Broward Chapter Vice-President,
Thiam Bowe

FROM YOUR VICE-PRESIDENT

I would like to thank all our members and speakers again for coming to our 2008 chapter meeting. I know I have enjoyed listening and learning from all these wonderful guest speakers as well as from our FSMTA President and the Executive Committee members and I hope you all did too.

November 4th, 2008 was our last meeting for the year and it was held at Sanford Brown School instead of Imperial Point Medical Center (our usual meeting place). This year the hospital place was being used as a Polling Station. For many years Imperial Point Medical Center has kindly allowed us to host our meetings there but sometimes it is not always possible therefore our venue are subject to change. So I would suggest our members to always check the information on the web site, emails or even call any of the Board members to verify the venue before meetings.

The year 2009 is around the corner and it will be the year for our professional massage license renewals. The chapter will be hosting speakers for the required CEUs. The topics will be HIV/AIDS, Ethics, Medical Errors and Law from January to April 2009. All the required CEUs are free to the members, but there will a small charge for non-members. For a list of speakers and topics you can go to the web site at www.browardfsmta.org .

The following are future events that have been proposed for our chapter for the year of 2009:

1) Health Massage Business Fair, so that we can network and exchange information. For those who would like to participate in the event, please contact me. I would also like to hear any suggestions for this proposal.

2) Non-CEU classes to our members as an educational class to broaden our horizons and they will be available through me. Two classes have been scheduled for the earlier part of next year and the topics are related to spa and stress. There will also be CPR classes with a fee. I welcome any suggestions for any other topics to help you in your profession or business.

For the coming next year, our FSMTA Convention will be at Omi Orlando Resort at Champions Gate, Orlando. For more information, please take a look at the web site at www.fsmta.org

In addition to the above, our chapter will be improving the web site at www.browardfsmta.org. If you see any incorrect information or have any additions or deletions, please notify me. Feedback on the web site is appreciated. Our current goal is that our members rely more on the web site for any up to date information. For those that do not have access to internet, you can call me and I will arrange to get the information to you.

Articles are always needed for the web site. If you have any articles that you feel are important to our health and well being, please email them to us at the web site www.browardfsmta.org under the section of “Articles”. Previous speakers have contributed articles to our web site which are have been greatly appreciated and I believe have been a key source of education and information.

One of the new changes to the web site will include the minutes of the chapter meetings. So for those of you who are unable to attend the meeting, you can now catch up with the news on the web site. In addition, we are also offering classified advertising for members and non-members. Details on advertising information is available at the web site under the section of “Advertisers”.

As the year 2008 is coming to an end soon, I hope you all have also taken the time to pamper yourself with massage to relieve any stress from helping others. It is important to maintain your well being and there are plenty of massage places as well spas that can offer you discounted rates. You can also exchange with your friends. Learning from each other is a step for moving forward. Remember, our human body is never meant to deal with prolonged, chronic stress. Continued stress can lead to disease. So as health care professionals let us be wise to DE-STRESS before the new year!!.

To close, I would like to thank, again, all the Board members, our guest speakers and everyone that helped make our meeting a success. Have a wonderful 2009 NEW YEAR !!..

Thiam Bowe
1st Vice-President, BFSMTA