The American Society of Acupuncturists (ASA) held their second annual business meeting March 17-18 in Philadelphia, Penn. It was attended by 38 representatives from 25 states, as well as representatives from the ACAOM, CCAOM, and NCCAOM — to name a few.
Conference Presentations
Dan Wen of TCM Zone presented information on herbal manufacturing and safety issues, and Marilyn Allen from the American Acupuncture Council gave a talk during a lunch reception. An evening gathering was sponsored by Modern Acupuncture with additional support from Golden Flower Chinese Herbs, AcuClaims, American Acupuncture Council, Lhasa OMS, China Herb, Crane Herbs, TCM Zone, and the Association for Professional Acupuncture of Pennsylvania — where they completed a dense and meaningful agenda with fine spirit and strengthened collegial bonds.
Meeting attendees had the opportunity to share with one another the major state initiatives occurring in their locales, granting all in attendance a broader view of the profession at large. In addition, each of the invited guest organizations were able to introduce their work, and means of collaboration among professional groups.
Work at the Forefront
Committee and outreach:
Board Members
Internally, the board is delighted to have seven dedicated members, adding Zeyiad Elias officially to the board via Council vote, and adding Kallie Guimond by appointment to service. Rhode Island also joins us as the newest state association member, and the nominating committee has been hard at work developing guidelines and vetting procedures for new organizational members, new state delegates, and new board members.
Our governance committee will also be working to formalize policy development procedures to guide the ASA Council in its creation of such positions. The ASA Board will be in attendance at numerous national and international meetings, and the state association members will be creating more visibility for ASA at state events.
We also plan to continue enhancement to our web presence and operational platforms for state associations, making member management, information distribution, and resources easier, more economical, and more easily achieved.
Council Fund
Finally, we are excited to announce the development of a Council Fund, which will be an earmarked line in the budget to return funds earned back to the state investors for development and implementation of projects at the state level.
Our hope is that this fund will grow over time, and provide robust resources for the development of the profession. And we look forward to continuing to grow this organization with integrity for the benefit of the profession, and encourage each and every practitioner to join their ASA member state association. For more detailed information on this meeting and the organization, please visit us at www.asacu.org, and especially explore our "Resources/Publications" section.
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