Organizational Structure
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the parent organization which produces Anime Expo, is a federal and California state registered 501(c)(6) non-profit corporation. The staff of the SPJA are divided into several divisions: Anime Expo, EX, HR, Finance, Marketing, MIS and Strategic Operations. Anime Expo is sub-divided in to sections: Entertainment & Operations. Entertainment is made up of sub-divisions: AV Tech, Guest Relations, Interactive Events and Programming. Operations is also made up of sub-divisions: Exhibit Hall and Facilities. As of 2011, there were 10 employees and over 750 staffers and volunteers that make up the SPJA and Anime Expo.
Although Anime Expo is primarily staffed by volunteers, the parent company the SPJA has a number of paid positions whose roles are to conduct the organization's year-round operations. Such positions include the CEO, Entertainment Directors, Finance Manager, HR Director and Operations Directors. The SPJA also hires consultants for outsourced functions such as marketing, governance/operations training and legal representation/consultation.
As of March 27, 2009, Chief Executive Officer Trulee Karahashi, who had been a part of Anime Expo and the SPJA in various capacities for 11 years, left the organization.
In September 2009, former Universal Studios executive Michael Lattanzio was hired as the SPJA's new CEO.
In January 2010, eight members of Anime Expo's upper management team (ConCom) publicly resigned over irreconcilable disagreements over the direction of the organization set forth by the SPJA's new CEO. One significant point of contention was the new CEO's decision to refocus and restructure the SPJA's marketing efforts starting with the dismissal of a PR and marketing contractor that the organization had a close working relationship with since 2004. Additionally, two other personnel had already left for other reasons, leaving only the vice chair and two others as returning members of the previous year's team.
As of September 2010, Michael Lattanzio was released from his CEO position. Then SPJA Chairman of the Board Marc Perez, became acting-CEO; In August 2011 he stepped down from the Board of Directors to take over as a full-time CEO (as required by the SPJA bylaws).
Read more about this topic: Anime Expo
Famous quotes containing the word structure:
“Science is intimately integrated with the whole social structure and cultural tradition. They mutually support one other—only in certain types of society can science flourish, and conversely without a continuous and healthy development and application of science such a society cannot function properly.”
—Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)