Report from the World Massage Festival

Champ and I spent last week in Las Vegas at the World Massage Festival. This was our fifth year there, and the biggest and best one yet. Almost 700 people at this one…9 years ago when Mike Hinkle started the Festival, 20 people were in attendance.There were people from every state and 7 or 8 foreign countries. A whole contingent came from Trinidad.

The World Massage Festival is a unique event. Mike and Cindy bend over backwards to make the Festival affordable to everyone. Instead of a $189 hotel, we were in the Tuscany, an all-suite hotel, for the magnificent price of $59. And they are nice rooms! The staff at the Tuscany was very nice and helpful, the food was good, and in general it was just a good experience to stay there.

Over $50,000 in door prizes and scholarships were given away. I got to do a lot of the name-drawing and I had some real fun helping make people’s day with cash prizes, diamond jewelry, and other goodies.

On opening night, I was the keynote speaker. It was a humbling experience to look out at the room and see so many dedicated colleagues, many of whom have been doing massage for many more years than I have. During the awards ceremony, Irene Smith was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. I have to confess that I was not familiar with her work until Sunday night. She started the first project in the US to massage AIDS patients and has been doing Hospice work since the 1970s. Her entire career has been based on selfless giving. She is an example of the finest massage has to offer.

Since the beginning, one of the purposes of the Festival has been to recognize those who have made significant contributions to massage, through the Hall of Fame. Judi Calvert is always the host for this occasion and as usual did a beautiful job. I spent some time talking with several of this year’s inductees, all genuinely nice people who leave their ego at the door in spite of some of their amazing accomplishments. I spent an hour visiting with Mark Beck, who wrote the textbook I learned from in massage school, which was a real treat for me.

Lots of friends were in attendance at karaoke night, and we have got some talented singers in massage therapy. People had a blast singing and dancing.

Quality education, as always, was a highlight of the Festival. Champ took a class in Thai Massage from Mukti Michael Buck and really enjoyed it. I taught two classes, participated on a student panel, helped out with registration and karaoke night, and kept busy visiting with people. Glad to see Allissa Haines, Andrea Lipomi, Ryan Hoyme, Jake Flatt, Gina Smith, Thomas Liberto, Vivian Madison-Mahoney, Enid Whittaker, Michael McGillicuddy, Cherie Sohnen-Moe, Leena Guptha, and so many more. The WMF is always like a family reunion. I also got some great bodywork from Karen Kowal. Darcy Neibaur raised over $2000 in the Sweet Serenity booth to benefit the Greenville SC Shriner’s Children’s Hospital.

I also enjoyed having Sally Hacking and Mary O’Reilly of the FSMTB come into my student class and answer questions about the MBLEx for students.

Pualani Gillespie took Champ and I out for a fabulous dinner at Mario Batali’s restaurant, Carnevino, and we had a great visit with her.

Next year, the tenth anniversary, is going to be held in Michigan City, Indiana, and I expect it to be even better. I appreciate Mike and Cindy and everything they do. I hope to see you there!

Report from the AFMTE 2013 Annual Meeting

I just returned from attending the fourth annual meeting of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, held this year in St. Charles, MO. I’m a founding member of this organization, and once again, it was a fabulous event. I would have to say that this was the best one in the history of the organization. Kudos to Nancy Dail and Cherie Sohnen-Moe, who spent the last year organizing the event, along with the other board members–all volunteers, I might add. This is the kind of thing that can’t be pulled off by just one person. Many people worked behind the scenes to make it happen.

I arrived on Wednesday night in time to visit with Ryan Hoyme (aka the MassageNerd), Greg Hurd, Allissa Haines, and Ralph Stephens. The Embassy Suites puts on a heck of a nice free happy hour, as well as a nice breakfast, and their staff was very efficient and attentive to our group. The meeting kicked off Thursday morning, and the next two days were filled with informative keynote speakers, great classes for educators, and plenty of visiting with friends, old and new.

