Awards and its worldwide broadcast
- a successful annual World of Bluegrass business conference offering a wide array of professional development opportunities
- the annual Bluegrass Fan Fest, a multi-day festival with an enormous talent lineup that raises money for IBMA and the Bluegrass Trust Fund (which offers financial aid to music industry professionals in time of emergency need)
- creating Leadership Bluegrass, a high level industry educational program which boasts hundreds of alumni
- “Bluegrass in the Schools” programs, which have reached out to millions of young people and, in recent years, spurred the creation of a new Foundation For Bluegrass Music to connect charitable giving with these and similar public programs.
- a variety of industry-wide marketing initiatives that have helped to elevate the profile of the genre around the world.
Hays has also been responsible for raising several million dollars through corporate relations for IBMA and in charitable contributions to the Foundation for Bluegrass Music and the Bluegrass Trust Fund, as well as representing the organization in public and to the world of entertainment.
“To be entrusted with the responsibilities of this position and welcomed into the family of our music has been a genuine blessing throughout the years,” Hays added. “I will be leaving with more appreciation than can be expressed for current and former board leaders, volunteers, members, staff and other supporters.”
“It’s inconceivable that we would be where we are today without the vision and dedication that Dan Hays has brought to the job of Executive Director,” said Board of Directors Chair Stan Zdonik. “Thanks to his work, we’re confident that our music—and our organization—are in a strong position to find creative ways of meeting the need to move into the future while retaining our essential connection to the music’s roots.”
The Board announced that its Executive Committee—Zdonik; Vice-Chair Jon Weisberger; and Board members Craig Havighurst, Carl Jackson and Dwight Worden—has been tasked with conducting the search for a successor to Hays, who pledged his full support in carrying out a smooth transition. Potential candidates for the position will be able to pick up an application packet at the IBMA office or on the IBMA website between November 18 and December 15 with December 15 being the deadline for submission of an application.
More information on the position will be posted on www.ibma.org as it develops.
The letter from Mr Hayes:
This letter is to inform you of my plans to resign as Executive Director of IBMA. I joined the organization as your staff leader in August of 1990 and, with the board’s approval, my last day of employment will be February 29, 2012.
It is said that timing is everything in music and equally important in my decision. A good friend and mentor told me that “life is not a marathon…but a relay race” and to succeed – especially working with others – includes finding the right time to hand off the baton.
Bluegrass has achieved amazing and very different kinds of success over the last seven decades and we honor each generation’s contributions with deserved pride. Today, bluegrass is poised to reach new heights, and IBMA has embarked on the challenge of reinventing itself in an age of major change in the entertainment world. I’m fully in support of IBMA addressing the challenges of this era and have given my best to help set the stage for another positive evolution.
Approaching 2012, IBMA is poised to open doors to a new generation of opportunities – in creativity, in how we do business, and in how we connect with fans. The role of the Executive Director will be critical, not only in helping us to walk through those doors, but in solidifying and strengthening the emerging roles for the organization in coming years. It’s exciting to be where we are and, in my judgment, this is an opportune time for a leadership transition.
IBMA will find it easier to communicate changes in the industry and its role with a new staff leader, someone less identified with what we have been and what we have achieved in the past. It’s also time for me to explore the next stage of my career and I look forward to discovering what that chapter will bring once my work here is done.
To be entrusted with the responsibilities of this position and welcomed into the family of our music has been a genuine blessing throughout the years. I will be leaving with more appreciation than can be expressed for current and former board leaders, volunteers, members, staff and other supporters. Nothing I may have contributed could have been accomplished without your commitment.
The daily interactions with you through IBMA will be missed, but there is great comfort in knowing my wife Suzanne and I will continue friendships in the bluegrass community which will last a lifetime.
During the transition period, you will have my full attention to the responsibilities of IBMA and its priorities. Further, should needs arise after my departure, I will do everything possible to help our next Executive Director and IBMA succeed.
Dan has been a great leader for our music’s major Association. He has personally assited us in taking our music overseas and treating our band like a business for the best interest of bluegrass in Australia.