This morning at the Yellow Pages Association 2010 conference, association President Neg Norton presented a lifetime achievement award to John Kelsey, founder of The Kelsey Group, now BIA/Kelsey.

John founded The Kelsey Group in 1986 with his wife Pam Kelsey, a fixture at The Kelsey Group’s 80 industry conferences over the years. Norton and BIA/Kelsey President Neal Polachek, via video, praised John for his business acumen and not always politically correct forward thinking analysis. That analysis has been the basis of The Kelsey Group’s Continuous Advisory Services that have served every major global directory publisher over the past 20+ years. The Kelseys sold the business to BIA in October 2008.

John and Pam — on behalf of the thousands of people you’ve welcomed to conferences and have helped to understand the future of the interactive local media space — thank you for all you have done. You’ve left an indelible mark on the industry. Congrats on a well-deserved award!