During the annual reports, President Pete Whitridge reported that the organization now has over 300 members. About half were in attendance, and the rest missed out on a great time! Treasurer Sue Bibik reported that the organization is debt-free, which is quite an accomplishment since the Alliance is less than five years old.

Whitney Lowe’s keynote, Developing the 21st Century Teacher, really hit the nail on the head with the need to utilize technology and advance our own skills as educators. He is always a dynamic speaker. I had a visit with Jan Schwartz, who along with Whitney is one of the educators behind Education Training Solutions. Thursday evening, I missed the opening reception in order to go speak to Bloom, a networking group of massage therapists in St. Louis. The founder, Sara Newberry, took me out to a fabulous dinner at a rustic Mexican restaurant before the meeting, which was attended by about a dozen MTs. I really enjoyed my time with them.

Friday morning, Dr. Janet Kahn presented Massage in the Age of Healthcare Transformation: Our Opportunities and Responsibilities. Kahn has the inside track on the Affordable Care Act and how that stands to affect integrative health practitioners. After Kahn’s presentation, I ran into AMTA President Winona Bontrager, who assured me that AMTA was indeed going to take some action to support massage therapists as participants in the ACA, a move that she had just a few moments to explain during a panel presentation from the leadership of all 7 national massage organizations. She stated that they would be unveiling that very soon. It was very gratifying to me to see Karen Armstrong, VP of the FSMTB,  Sue Toscano, President of the NCBTMB, Anne Williams, Director of Education for ABMP, Winona Bontrager, President of AMTA, Ruth Werner, President of the Massage Therapy Foundation, and Kate Zulaski, Executive Director of COMTA, on the dais together. Later that afternoon, Kate and Dr. Tony Mirando of NACCAS, presented together on Coming to Agreement on Core Curriculum–another warm and fuzzy moment since these two organizations are competitors. It was a great presentation.

Friday was also the day for memorial tributes to our colleagues who have departed this life in the past year. One of the highlights of my trip was the tribute to Bob King, who just passed a couple of weeks ago. I joined David Lauterstein, one of the Educators of the Year and a primo guitarist, and Cherie Sohnen-Moe onstage to offer Bob a little musical tribute. Bob was a fan of “Blind Al” Wilson of Canned Heat, so I played a little harp and Cherie and I provided the backup vocals while David played and sang Canned Heat’s song, “On the Road Again.” I hope someone got a video of that!

Friday night, I attended the ELAP meeting facilitated by Anne Williams of ABMP and Cynthia Ribeiro, Immediate Past President of AMTA. Both of these ladies have a passion for education, and I acknowledge that wholeheartedly even though I have had plenty of concerns about the ELAP. About 20 or so of us piled into the room to hear about the ELAP and to get our questions answered. I was amused to see that their Power Point presentation referred to “angry bloggers,” and I assume that meant me and Sandy Fritz…we’ve both stirred the pot on that front, but in the end, I hope that some good information comes out of this. It was quite momentous in any case to hear that AMTA and ABMP, the two largest competing organizations in massage therapy, have shared some of their top-secret data with each other in the interest of the common good in order to facilitate this project.

Saturday, I attended the NCB CE Provider Update presented by Sue Toscano and Donna Sarvello of the NCBTMB. Their presentation was peppered with questions from the crowd regarding the new Board Certification and the (yet-again) revised version of the Approved Provider CE program. which they stated would be rolled out on November 1. I seized the opportunity to give them an earful about all the pseudo-science classes they have approved for CE, and also to inquire about how many people have earned the new Board Certification. The answer was over 1200, and that almost all of those have been grandfathered in from the ranks of those who were already Nationally Certified and met the new criteria. I gathered that it has been a very small number that have actually taken the new Board Certification exam. Toscano’s explanation was that due to the fact that the new exam just rolled out in January, and requires that people have 250 hours of work experience within six months (among other things), that newer graduates are just now starting to take it.

We also had our annual Author’s meet and greet organized by the lovely Nancy Dail–there were more than 20 textbook authors present.

