An advisory board is a small, exclusive leadership group at the heart of a large and broad council or committee. The practical effect is that the Advisory Board sets the strategic direction of the council and/or committee. For instance, if the advisory board decides to create a working group to examine a problem or produce a best practices document, technical protocol or measurement guideline then it is a good practice to select a leader of that initiative from the advisory board, then fill the working group with participants from the council or committee. Membership

The make up of each advisory board will depend on the mission of the council it serves. Here are some guidelines taken from historic experience with the existing boards of the Ad Ops and Ad Technology Councils. *Size - An advisory board is only effective if the size is kept small and therefore manageable. There is not set limit for size, however, 15 - 25 companies with 2 representatives each has worked historically. *Exclusivity - Keeping the board membership limited to companies with common goals is has proved important to the success of an advisory board. This is in contrast to councils which can and should allow broad access. *Influence - The best individual members of an advisory board are influential within their organizations. This does not always mean senior. The goal of the any group at the IAB is to change the advertising industry for the better. To do this, companies need to adopt the guidelines and protocols and best practices produced by the working groups. Governance

Each advisory board is different in the way they manage themselves as a leadership group. It is typical for each group to decide how they exert control over membership and in most cases, this will come down to voting.