AMTA AL Chapter BOD Meeting Minutes   August 1, 2002, 3 PM CDT via Conference Call

The Board of Directors (BOD) met via teleconference (hosted by Genesis Conferencing). 

Ø      

 

 Sharlie Kinsey,

Chapter Secretary
 
Len Daley opened the meeting and Sharlie Kinsey took the roll and annotated anyone leaving or reentering.  A quorum was not present until after 3:15 when four more participants joined the meeting.

Ø       Attendees (voting members noted with *) were

o        President, Len Daley*

o        Secretary, Sharlie Kinsey*

o        Treasurer, Karl Crowe*

o        1st VP, Heather Harris*

o        2nd VP, Central Regional Rep, LaDonna Ward*

o        Education, Julia Young Hayes

o        Newsletter, Linda Stolarczyk

o        MERT, Gayla Henderson

o        Public Relations, Marcia Martin

o        Past President, Government Relations, SW Regional Rep, Denise Walker

Not present

o        3rd VP, Shannon Federer*

o        Membership, SE Regional Rep, Russell Wilson

o        Northern Regional Rep, Marc Ague

Ø       Minutes of May 4, 2002 meeting included in the Alabama Kneads Newsletter and available on the website were approved as submitted.

Ø       Agenda approved as submitted

Ø       Secretary, Sharlie Kinsey – reported on communication from AMTA Chapter Relations.  Personal Information such as Phone Numbers and Email addresses cannot be corrected by any means other than that member posting the change to their information.  BOD and Chairs with out of date information include, Heather Harris AC and Email, Shannon Federer email, Karl Crow AC and Email, Russ Wilson Email, Denise Walker Email, Linda Stolarczyk Email, Marcia Martin AC and Email, Marc Ague Email.  Each was encouraged to update this information so that chapter officer information on the national web site would be accurate.

Ø       Treasury, Karl Crowe,

o        1. Reported no significant changes to accounts except that the money market fund was only accruing $14 per month in contrast to the range of about $100 per month previously experienced.

o        2. Len Daley reported that Reservations for Portland could be made through Orbitz for less than $400 round trip from both Montgomery and Mobile.  He agreed to forward booking information to Portland attendees whose expenses are being covered by the Chapter.  These are:

·         Len Daley, Presidents Council

·         Heather Harris, HOD Delegate

·         Denise Walker, Meritorious Award Winner

o        3. A motion and second were offered to arrange a merchant account for credit card payments for Annual Meetings, CEs at quarterly meetings and merchandise, at events and over the website.  The motion was discussed and approved.  This may be limited to Visa and Master Card if other card companies require additional fees or higher costs.  Len will assist Karl in the implementation of this service for our members.

o        4. A motion and second were offered to acquire an AMTA-AL Chapter Credit Card to be used for large BOD expenses such as Annual Meeting and travel registrations, newsletter expenses, and other large controllable items with advance notice of  need and amounts.  The card was not to be used for individual BOD meals or minor expenses which must be processed as we do it now.  After discussion of security issues and concerns regarding control of the card number, the motion was tabled.

o        5. A motion and second were offered to create an ad hoc committee to formulate guidelines for BOD expenses. The motion was discussed and approved.  Karl Crowe and Len Daley offered to serve on this committee.  It will be open to other interested participants who make their interest known.                                    (cont’d next page)

o        6.  Correspondence with national raised the need for clarification of chapter policy regarding compensation of volunteers acting as CE instructors and potential conflicts of interest.  Further clarification guidelines have been requested from Andrea Haller at national and will be used to validate or reformulate our chapter policy.

(Note: Clarification was received Friday, August 2, 2002, and we are operating properly with regard to conflicts of interest in our scheduling procedures and our compensation practices.)

Ø       Membership Report – We are at 181 Prof, 237 Assoc, and 5 Schools.

Ø       Education Report –

o        1. Huntsville CE Transforming Stress to Useable Energy In Your Massage Practice – Len Daley, Introduction to Aquatic Massage – Julia Young Hayes.

o        2. Conflict of interest issue for volunteer board members payment as instructors doing CE.  Communicating with Andrea Haller at National for guidance as noted in Treasurer’s report.  (See Note above)

o        3.  CE Program Planning - Education Committee input from 16 members contributing at side meetings at the Annual Meeting in Birmingham requested:

§         A. Designs for Strength Conditioning and Stretching for therapists

§         B. Palpation Skills

§         C. Aquatic Massage

§         D. A Panel of How To’s in Massage Business Practice and Ethical Concerns

§         Additional suggested areas included:

·         Registry of LMT’s; what you need to market yourself

·         Orthopedic Massage

·         Sports Massage – especially if we can get Benny Vaughn at annual meeting in 2003 or 2004.

·         Massage for Special Needs Clients - Michael Regina Whitely

o        4. These suggestions resulted in the following proposed programs

§         A. The Huntsville Classes will respond to requests A, C and D.