Other highlights for me were having my blog and Sandy Fritz’s blog recognized for driving a lot of traffic to the AFMTE website, finally meeting longtime FB friend Emmanuel Bistas, and spending a few moments with Sandy Fritz, Bob Jantz, Gabriela Sonam, Benjamin McDonald, Sally Hacking, Allissa Haines and Greg Hurd, Stephanie and Brian Beck, and many more. Saturday morning I had breakfast with educator and author Elaine Stillerman, whom I had never met, and she is a ball of energy in spite of her recent back surgery. My plane was delayed both coming and going, and I visited with Linda Beach while we were waiting an inordinate amount of time to depart–actually got on the plane and then had to get back off an hour later. I had a little nap in the St Louis airport and woke up to find I was about to fall over on Dr. Janet Kahn–I hope I wasn’t snoring and drooling–and chatted with her for about an hour.

Every annual meeting of the AFMTE seems to get better and better. I urge all educators to join this organization and to PARTICIPATE. They have recently started a Human Energy Bank, so that those people who may not have time to take on a full-time volunteer position can volunteer to handle a specific task. There are many other benefits to belonging, which are detailed on the AFMTE website. As a founding member, I feel like I have definitely gotten my money’s worth every year. We are also looking for industry partners to join us. This is THE organization for schools, school educators, and CE providers. We’re doing more than just holding a meeting. The Alliance provides a comprehensive range of services to this community, and represents their interests in all domains. This advocacy comes into play in dealing with regulatory issues, accreditation, standard-setting initiatives such as the Alliance’s National Teacher Education Standards Project, as well as ongoing efforts to get massage therapy better recognized by and integrated into the health care delivery system. As Jan Schwartz said during one of our previous annual meetings, “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” Janet Kahn, during her presentation, said “you’re in the door, or in the dust.” Don’t be left out.

Confusion Reigns

I’d like to just steal Sandy Fritz’s blog this week, but instead I’ll post the link to it. She expressed many of the same things I have been feeling in “Beyond Frustration.” Confusion reigns. I get at least a half-dozen questions a day from massage therapists and providers asking me if I understand the latest move from the NCBTMB, or do I know what’s going on with this or that new requirement, or which exam should I take to get licensed, etc. Frankly, I’m confused and frustrated myself, in spite of being relatively well informed about what’s going on.

I see confused massage therapists every day on my social networks referring to their certification from the NCBTMB as a “national license.” There is no such thing as a national license. It would be a lot easier for us all if such a thing existed, but it doesn’t. A few years ago, I noticed that a teacher I had hired to come to my facility to teach a CE class had been ordered by our state board to cease and desist practicing massage without a license. When I called her to see what was going on, she said “But I have a national license!” No, you don’t. None of us do.

My own confusion was compounded again this weekend when I received my certificate proclaiming that I am now Board Certified–the new credential from the NCBTMB. Personally, I think calling it that is a huge blunder on their part. It really doesn’t make any differentiation from the old paradigm of “National Certification” and people are confused about it. The certificate is bigger and a little nicer-looking, but my new certificate says that I have been certified since 2000. Well, yes I have, but this is supposedly a new and different credential, and I didn’t get it until 2013. There is something that doesn’t seem right about that.

I could go on, but I won’t. The tragedy that occurred at the Boston Marathon yesterday has me feeling sad and angry and confused and just out of sorts. It seems ridiculous to focus on whatever complaints I have about the way things are going in the massage world when people are dead and wounded and grieving for their loved ones so I’m going to save the rest of my rants for another day.

In the meantime, Allissa Haines has posted a good blog that describes how many of us feel. I’ll get back on my soapbox in a week or two.

 

 

 

Here’s the Plan

On any given day on my FB page, there will be massage therapists who are excitedly reporting an increase in their practice, talking about the big day or big week they just had, or some other joyful news related to their business. On any given day, there will also be someone posting that they’re closing up shop because they can’t make it, and taking a job they don’t really want because they have to have money to survive. And let’s be real, folks…none of us want to just survive. We want to thrive, don’t we? Be able to take a vacation, give money to charity, buy a new car when we need one without having a financial meltdown. All those things are hard to do when you’re worried about making the rent.

