John Kelley, President

972-699-1668

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Did you know that the AMTA Texas Chapter Board of Directors meets once a year for our "Annual Board Retreat"?  The reason we, the Board, give up our time to 'retreat' is to isolate ourselves for focused work, team-building and to create a strategic plan for coming year and beyond.  Last year the Board of Directors met in Dallas and agreed we wanted to: increase Membership, increase volunteer recruitment, improve the image of the AMTA with all stakeholders, stay in good standing with National, increase revenue and stay with in budget.

This year the Board met in Austin for our annual retreat and reviewed what we accomplished. One objective was for the Board members to call all Chapter members. We had varying degrees of success because this activity takes so much time. We believe this is still worthy but we may need help. The fact is the AMTA Texas Chapter had a net loss of 51 professional members and net increase of 44 student members from the calendar year December 2008-December 2009. Therefore, membership in Texas was not increased.

The 1st VP organized start-up meetings for new Units in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas in an effort to get more involvement for members and recruit volunteers. San Antonio did not have many members show up but Austin and Dallas had members that volunteered to accept positions of Chair, Co-chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Thus, volunteer recruitment was increased. The 1st VP coordinated with National to provide massage at the Susan G. Komen three day event in Dallas, ISPA Convention in Austin, and the Texas Beauty Show in Dallas, as well as supervising National Massage Therapy Week activities.

The Treasurer delivered all of the financials, completed by the appointed time, and kept us within budget. The 3rd VP delivered three newsletters, organized the Annual Membership Meeting and has kept our website current. The 2nd VP coordinated with National to influence last year’s legislation more in favor of the massage profession. The Secretary took notes and delivered our Board Minutes to National on time.

This year, the Board agreed to narrow our goals to three in order to be more focused and realistic. The way we did this was each of us named two goals we wanted to accomplish. Then each goal was written on a list and discussed. Each participant was given two votes for their first and second priorities and the three goals with the most votes made the cut. They are:

1. Increase member attendance at Chapter Events

2. Increase Membership

3. Increase Volunteer Recruitment and Development

We will post these on the Texas Chapter website for your reference.  If you have any other priorities we are not representing, I would be pleased for you to communicate those to us for future reference.  As we established our priorities for these goals, we tried to determine what separated the AMTA from any other association offering insurance. The AMTA offers a multitude of benefits, from practitioner referral to website design and many things in-between. But it appears that none of these benefits make much difference because the majority of incoming and renewing MT’s are influenced mainly by the bottom line, PRICE!

This made me wonder….why have I stayed a member since 1985? Hugh Bofenkamp, Treasurer, spoke the answer to me as we were discussing the issue: FAMILY! It hit me like a brick to the head; I love the AMTA because it has been my ‘Family of Choice’ for all of these years. Suddenly, it hit each of us, we give our time, energy, money and passion to the AMTA Texas Chapter because we love our profession and we love all of you, our colleagues. It is personal to each of us, a spiritual outlet.

Hugh Bofenkamp said it best: “If you only want insurance, the AMTA is not your best  hoice. If you want more, the AMTA is your best choice.” One definition of family is: ‘A primary social group sharing a common attribute.’ And the best value from  elonging to the AMTA Texas Chapter is you now belong to a family of choice. We have your back and we hope you will have our backs as well.

Over the past seventeen years, I have made a conscious effort to change my thinking about many things. One of the more important issues I have been changing is my  ttitude about money. I grew up knowing poverty, which left me with a habit of ‘poverty thinking’. Poverty thinking says: “I can’t afford….I don’t have the money…it’s too expensive...I have to get the cheapest (whatever) because there isn’t enough money to go around”…etc…

I now try to employ ‘prosperity thinking’ which says: “My needs will be provided for…my thoughts create my reality….if I believe it, I can have….quality is far more important than saving a few dollars….if I give freely, my needs will be met with abundance... and  if a price makes me feel uncomfortable, I choose not to spend right now.”How many times have I bought the less expensive thing only to regret my choice  because that item was of inferior quality and I wasted my money? The money I saved did not compensate for the dissatisfaction I experienced because I didn’t get what I really wanted in the first place. Sometimes the money saved was so little, I wondered, “what was I thinking?” The AMTA is an investment in ME! I have never felt the loss of money I spent with the AMTA and neither will you if you come to see the value in the

relationship.

Prosperity and poverty begin with a thought, creating a belief, reflected in attitude which culminates in practice. If you believe you can, you will and if you believe you can’t, you won’t. It’s as simple as that!

Finally, this Board is only looking forward from here. The past is behind us! We are excited to create an open and inclusive new AMTA. The primary obstacle to becoming an AMTA member has been mitigated as a result of the 500 hour minimum education requirement Texas passed two years ago. The AMTA recognizes all licensed massage therapists in a state requiring 500 hours or greater, regardless of the actual number of hours with which they may have graduated. Now, all licensed massage therapists in Texas are able to be a part of the AMTA Family and we hope to encourage each one to join us in a new “Family of Choice”.

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John Kelley, President

972-699-1668

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John’s presidential term expires in the spring.  If you are interested in running for John’s position or any of the other available board position please go to the AMTA-TX website for a candidate form and requirements for office.

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