2015 Annual Chapter Meeting Minutes

Published: April 6, 2015

New Massage Regulations, Changes in Law, Elections, Awards and Updates

Welcome and Call to order: Lisa Curran Parenteau welcomed the members. Meeting called to order at 12:35 PM.

Introduction of the Board and Dignitaries: Lisa Curran Parenteau – President introduced the current board members: 1st VP – Kelly Dalbec, 2nd VP – Kate Peck, 3rd VP – Gail Dobinski, Treasurer – Farris Ajalat, and Secretary – Patty Jaworski.

Lisa also introduced: Matthew Olds and Jennie Pelletier – Members of the State Massage Therapy Board, Mark Malloy from Lynch Associates, Scott Dunlap – Chapter Attorney, and Sr. Pat Dowler. Lisa also introduced past Presidents Mary White and Richard Wedegartner.

Roll Call: Professional member count: 103

New Business: No new business

Approval of Agenda: Motion to approve agenda as is made by Jennie Pelletier, seconded by Gail Dobinski. Voted by voice - unanimously approved.

President’s Address:

Lisa shared a motivational speech on positive psychology by Shawn Achor.

She spoke about the MA Chapter’s mission statement which says we will inspire, educate, empower, and advocate for the massage therapy community. She explained how this BOD needed to keep a positive attitude while making some major changes due to budget constraints.

She also shared a “Prescription for Happiness” and challenged everyone to give it a try and share their experiences on our Chapter Facebook page or on Twitter.

She explained how we are changing the governing structure of the MA Chapter: We are moving to a Governing Board and Program Directors. Programs: Communications, Government & External Affairs, Practitioner Education & Development, CSMT, and Member Experience.

She closed with a quote – “Happiness is not the belief that we don’t need to change. It is the realization that we can.” ~Shawn Achor

Door prizes

Introduction of Program Directors:

Communications-Program Director: Kristen Lutz

Website, Calendar, All media, Newsletter/Blog, Social Media, NMTAW

Government & External Affairs – Program Director: Deb Nunges

Advocacy, Coalitions, Chapter lawyer, Day on the Hill

Practitioner Education & Development- Program Director: Deb Baker

All education events, IDEA Conference, Scholarship

Deb recognized all those who work with her in this program.

Next Education events: Sept 13-14, 2015, Dec 5-6, 2015, IDEA 2016 will probably be the 1st week in April.

CSMT Program Director - Gordon Pilotte

Team member & leader training, deployment organization, Red Cross relationship, CSMT Member Event planning & implementation

Other members of CSMT were introduced: Cynthia Sykes and Sharon Sharpe. He also introduced the new members that were trained this weekend.

He spoke about events coming up: PMC, Best Buddies.

Member Experience-Program Director: Gail Dobinski

Membership Activities, School Visits, Adopt a School, Chapter Meetings, Mentorship Program, New Member Program.

Volunteer & Support Development Program Director: open

Commission on Candidacy, Education of current and prospective leaders, Succession Planning,

Awards, Non-Member Outreach

Door prizes.

Treasurer’s Report: Presented by Treasurer Farris Ajalat.

Farris reviewed the balance sheet as of 2/28/15. The chapter is still healthy. He also reviewed a pie chart of the expenses for the last fiscal year. He reviewed the 2014-2015 budget and actual income/expense for the same time frame. He then reviewed the proposed budget for 2015-2016. He explained that we included the option to move approximately $19,000 out of investment account but he doesn’t think we will need to move that much.

Floor opened for questions on budget. Several members asked questions which were addressed by Farris.

Vote on Budget: Motion to accept budget as presented made by Matthew Olds and seconded by Sue Lane. Voted by raise of hands – unanimously approved.

Motion made by Jessica Meltzer to change the abbreviated name of the AMTA Massachusetts Chapter to AMTA-MA Chapter in our Standing Rules, motion seconded by Sr. Pat Dowler. Voted by raise of hands – unanimously approved.

Door prizes.

Awards:

Presented by Lisa Curran Parenteau

Chapter Meritorious – Jessica Meltzer

Humanitarian Award – Kathleen Short

President’s Award – Kelly Dalbec

Special Award – Lifetime Award - Jacqueline St. Laurent

Dianne Polseno Scholarship – Presented by Kelly Dalbec, Cathrine Thibault and Massage Envy:

$500 Award & Graduate Membership: Elise Gauger

$1,000 Award & Graduate Membership: Marissa Farrell

Special Recognition: Liv Gold & Deb Baker

Door prizes

Speakers:

Ruth Werner – Spoke about the Massage Therapy Foundation and how supportive the MA Chapter has been. She spoke about how important research is for the massage therapy profession. IJTMB – free research journal. Research Perch – free web cast.

Mark Malloy-Chapter Lobbyist (Lynch Associates): He works with Anne Lynch and Kim Sullivan of Lynch Associates. Mark stated that we had a great year last year. Successes: MT amendment law

was passed which closed the electronic advertising loophole, changed law regarding multi day charity events. He spoke about how successful the Day on the Hill has been. Also, MT and cosmetology can now have a dual use room. There is a need to get to school regulations. If you leave the state and return, you only need to pay fees for last 2 years, not every year you missed.

Healthcare Provider Coalition: we are moving forward with this.

Regulatory: Recognized Matt & Jennie who are on the Board of Registration for Massage Therapy. Concerns raised that school hours should be lowered to 500. Some think MT doesn’t need CEs. Massage Establishment License not needed for less than 8 hrs – this may go away - this is often used for nefarious practices. He says this is a busy year – all AMTA members need to be ready to be called to action.

Questions regarding the MT license fee. He doesn’t think the cost will go down but will remain level while other license costs are increasing.

He spoke about how important it still is to have a lobbyist watching our interest.

Door prizes.

Chapter Attorney Scott Dunlap: He spoke about the legal benefit offered by the MA Chapter. He spoke about the difference between an independent contractor and an employee. MA has its own regulation. There is a 3 prong test. If you own a massage therapy facility, you cannot have massage therapists as independent contractors. There will be consequences for employers. He will get some advisory information on the website. ((Chapter 149 section 148b)) He answered lots of questions from the membership.

Thanks to departing BOD Members:

Farris Ajalat-Treasurer, Gail Dobinski-3rd VP, Kelly Dalbec-1st VP

Election Results: Presented by Deb Nugnes

Board of Directors:

Katie Adams Chapter 1st Vice President two year term

Susan Cormier Chapter 3rd Vice President two year term

Patricia Jaworski Treasurer two year term

Installation of new Board Members by Deb Nugnes.

Delegates:

Regine Ryder Delegate two year term

Gail Dobinski Delegate two year term

Nichole Cross Delegate two year term

Kimberly Griffith Alternate Delegate one year term

Installation of Delegates by Deb Nugnes.

Door Prizes.

Adjourn: Motion to adjourn made by Gail Dobinski, seconded by Sr. Pat Dowler. Voted by voice – unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 2:59 PM.