Nine times out of ten, it isn’t that they’re not a talented massage therapist that leads to their failure. Most of the time, it is a lack of careful planning that leads to the demise. Here’s a reality check:

Almost no business is profitable during the first year. Those folks who work from their home or who only do outcalls may be exceptions, but if you’re operating a massage business out of your own storefront, planning to do so, or  or even as a renter or independent contractor in someone else’s space, there are a lot of things to consider.

I’m going to get the independent contractors out of the way first. You are a self-employed person who performs your services in someone else’s space. You don’t have all the same overhead that a person in their own space does, but you still have certain expenses, and you’re working in someone else’s environment. They may–or may not–be throwing you a lot of business.  If you don’t have all you need or want, and it’s because you’re just sitting there waiting for the owner to do it all for you, you’re missing the boat. You still need to market yourself. That doesn’t mean taking out a big ad in the paper. It means you are actively engaged in trying to increase your client base on a daily basis, by networking, giving out business cards, getting yourself out there by performing community service, introducing yourself to people and telling them about the benefits of massage. Instead of blaming the owner for your lack of business, look at what you could be doing to increase it.

For those who are opening their own business, starting out without a business plan and a budget is a serious mistake. My advice is don’t take the plunge into opening your own business until you know you can survive for a year without a profit. When you initially open your business, you’re going to have a lot of one-time expenses–equipment, office furnishings, security deposits for rent and utilities. If you’re signing a lease, you’re committing yourself to paying rent (or a mortgage payment, if you’re buying.) You need to know what your monthly expenses are before you open the door.You need to include laundry, phone, Internet access, office and cleaning supplies, liability insurance, bank service charges and credit card processing charges, self-employment taxes–and that’s before you’ve spent any money on advertising.

I know that in my office, 52 massages have to take place before I’ve covered the monthly overhead. That’s my break-even point, and you need to figure out what yours is. But you can’t stop there–especially if you’re a single person or if your family is dependent upon a two-income lifestyle.  You also need to figure your break-even point for supporting your household.

Let’s say for argument’s sake your office expenses are 1500. a month. Imagine that at home, you need $500 for rent, $100 for  utilities, $100 for the phone, $200 for a student loan payment, $300 for credit card payments, $300 for groceries…then you’ve got clothing, medical care, insurance if you’re paying for that.  If you’ve got children, I don’t have to tell you how much that costs. So if you need $1500 to run the office, and $2000 to run your household, you need $3500 a month to cover your expenses. If you’re charging $60  for a massage, that means you have to perform 58 massages in a month just to make ends meet. That means you aren’t making a dime of extra money that you could spend on the previously mentioned vacation, charity, and any other extras you might like to have, until you’ve done 58 massages.  And if you’re self-employed and also having to take care of the cleaning, the laundry, the bookkeeping, and all the other things that go with that, be realistic about how much you can do.

You must also have a contingency plan…what if you don’t get those 58 massages during the first month, or the first few months? What if it snows and you miss a week at work, or you get sick and miss a week at work? What if your car needs an expensive repair, like mine did last week? Can you still meet your obligations?

In any business, and in service businesses in particular, the biggest mistake people make is sitting around waiting for business to come to them. Unless you own a funeral home, that’s a bad idea. Word of mouth is of course the cheapest and best form of advertising, but you have to get those people in the door first. And the chances are you don’t have a big advertising budget, so what are you going to do? These are just a few of the things I’ve done to increase my own business, and it has worked well for me.

I spend 30 minutes every morning on marketing activities intended to increase my business. That could mean working up a new ad, writing the client newsletter, calling clients I haven’t seen in here lately, sending out a welcome postcard to a new one, or any number of things, as long as it is something that will help spread the word about my business.

