AMTA IOWA Chapter Fall 2022 newsletter
#amtaiowa #iloveamtaiowa
Education Chair Report
We are preparing for elections at the March 2023 Convention. The positions available are
1) Board Member,
2) Financial Administrator,
3) Delegate.
If you are interested in serving as an elected volunteer to AMTA Iowa, please contact Erika Dohrer-Smith (awardschair.amtaiowa@gmail.com). Watch for more announcements on our facebook page this fall for the March Elections for Iowa AMTA elected officers.
There are several other ways to volunteer for the Iowa Chapter. President Ken Swenson can appoint chair positions. Please contact Ken if you would like to serve in this capacity. (president.amtaiowa@gmail.com)
Our Membership Chair position has been filled by Katerina Wolff. Welcome Katrina, to the Iowa AMTA Chapter Board!
Just a reminder that you need a total of 16 hours of continuing education for renewal of your license. Eight hours need to be hands-on. Sometime starting in 2023, Mandatory Reporting will be a required course for Iowa Massage Licensure. The course is currently free on the Iowa Department of Human Services website (www.dhs.iowa.gov).
The Iowa AMTA is dissolving the Education Chair position as this national position description overlaps with other appointed volunteer positions we have filled on the board already. This will give clarity for those in other states if we adopt the national position descriptions for convention educations.I have thoroughly enjoyed my time serving as the Education Chair for AMTA Iowa.
Respectfully Submitted,
Karen A. Sindelar
ANOTHER GREAT CONFERENCE ! September 10 th , 11 th and 12 th the AMTA Iowa Chapter held our fall conference in Cedar Falls, Iowa. We had a great turn out with over 70 members in attendance and a great
presenter in Dr. James Mally. We learned new techniques to treat low back issues and had a great time greeting old friends and meeting new ones.
Your Iowa Chapter Board of Directors and committee chair persons worked very hard to put this event together and insure that everything went smoothly. Many people commented on how well everything was
organized and carried out. A big thank you to everyone involved !
At our Spring Conference and is the time our elections are held for the positions that are open. We will have three or four positions open and more information will be coming your way soon.
Please consider getting involved in serving your fellow massage therapists here in Iowa and our great profession. Hope to see you all at our spring conference.
Ken Swenson
AMTA Iowa Chapter President
I want to tell you all thank you for all that attended the fall convention. I am currently working on the
location for the 2023 conventions. Please watch our Facebook page as we will announce the speaker
and location there as soon as the contracts are done. A huge shout out to the board for all their help during the convention, we are a great team! Have a great fall see you in the Spring!
Holly Rasmusson
June Volunteer meeting:
I went to the meeting in Kansas City in June with Melissa and Ken. Besides the obvious fun that the 3 of us had, I really enjoyed meeting other board members from other states and hearing how their chapters work. I realized during one class, that this Iowa Chapter board is ran like a well-oiled machine. Some state chapters struggle to get volunteers, struggle to get help learning the HUB, and struggle to communicate. I felt very fortunate to be on the chapter board that I am. We are such a great “family” and really want the board to run smoothly. The classes were very helpful to me as the Social Media Chair, on what would be beneficial for our social media platforms. The activities were fun and interactive. It was also great to put faces to names at Nationals, meeting the people I deal with via the internet. Overall, I would absolutely go again, and continue my education and experience to do my part on the board.
Hannah Buffington
AMTA-IA board Secretary/Social Media chair ( secretary.amtaiowa@gmail.com )
Hello, I am Katrina Wolff, eager to serve our Massage Therapist community as the new membership chair. I have been an active AMTA member since 2006 in both the Iowa and Colorado chapters. I have practiced in spa, mobile and medical settings over the years and find private practice to be where I thrive. Cedar Rapids has been home since 2017 and I love serving the community as a licensed therapist. I attended the last 2019 fall convention in Coralville and enjoyed meeting everyone at our most recent 2022 fall convention in Cedar Falls. I plan to attend the Iowa spring convention and our lobby day on March 1st 2023. I will plan to be available for any in person and/or virtual meetings as they occur.
I look forward to partnering with and learning from our state and national board teams to serve our members well!
God bless,
Katrina ( membershipchair.amtaiowa@gmail.com )
Working along side our government relations chairs, Cassie Sampson and previously Rachel Brown. AMTA has hired a lobbyist at advocacy strategies to help prevent over a dozen attempts to eliminate or drastically reduce licensing standards in our state. So far we maintain success in keeping our state licensure and high standards as professionals in healthcare!
So we take this time to THANK each of you who helped make this happen across our great state! In addition we’d like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to other state officials, government relations and local media outlets in our areas. Write a card/ e- mail to share how much we appreciate their leadership in this matter.
