PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS
Thank you for electing me as your President. I am honored to serve. It was a big decision for me to run for President, just like it had been a big decision to run for Treasurer. It all came down to believing that I have something to offer to the Chapter, and to the Massage Profession. What better way than to volunteer for my Professional Organization, the AMTA?
I have to admit that I was looking for something, too. I attended my first Chapter Meeting when I received an invitation to be recognized for my 5-year anniversary with the AMTA. I noticed at the meeting that the Chapter volunteers ran the meeting very professionally, but were obviously having a lot of fun. They looked to me like a group of successful therapists who were "making things happen". I was also impressed with the impact our Chapter is having on a National level (I still am). I felt that being part of a group of people successfully working together was something I wanted. Now here I am, your President.
The Spring Mini-Convention was a great success. It was really exciting to offer such a "big" name, nationally-known presenter James Waslaski along with Robert Wootten's Thai Massage, Colorful Teachings Ethics Classes and Dr. Stephen Blair's Health and Fitness for Massage Therapists. It was exciting, and also scary (did we choose the right location? will enough people sign up? will the classes be as good as we hoped or better?) a little tense at times (wasn't the hotel taking care of that? what form? didn't we already get that straightened out once? the printer doesn't work? ) and WONDERFUL (that class was just what I needed! door prizes! meeting that person will be really helpful! raffle prizes! that new modality will be a great help to my clients and to my practice! more door prizes! getting those questions answered makes me more confident! Ahh, AMTA-SC, thank you for morning coffee and nibbles, Social Hour buffet dinner with a chance to talk to presenters and other attendees, pre-meeting cookies and coffee, and really? everyone gets a door prize!?!)
Of course, the WONDERFUL is what makes it all worthwhile! The meetings, the conference calls, the email discussions, the late nights wrestling with new technology or software, all the glitches that can and do happen along the way are almost forgotten in the satisfaction of working together to make something as important as this convention happen. And guess what?! We have already been making plans for next Fall and Spring. If you think you would like to be part of the excitement, contact us! We have all kinds of jobs, large and small. Tell us what you are interested in, and I bet we can find something to suit you!
Rena McLendon
President, AMTA-SC