I am very active in our Chamber of Commerce (in fact, at this point in time, I am on their Board of Directors, but that’s a very recent development.) I’ve been active in it since the first week I opened my business. I attend as many networking functions, grand openings of other people’s businesses, open houses, etc. Why pay to belong to the Chamber if you’re not going to take advantage of all they have to offer? If you’re joining just to get a certificate on the wall that says you belong, then save your money.

I give a business card to two new people every day. You’re out somewhere every day where you have the opportunity to meet new people, or where you see someone you may already know–at school, church, the grocery store, the doctor’s office. Strike up a conversation with someone and give them a card. It takes three minutes.

Track your clients. Create a simple form on your computer listing the places you are advertising, plus referrals from doctors and clients, and ask each client, “Where did you hear about us?”  Write that down. If  a month or two has gone by and not one person says they’ve come in because of the ads you’ve been running in the Woman’s Weekly, it’s time to spend that money elsewhere.

Before you spend money on an ad, think about the potential return on investment. If you spend 100. to advertise in a regional magazine that goes to 5000 people, when you could spend that same 100. to place an ad in the local newspaper that reaches 50,000 people, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which one you ought to do.

These days, people expect every business to have a website. If you’re using some obscure url for a free site, they’re not going to find you. Spend the money to have a real website, one that is search-engine optimized and user-friendly.

You don’t have to be a financial whiz, or even a marketing whiz, to succeed in a massage practice, but you do need to take a realistic look at what you need to do in order to have a profitable bottom line. So before you start out, take a good hard luck at your budget and your personal financial situation…and don’t depend on opening a business to get you out of some financial mess you might already be in. And once you hang out your shingle, don’t sit on your hands waiting for business. Go out and get it. You can see more of my business tips, along with tips from Irene Diamond, Allissa Haines, Michael Reynolds, Felicia Brown, the Massage Nerd, and many more great educators on the Massage Learning Network.

It Was a Very Good Year

As I look back over 2011, it was a very good year. For the 8th year in a row, since I first opened my business, I am going to finish the year with a growth in sales and in my bottom line. That’s rather miraculous, considering the unemployment rate in my county has been between 14-16% for most of the year. Many businesses have closed. The foreclosure notices in the paper have far outweighed the job listings for the past couple of years. And still, we have thrived, and we had zero staff turnover. I’m very grateful to be blessed with such wonderful staff members and clients.

This year started out with a bang when we made a trip to Miami to participate in the Massage School Makeover organized by Angie Patrick of Massage Warehouse. What started as a little project of Angie’s snowballed into one of the most magnanimous displays of generosity throughout the massage world. The Educating Hands school ended up with over $80,000 worth of equipment and supplies donated by industry partners. As they were moving into a brand-new building at the time, it was just a fresh start for their well-respected school. It was a joy to participate in it and to see so many of my friends from the profession at the festivities. I also got to visit my youngest brother on that trip, and got to see a dear friend who used to live here in NC that I  hadn’t seen for several years. That one was bittersweet since her husband, who was also a friend and former business partner with Champ, had passed away suddenly a few months before, but it was a wonderful visit.

I was honored at the American Massage Conference this year as the Massage Therapist of the Year…and that wasn’t even the highlight of the conference. Getting up to play a few tunes with Errol N Schroeder at the dinner dance was the high point for me. I had a blast! Scott Dartnall and the rest of those Canadians came out of the gate running and made their first American event a resounding success.

Then the World Massage Festival came along and I was inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame, which I appreciated, but I was also awarded there for Government Relations, which I’d have to say meant even more to me. I’m no Sally Hacking–whom I greatly admire and who has been working in GR for several decades–I’m not able to go all over the country attending legislative sessions and even if I could, I certainly lack her expertise and experience; the award was for my efforts to keep the masses informed of what’s going on through my blog and social media. My politics aren’t popular with everyone, and that’s okay. I feel good about it if I am able to jolt even one person out of complacency to take up the fight against detrimental legislation. I got to play some music at that one, too. The Hinkles are just some of the nicest people in massage and I always enjoy the World Massage Festival, which I refer to as the Woodstock of massage. Leave your coat and tie at home, and just come and have a great time! The 2012 event will be in Las Vegas.