While we will keep state licensure at the forefront, we will also start the next step in our movement. As Massage therapists, we are leading the way in sustainable, accessible and more affordable pain relief and reduction of opioid dependency.
*Feel free to reach out to your local legislators at www.legis.iowa.gov. Type in your zip code to find your regional leaders.
*Also to keep up-to-date you may want to see what bills are being passed through you can type “massage” into the keywords to look up current or archived bills.
*In addition MANDATORY REPORTING will be required CEU and goes into effect (TBA).
Log onto dhs.gov to get this training to be compliant for upcoming state licensure renewals.
DELEGATE:
We continue to clarify and communicate with other state chapters to reach both state and national goals for the betterment of our industry.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES/ EVENTS:
Remember to reach out to your local legislators, government officials and local media chapters through a quick card or email. (To access the appropriate names, connect to the link on our AMTA Iowa facebookk page)
If you feel called to take a more active role you may consider getting an application for the for the Board / chair positions that will be open in March 2023. ( more information on this will be found on the AMTA Iowa faceboook page).
On December 6, 2022 will be the next agenda meeting conducted by the IDPH.
(This event an access will be posted on our Iowa and AMTA Facebook page closer to the event)
On March 1, 2023 from 10 AM to 2 PM is massage therapy lobby day at the capital in Des Moines. Please feel free to join us and discuss your future LMT concerns with your local legislators in person.
If you’d like to be trained to become a massage therapy advocate. We can teach you how to talk to lawmakers to ensure the integrity of massage therapy and protect the public health. Please watch the 30 minute video to learn how:
HTTPS://tinyurl.com/AMTAIowa
Greetings,
Award Recipients at the AMTA-IA Chapter Fall Convention
| Cindy Haack | Retiring Board Member *Enthusiasm & Creativity as Awards Chair |
| Jeanna Tellin | Retiring Board Member*Keeping The Minutes as Secretary |
| Soraya Wagner | Retiring Board Member*Dedicated & Organized With A Smile |
| Bob Campbell | Retiring Board Member*Outstanding Contributions as President |
| Pam Burnikel | Meritorious Award*Going Above & Beyond as Treasurer(presented by President Ken Swenson) |
Do you have recommendations for an AMTA-IA member who is deserving of an award?
Contact me @ awardschair.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Respectfully submitted,
Erika Dohrer-Smith
Hello, I was thrilled for the opportunity to attend AMTA national this year after so many years feeling disconnected with professionals around the country. There is only so much connection you can have virtually. My favorite part of the conference was the ease of making conversations with people I sat by in sessions, people in elevators, I’m the hotel bar and restaurant. Literally anyone with a conference badge was eager to swap stories and engage. I can’t wait for next year in Phoenix and I hope you’ll join me! ~ Cassie Sampson ( grchair.amtaiowa@gmail.com ) Government Relations Chair
Hello! I want I want to give a big shout out to all those that helped with the Fall Conference the 10th and the 11th! Everybody’s help is truly appreciated. Friday the board meeting went smooth. Holly was able to join us. Everyone pitched in to help assemble bags and bath salts!
The evening Program featured Alexander L. Collins presenting information on your calendar. The big take away For me was using three different colored ink pens to differentiate between work home and personal. First step is set aside those important dates in my calendars for those important birthdays and anniversaries. A big Thank you to our vendors and Donors who participated this fall! I will be getting the Applause Please e-mailed out so please watch for that. Two weeks before our conference was National convention. It was a great opportunity to network, listen to 3 great speakers and attend the educational sessions and as always the exhibitors!
Have a great day! Robin Markus , Convention Events Chair.
SAVE THE DATE MARCH 1st 2023
AMTA IOWA chapter members are invited to join our massage therapy lobby day at the capital in Des Moines on March 1st 2023 from about 10am-2pm… More details to come, stay tuned to our social media channels.
AMTA IOWA Chapter Board Roster September 2022
President: Ken Swenson – president.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Board Member: Holly Rasmusson – boardmember1.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Board Member: Melissa Horstmann – boardmember2.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Secretary: Hannah Buffington – secretary.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Financial Administrator: Pam Burnikel – pburnikel@hotmail.com
Committee Chairs:
Law & Legislation Chair: Cassie Sampson – grchair.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Convention Coordinator Chair:
Holly Rasmusson – conventioncoordinator.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Membership Chair: Katrina Wolff –membershipchair.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Awards Chair: Erika Dohrer-Smith – awardschair.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Convention Events Chair: Robin Markus – conventioneventschair.amta@gmail.com
Digital media Chair: Alexander L. Collins – digitalmediachair.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Delegates: Karen Sindelar – educationchair.amtaiowa@gmail.com
Melissa Horstmann – boardmember2.amtaiowa@gmail.com
