profile

WIA Profile: Diane Duke

What did you do for a living prior to coming on board as the executive director of the FSC?

I have worked with non-profits for almost 25 years including the American Heart Association and the YMCA. Before coming to FSC, I served as senior vice president for Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon for 12 years, where I was responsible for the oversight of board development, public affairs, fundraising, marketing and media relations, budget development and strategic planning.

FSC was involved in blocking the .XXX top-level domain

In your opinion, what are the top three priorities/issues for the FSC as 2008 unfolds?

(1) Continue to organize the industry and our consumers in order to impact the legislative process in local communities, statewide and nationally, preventing anti-adult industry legislation and regulations; (2) strategically combat 2257 with the goal of completely striking it down as unconstitutional or restructuring it to a reasonable level of compliance; and (3) provide resources for FSC members and the industry to address the issue of piracy.

Most people in the industry know about the litigating that FSC has done, especially its challenge to 2257; what are some activities the FSC undertakes that people might not be so aware of?

FSC was involved in blocking the .XXX top-level domain submitted to ICANN by Stuart Lawley and ICM. FSC, in coalition with others, launched a public comment campaign to provide input on the dangers of a .XXX TLD. FSC then sent two representatives to Portugal to lobby ICAAN Board members prior to the critical. FSC spoke on behalf of the industry and we were victorious. For the first time in history, at our October event, a presidential candidate addressed the adult industry; we partnered with Lockton, the world's largest privately held insurance brokerage, to provide members with health, worker's comp and property and casualty insurance; we are now providing software discounts to our members; and FSC lobbies at the nation's capital and in Sacramento, Calif.

If you could snap your fingers and change any one thing about the adult entertainment industry, what would you change?

If I could change one thing, it would be to have the industry come out of the closet, stand up for itself and take pride in being the vital upstanding industry that it is.

Each month, industry news media organization XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry's most influential female executives.

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

opinion

How Sextech Is Helping Pioneer a New Approach to E.D.

Erectile dysfunction is no longer just an issue affecting older men — there has been a significant increase in younger people seeking help for ED, with numbers climbing globally.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

How to Thwart Holiday Fraudsters With Finesse

The holiday season is a prime time for shopping. Unfortunately, it’s also peak season for credit card fraud. With increased transactions both online and in-store, fraudsters have more opportunities to exploit vulnerabilities — and they are getting better at it every day.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

How to Advise Beginners on Shopping 'Animal Play' Toys

An important aspect of sex that doesn’t get talked about enough is exercising our imaginations. Letting our minds run wild gives us the chance to try new positions, play with new parts of the body, add toys and accessories, or even create a completely made-up fantasy world where we can pretend to be an entirely different species.

Rebecca Weinberg ·
opinion

How to Halt Hackers as Fraud Attacks Rise

For hackers, it’s often a game of trial and error. Bad actors will perform enumeration and account testing, repeating the same test on a system to look for vulnerabilities — and if you are not equipped with the proper tools, your merchant account could be the next target.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

Strategies for Navigating Content Restrictions on Social Media

Welcome to the “seggsual” wellness industry, also known as the “s//xual wellness industry” or “s-eggs-ual” wellness industry. Why so many aliases? Because mentioning what we actually do can torpedo our marketing efforts on social media platforms.

Scarlett Ward ·
trends

A Look at the Global Trends Shaping the Pleasure Products Industry

Multiple factors are shaping the pleasure landscape, including technological advancements, innovations in product design and sustainability, the impact of digital marketing and ecommerce, and the varying degrees of openness toward sexual wellness the industry encounters across different territories.

profile

WIA Profile: Kate McGregor

Ask Kate McGregor’s colleagues and co-workers, and they will likely tell you that she was always destined to do great things, wherever she landed — but that they are glad McGregor’s path led her to the colorful world of vibrators and butt plugs.

Women In Adult ·
profile

Electric Novelties Execs Reflect on Company Origins, Mission

When Zach Goode first crossed paths with Electric Novelties over 20 years ago, both he and the company were deeply entrenched in the apparel world. Goode was handling sales for a friend’s novelty T-shirt company, Sik World, while Electric specialized in sexy lingerie and clubwear.

Ariana Rodriguez ·
profile

Sensual Distributors Ltd. Blends Real-Life Love Story, Passion for Pleasure Biz

This local brick-and-mortar is a “mom and mom” operation led by co-owners Alana Thompson and Angini Singh, a lesbian couple who overcame their country’s strict, religious culture to create a sexual wellness boutique that serves their unique community.

Colleen Godin ·
opinion

How History Drives Marketing Strategies Today

Thanks to the efforts of activists, sex educators and members of marginalized communities, products like sex toys, lubricants and adult films have become much less stigmatized, and much more visible and accepted in the public sphere today.

Hail Groo ·
Show More