My annual trip to Ireland was one of the high points of the year. It always is. I enjoy teaching the students at the Obus School of Healing Therapies, hanging out with my Irish friends, visiting a few pubs 🙂 and in general, just breathing the Irish air.

I traveled a lot this year. I was invited by the NCBTMB to come to Chicago for a meeting with a lot of industry leaders to offer input on how they can improve the Approved Provider program. I in particular appreciated that meeting, because that’s where the seed was planted for the Massage Therapy Profession Leadership Summit that took place a few months ago, where for the first time, all of our national leaders came together for the common good. It was attended by the executive management and board chairs from the AFMTE, FSMTB, AMTA, ABMP, COMTA, NCBTMB, and the MTF. Speaking of the Massage Therapy Foundation, it was another red-letter day for me to be included on Rise and Shine, a CD of wonderful music donated by massage therapists to raise money for the Foundation. If you don’t have your copy yet, get on the ball! I am very honored to be in the company of such great musicians. It is truly a great compilation.

The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education meeting in Charleston was one of the best events I’ve ever attended. The annual national convention of AMTA in Portland was probably the best one I’ve ever attended, and I’ve been going to those for quite a few years. Kudos to the Oregon Chapter and to President Glenath Moyle for putting on a heck of a good time in such a lovely city. I also got to make my first trip to New Orleans on behalf of the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and it was a blast. I completed five years of service to that board this year, and while I miss the wonderful staff and friends I made at the board, I don’t miss that five-hour haul to Raleigh or having to participate in disciplinary hearings. I got to make my first trip to Los Angeles to attend the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards meeting, which was as usual, informative and a good time visiting with so many other board members from across the country.

Without dragging out my calendar, I can’t recall every place I got to teach in this year, but they were all fun and filled with beautiful people. One of the high points–literally–was the Take it to the Top Summit put on by Vivian Madison-Mahoney over in Gatlinburg, TN. The hotel was at the top of a mountain, we were on the 14th floor, and the view was just beautiful. That was one of the best education conferences ever, and Vivian and her husband John certainly know how to throw a great event. A lot of my buds were there–Lynda Solien-Wolfe, Michael McGillicuddy, Irene Diamond,  Mike Hinkle and his wife Cindy and a lot more, and a good time was just had by all. I got to play some music at that one, too. Vivian loaned me her limited edition Martin for the occasion since I came without a guitar. It was great.

I made my first site visit as a peer reviewer for COMTA a couple of months ago. I went to New Bedford, MA to review a community college massage program. It was a good learning experience for me, and the other reviewers were great companions. We had a good time. Our hotel was across from the harbor and a good seafood restaurant, so it was a good time.

I had some great classes at the office this year. Marjorie Brook came down from NY to teach a Scar Tissue Release seminar, and she was accompanied by my friend Allissa Haines. We had a good time visiting with them. Christine Courtney and her husband Colum came over from Ireland for Christine’s classes in Indian Head Massage and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and we always look forward to their visit as well.

On a personal level, lest I just sound like an effervescent fool who never has a bad moment, we’ve had some. My husband’s best friend Brent Stephens passed away this year…he was suffering, so it was a blessing for him to go, but it was still a great loss to both of us. Another dear friend died suddenly this year. Donna Metcalf was the picture of health when I saw her last, and three weeks later, she was gone…an unfortunate case of going to the hospital for a simple procedure that went very wrong. Donna was a force of nature, one of those women who dressed in sparkly clothes and a feather boa, and just lit up every room she ever entered. Her death was a shock. It was also a reinforcement that you ought to live every day like it’s your last. It just might be.

