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In the Spirit of Cooperation - Voice Your Opinions/Concerns

Since we are having a heated discussion on the voice of our profession...I thought it would be a great opportunity to have a thread where we can all list OUR thoughts and concerns regarding our profession.

SO...if YOU were the VOICE of our profession...what would you change or see implemented?

for me, number one, I'd like to see all states have the same requirements of education for a license. I believe one of our greatest issues is that there are too many differences in our education. This leads to many that are not properly equipped to go out there and be successful. It causes people to actually have bad experiences with massage that then affects all of us. If we all were working from the same playing field then our voice would be ONE. Though I believe in fair competition for business...i believe the core of our education should all be the same. Where we compete with each other on business, should be in how we market, and what CEUs we continue to take to benefit our personal target market.

a big number two for me would be to see the huge amounts of money that is needed to start up a practice, come down. I can remember being in school and not having a clue at how i was going to pay for my state test or my national license or the added CEUs. Could we not incorporate the testing costs into our schooling so that once we've paid our tuition, we pay to be able to walk out of school, having passed our test, ready to market ourselves to the world. I know so many MTs that have finished school, that end up never taking their test and pursuing their passion because they just don't have the funds (after dishing out so much for tuition) to take their tests.

and finally, a third issue for me is the difficulty I have in finding sound research materials to which I can offer up to my clients on any given issue. a library of things from how massage benefits various pathologies, to stretches, to mind, body, spirit wellness. There are so many writers out there that have good information, but it becomes such a chore to locate something specific for a client that i end up discarding the attempt.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on February 14, 2011 at 7:21am

I called it an Alliance. To me, an association is a group formed more for benefits. An Alliance, especially this one is being created to accomplish specific acts to better the profession, is to Identify problems and correct them. I hope the Alliance is proactive.
I see and have been convinced of the need for this Alliance.

Daniel Cohen said:

Mike what do you think the difference is between an Association and an Alliance. Your saying they are different does not seem to jive with definitions or synonyms.

Are the dictionaries and thesaurus wrong. Please explain why what you propose is not another association. Being nonprofit is not a difference of one or the other that is just a tax category.

http://thesaurus.com/browse/alliance

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliance

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/thesaurus/?s=alliance

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults...

http://www.yourdictionary.com/alliance

What you propose may be different than what is already available for membership. But calling it an alliance to avoid the word association is not in itself a difference other than etymology. Association comes from Latin and Alliance from French. What you describe is closer to the latin word associare.

But you can call the organization whatever you like but let's hear more about purpose than defending a name choice. If you have said it 100 times too much effort is being directed away from the purpose.

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Permalink Reply by Erica Olson on February 14, 2011 at 9:28am

*nods* Well said.

Daniel Cohen said:

But calling it an alliance to avoid the word association is not in itself a difference other than etymology.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on February 14, 2011 at 9:45am

Hi Erica,

In the field of massage, Associations are seen to supply insurance for therapists. It is not our intention to sell insurance. A clear word was needed to show unity, accomplish our goals and yet differentiate us from our massage associations, thus Alliance.

Erica Olson said:

*nods* Well said.

E.

Daniel Cohen said:

But calling it an alliance to avoid the word association is not in itself a difference other than etymology.

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Permalink Reply by Erica Olson on February 14, 2011 at 10:03am

And yet, associations are not defined by whether or not they sell insurance. They are defined by having a common interest or pursuit.

Oddly enough, alliance has that same definition.

Ergo, the choice in favoring one word over another is a preference in language, nothing else. It does not change the underlying meaning.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on February 14, 2011 at 10:09am

I really have better things to do than argue the name. We will be the Alliance. Thanks!

Erica Olson said:

And yet, associations are not defined by whether or not they sell insurance. They are defined by having a common interest or pursuit.

Oddly enough, alliance has that same definition.

Ergo, the choice in favoring one word over another is a preference in language, nothing else. It does not change the underlying meaning.

E.

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Permalink Reply by Erica Olson on February 14, 2011 at 10:14am

*snort* Well, I'm certainly not the one throwing a fit when someone refers to it as an association instead of an alliance.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on February 14, 2011 at 10:28am

*nods*

Erica Olson said:

*snort* Well, I'm certainly not the one throwing a fit when someone refers to it as an association instead of an alliance.

E.