The quarterly TAAOM Board meeting was held on July 16 at AOMA in Austin Texas. The following Board members were present: Yanfang Liu, Shen Ping Liang, Kaixun Liu, Donna Guthery, Tam Thai, Leslie Myers, and David Weinthal. Also present were guests: Will Morris, Kristie LaValley, and Sarai Stapleton.
Discussion was held regarding the following items:
Newsletter Committee
A proposal by Monkeyfish Design to compile, print and mail a newsletter was presented. This newsletter would go out to all licensed acupuncturists as well as TAAOM members. It would be considered a recruitment tool for new members as well as a way to keep our existing members updated. The proposal was to mail it out twice a year in two languages: Chinese and English. It was agreed that costs would be reviewed after the initial mailing in September.
Membership Benefits Committee
A list of benefits available to TAAOM members as a result of our membership with AAOM was reviewed. This comprehensive list will be posted on the website. Also, Redwing Books and Llasa OMS will offer a 5% discount to our members. Information on contacting these organizations will be posted on the website as well.
Website Committee
Initial work on the website is done and it is functional. All practitioners who provided us with a phone number and/or an email address are listed on the Find a Practitioner page. Also, for those members who have websites, their website address is listed as well as their name and phone number. We will be asking those members to provide a link from their website to the TAAOM website. Fine tuning of this site will continue.
Membership Committee
Membership levels in 2006 have grown significantly. There were 47 members in 2005. This year we have a total of 124. Great news!! There has been a significant increase in student membership particularly at the Houston school. The benefits to the association of recruiting students was acknowledged. There was a long discussion about improving student benefits and what could be done to make membership even more attractive for them. More information on this will be forthcoming.
Legislative Report
A discussion was held regarding the upcoming 2007 Legislative session. A tentative agenda was discussed and will be finalized at a later date. More information will appear on the website when it is available.