I’ve had some family trauma and drama this year…hasn’t everybody? But I’m pleased to say it seems to be on the upswing. My constant prayer is that those family members who need to forgive each other will just get on with it. One year at Christmas when there were some family divisions, my husband said “Well, we could have two dinners.” He was referring to the people who weren’t speaking to each other and the “I won’t be there if they’ll be there” situation, and my reply was “Hell no, we will not have two dinners. They can sit down and break bread with each other or they can go to McDonald’s.” My fond hope is that they’ll all come to the table. The people we resent feel good. Carrying around resentment is, as someone said, like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It isn’t hurting anyone except the person carrying it around.

One of the last great things to happen this year was my husband Champ passing the MBLEx. He is currently waiting for his North Carolina massage license to arrive. Champ is a builder by trade, and the economy here has been a sudden death to his business. There are so many foreclosed properties here, no one needs to build anything. You can buy a house that was on the market three years ago for a million bucks for less than $200,000. You can buy a perfectly livable house for less than $30,000. In fact, if you only need a small one with one or two bedrooms,  you can find some for less than $20,000. Still, I feel optimistic that things are looking up. Facebook has recently built a new data center in our town, and a couple of other manufacturing businesses have come in on their coattails. Hopefully, the economy is going to turn around and the residents in my county will see their circumstances improve. I certainly hope so.

Another great thing this year was what I have been referring to as The Grand Purge. I have been on a mission the past couple of months to clean out my house and my office. I keep watching the old video clip on youtube of George Carlin and his rant about “Stuff.” I have too much Stuff. Or rather, I had too much Stuff. A lot of it is gone…I’ve donated things, sold things, thrown out some things, burned some things…I’m getting rid of my Stuff. Stuff is like an albatross around your neck. My attitude is if I haven’t used it in a year, I’m not going to use it in another year.  I figured if I was going to move, and wouldn’t want to take it with me, then I don’t really need it. So goodbye, Stuff. It’s been very liberating.

I’ll remember this year. A lot of good things happened. A few bad things happened. That’s the way life goes. But all in all, it was a very good year.

Facebook: IMHO

It’s no secret that I’m a FB addict. Well, maybe that’s a strong word. I couldn’t run my business, write my blogs, teach my classes, take care of my home and husband and dog, and everything I do if I spent all day on FB. I usually sign on around 5 am every morning while I’m having my coffee and the house is quiet, and read what everybody’s been up to and make a few posts of my own. Then I check in for a minute whenever I need a break from paperwork or laundry throughout the day, and since I pop up frequently, it probably looks like I’m there more than I actually am. Okay, I’m in denial, I’m an addict 🙂

I get a kick out of FB. I also get a lot of benefits from it. I’ve gotten several teaching jobs on account of FB. Just today an editor of a physical therapy journal in another country asked me to write an article about massage for his publication. I have about 1700+ massage therapists on my page, and just recently started a public figure page for myself. I also have a page for THERA-SSAGE, my business. So, I do consider myself somewhat of a FB authority, and here’s a few things I’ve noticed:

People share the most personal things on FB. Their battles with cancer. The births, and deaths, and weddings in their families. Their divorces….I’ve seen several nasty ones play out for the FB world to see….the accusations of infidelity, the name-calling, the using of children as collateral. I saw that going on recently, and couldn’t keep from laughing when I saw the person getting offended at some of the comments people were making.

If you post something on FB, you should assume that you’re throwing it out there for public commentary, because you are. You are the one inviting advice, sympathy, or devil’s advocate when you moan that your wife left you or your husband is having an affair. You might as well take out an ad in the paper or put it on a television commercial, because that’s what FB is…it’s mass media, except it’s interactive.

Then there are the constant complainers. There are some folks, that every post they make is negative, about how bad they feel, or how their job sucks,  or how their relationship is bad or how they don’t have a relationship. These same people, when they are commenting on someone else’s posts, make negative comments to every one. They are self-appointed critics who will snark about whatever photograph, story, article, or status report they respond to. Never a kind or positive word. Their families are probably grateful that they now have FB to whine to…it’s probably cut down on some of the actual whining in their home.