§         Nov, 2, 2002, Special Needs Clients, Michael Regina Whitely, Aquatic Massage Advanced In Pool Experiential Training - Julia Young Hayes, these classes respond to requests B, C and D.

§         Feb, 1, 2003, TBD

§         May, 2-4 2003, Benny Vaughn featured presenter with other offerings.  Responding to requests A, B, C, and D.

o        5. Continuing Education documentation summary has been prepared to send to the State Board of Alabama, NCBMTB and AMTA National to bring up to date our documentation of our offerings as a Continuing Education and Category A Provider.  Draft will be available for review at Huntsville meeting.

Ø       MERT –

o        We have received two videos from National.

§         One is a training video for potential volunteer team members,

§         The other is a promotional piece to develop working relationships between other EM agencies and MERT.

o        Gayla would appreciate more effort and response to recruit MERT members and for interested potential members to identify their interests. 

Ø       Public Relations –

o        The notion of hiring a PR Consultant firm was discussed with advisors from national and deemed inadvisable at the present time.

o        Our current emphasis will be on Massage Awareness Week, Oct 20-26, 2002.  Efforts will emphasize radio, TV and print coverage, with an effort to gain coverage with local contacts and transfer successful efforts to a broader coverage of the state as successes occur and additional contact resources are discovered.

o        Radio and TV interviews will be scheduled around state to promote massage.  Len Daley and Denise Walker will be available for these.

Ø       Government Relations – Insurance third party payment legislation may take three to five years of legislative effort.  Mike Weeks continues to prepare for this effort as part of his retainer services to the Chapter.                                                                                         (cont’d next page)

Ø       Newsletter –

o        Summer Issue published and posted to website.  Summer edition 12 pages. Printing cost $463.32, sorting mailing cost $175, postage cost $110.93. Total cost $749.25.  Future mailings with this company will incorporate some cost savings strategies such as a different folded postage rate.  Bulk mailing company may be able to get better printing rate with lead-time in the future.  Summer issue contained two paid ads with income of $65.

o        Deadline next issue Sep 15, 2002.

o        Moved and seconded discussed and approved that classified ads be accepted for members/readers @$10 for up to inclusion in 4 issues unless withdrawn. Ads also will be posted to marketplace section on web site.

Ø       Web Site –

o        Deadline for submittal for AMTA Web Site Award is August 15, 2002.  Need pictures for BOD and Committee pages (small head shots preferred, but we can crop you out of any photo submitted).  Will be uploading past reports to flesh out site.

Ø       T Shirts and Pins – No reported activity.

Ø       Regional Representatives – Action Denise, Russ, LaDonna, Marc. No reported activity.  Northern region has taken active role in supporting the upcoming quarterly meeting, providing meeting space and stimulating interest.  The BOD appreciates this trend for active participations by our members through regional interaction and networking.  These efforts indicate signs of Chapter growth and are commended.

Ø       HOD – Proposals –our Chapter position must be decided at the Quarterly meeting on the three proposals presented in the newsletter and on the web site.

o        Indiana – 800 number

o        Pennsylvania – Spirituality

o        Washington – Political Action and 501(c3) status clarification guidelines

o        Heather Harris as our HOD Delegate will take the guidance of our members to the HOD in Portland in October.

Ø       History –LaDonna Ward discussed chapter history with John McDole who served as Chapter President in 1995.  He stated the chapter started in 1985 and Alice Earl was the first Chapter President.  Connie Sellers served as president in 1988.  These facts will be validated and added to the history section on our web site.

Ø       AMTA National Convention –Any suggestions for president’s council action items or discussion items are welcome.  Due by Aug 6, 2002. Action Len Daley

Ø       Agenda for Saturday’s Quarterly Chapter Meeting in Huntsville –

o        10 AM Transforming Stress to Useable Energy in Your Massage Practice, Len Daley, MA Psychology, LMT

o        NOON QUARTERLY MEETING

§         Lunch provided by Chapter

§         Information Summary to Members including above reports

§         HOD Proposals Accepted or Rejected by members

§         Open Discussion Forum

o        1:30 PM Introduction to Aquatic Massage, Julia Young Hayes, LMT, Certified Instructor

Ø       Proposed dates and times for future Quarterly BOD teleconference or web meetings.

o        For Mobile, November 2, 2002 QM – BOD Oct 31, 2002 – 3 PM

o        For Montgomery, February 1, 2003 QM – BOD Jan 30, 2003 – 3 PM

o        For Birmingham, May 3-5, 2003 AM – BOD May 1, 2003 – 3 PM

Ø       ADDITONAL OLD BUSINESS - none

Ø       ADDITONAL NEW BUSINESS – none

Ø       The meeting adjourned at approximately 5:20 PM or approximately 2 hours after the arrival of a quorum.

Ø       These minutes shall be presented to the BOD and membership via the Fall Newsletter and the web site. Please submit any comments, corrections and/or omissions to Sharlie Kinsey, Secretary, at sharlie@aol.com, or 334-244-9011.