By Becca Torns-Barker
Hello fellow members! I hope this finds you well as we are approaching winter. The chapter has had a very busy fall, so I know that I personally am looking forward to some quiet time this winter, which is also a natural time for some introspection and reflection.
I am very thankful for all of you, our members. The Board could not accomplish much without you. I am also thankful for the CT Board of Directors. These amazing people do so much work behind the scenes so that this chapter can offer everything it does, from a lobbyist protecting our interests, to first class education, to volunteer opportunities, to networking opportunities. Thank you for all you do.
Recap
So what did we do this fall? First, your five delegates and five alternates attended National convention in Wisconsin this October. We had 3 first timers on the delegation this year! It was a wonderful experience to bring some “new blood” into the delegation, and introduce members to the National stage. You truly feel a part of something bigger than yourself at an event like this.
If you’d like to read more about their experiences at National, each wrote an entry that is live on our blog. Go to: www.amtactchapter.org/blognews/ to read more.
In addition, we had a membership meeting, and Board meeting, a Conference committee meeting, and the Sports Massage Team (SMT) worked their turkey tails off at the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day. Thank you to those therapists for your time and effort on Thanksgiving Day. There are blog entries recapping the Manchester Road Race and the membership meeting.
Looking Forward
There is so much to look forward to in 2017!
- We have another membership meeting on 1/22/17 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Windsor, CT.
- Our guest speaker will be Sharon Lewis (SKLewis.advicoach.com) who will speak to us about Setting and Achieving Goals
- Our 2-hour education (FREE to CT Chapter members) will be Tai Chi.
- We will announce our SMT schedule and Community Service Massage Team (CSMT) schedules for the year.
- We will announce our meeting schedule for the year.
- Our annual elections are coming! We’ll be discussing the election process at our January membership meeting. We have BIG changes coming this year. Due to new restrictions from National, all Boards must have 5 (and only 5) members. We’ll be talking about what that means to CT. In 2017 we’ll have 2 Board positions up for elections (2-year term) as well as 3 delegate positions (2-year term) and 5 alternate delegate positions (1-year term). More on all of that at the meeting.
- The 2017 Connecticut Conference is coming! Registration is open and moving fast! The dates are 4/20/17-4/23/17. Up to 22 CEs for $275. We have a great lineup of classes, including Craniosacral Therapy 1 (from Upledger), Structural Relief Therapy (from Taya Countryman), Intro to Kinesiotaping, and much, much more. For more information, see amtactchapter.org/event/conference.
- The Board voted to renew our contract with our CPR provider, so new dates will be coming your way!
- Want to help out? With all of the changes, we have volunteer opportunities a plenty. Whether you have 2 hours a month or 2 hours a week, we can use your help! Nervous about speaking up? I promise you, the Board is a really nice group of people to work with.We’d love to have your help and input. If it turns out you don’t like the position you volunteered for, we’ll do our best to find one that suits you better.When I first started volunteering, I didn’t know a single person here in CT because I had moved from another state and hadn’t even gone to massage school here. The Board was amazingly welcoming, and now look, I’m your President! I implore you to consider volunteering. What do you love? What magic skill set do you have that we don’t know about? We want to know! Let us know at info@amtactchapter.org. Go to amtactchapter.org/volunteer/ to learn more.
If you have input, ideas, feedback, or questions, please don’t hesitate to email info@amtactchapter.org. I wish you all a very joyful holiday season and a bright new year. See you in January!
Becca