There are the beautiful people on FB…those people who only share love and light and positive quotations and affirmations of health, wealth, and beauty. There are people who are selling something with every post. There are people who are sharing valuable information like news and research articles, and sharing jokes and cartoons, and having political rants. FB can be a powerful tool for activism, too.

Since I don’t play Farmville or any of the other games on FB, I’ll just give those a cursory mention, but if that’s your idea of entertainment, there it is.

There’s been a lot of griping this week about FB changing their pages yet again. And I was personally griping this morning about all the people posting that FB is about to start charging and that they saw it on the news. Not a one of them saw it on the news, because it wasn’t on the news, but that’s like a lot of other stuff on there that people share without checking on Snopes.com. I’ve seen the same prayer request for someone who was supposedly hurt yesterday going around for two years. Prayer isn’t ever a bad thing, but chances are pretty good that the person is dead or better by now.

IMHO, the good thing about FB is that you are in control. Yep, you really are. In fact, the past couple of days I’ve noticed Allissa Haines telling people why they’re about to be un-friended. You can’t tell sexist jokes and remain on her page. That’s her prerogative, and it’s yours. If you don’t like the content people post, one click of the mouse, and POOF! They’re gone! Don’t like people cussing? Don’t like people that advocate for gay marriage, or people that love/hate Obama and say so? Don’t want to see Mafia Wars or Flower Gifts or any of that other stuff on your page? CLICK, POOF, GONE!

Don’t want people to comment on your divorce, or answer honestly when you say “Do I look fat in this dress?” or “Should I marry the guy who doesn’t brush his teeth and still lives with his mother, or wait for the other one to get out of prison?” Don’t post it on there.

I’ll see you on FB. Be nice and like my page, please please please! And if you don’t like me anymore, CLICK, POOF, GONE!

AMTA-MA Chapter Sets the Bar High

This past weekend I was fortunate to be invited to teach at the 50th anniversary celebration of the MA Chapter of AMTA. Let me tell you, these people know how to throw a party!

To begin with, in honor of hitting the 50-year mark, the members got to attend this magnanimous occasion for the paltry sum of 50 bucks–and that included their education and meals. The food and service at the Crowne Plaza in Worcester was excellent. The folks in this chapter are excellent.

The Chapter made a $10,000 donation to the Massage Therapy Foundation. MTF President Ruth Werner and IPP Diana Thompson were both in attendance and said it was the biggest chapter donation in the history of the organization. They also raised another $800 by raffling off a quilt made by Ruth Werner, that was matched by the NCBTMB for a total of $1600, that was also donated to the MTF.

The vendors were great, lots of giveaways, and Massage Today and Massage Warehouse went a little crazy giving away all kinds of goodies, including a massage table and several chairs.

The NCBTMB was one of the sponsors of the event and I spent time with their CEO, Paul Lindamood and the Director of Exam Development, Elizabeth Langston chatting about the forthcoming Advanced Certification Exam. Even the BOD Chair, Neal Delaporta, was very gracious to me, which is nice since I’ve been quite nasty to him in my blog over the years.

I shared a shuttle to the airport with Diana Thompson. She’s not old enough for me to refer to her as one of the grandmothers of massage, but I found out massage has been her one and only career since the age of 19. After rising to the position of leading the Massage Therapy Foundation, and is now the IPP, she still does 10-15 massages every week. I think that’s amazing.

Mary White, Richard Wedegartner, Allissa Haines, Lisa Curran Parenteau, Sister Pat and all the rest of the chapter members bent over backwards to make me feel welcome. The people who attended my classes in Using Research to Market Your Practice were great.

The theme of this gathering was promoting research in massage therapy, and I don’t think it could have been any better. I also enjoyed seeing so many friends and FB friends–met quite a few people who have been on my FB page and that’s always fun. I also had dinner with Chris Alvarado and Angie Palmier, who were there teaching “Research Rocks.”

I encourage every AMTA chapter in the world to shamelessly steal this theme for an upcoming meeting. We need to educate therapists about research so they can go out and educate the rest of the world.

Thanks so much to the fine massage therapists of MA!

Laura Allen