It’s Almost AGM time – Hope to see you there!

Hello MTAM Student Members!

I am Ashley Matthewman, a fellow MTAM member. I graduated and joined MTAM in 2020. Although I have been a member for almost 4 years now, I also have not been to an MTAM AGM in person! This year will be my first in-person AGM and I encourage you to come out too. The real question is why attend the AGM and why bother going all the way out to Victoria Inn on May 3^rd when we could all just watch it on Zoom?

Let’s start with the purpose of an AGM. Our membership has the opportunity to elect our Board of Directors, which is done at the AGM. You get a chance to meet them all in person and get to know them a bit better. We also review a bunch of financial information so we know how our membership fees are being used – something you will want to be aware of in the long term. Finally, we review what our committees have been up to and how they support us as members and RMTs. I am on the Marketing and Communications Committee, and it has been an amazing step into the membership and board!

Now that we know about what happens at the AGM, let’s talk about why you should go in person. On top of reviewing information that is (let’s face it) sometimes boring but also very useful, there are valuable reasons to make the trip. First of all, getting to know who runs MTAM on the Board and the volunteers on committees will make you infinitely more comfortable as a member. Knowing who is emailing you, and who to email if you need help will make you feel more confident when reaching out to the MTAM office.

Part of what has kept me away from going to an AGM so far is not knowing anyone. Don’t make the same mistake as me by taking so long to learn they are really cool and helpful people!

The members are also a very welcoming group. Show up and talk to any of them, start networking and making connections. Teaming up with a more experienced massage therapist gives you someone to ask questions and to learn from. Use the people you meet at in-person events to never stop learning. There is so much wisdom in our professional community. Also, you never know who needs a new RMT working in their space – and you’re all about to need jobs! Get out there and make those connections!

We live in a time of ‘virtual’ everything. Although we have the choice to keep it that way, I strongly encourage all of you to consider hanging out with us. Get comfortable with the community, network and learn about our fantastic association from the members themselves!

If some of your fellow students would like to attend, send them to the MTAM website for more information on becoming a student member.

Looking forward to seeing you on May 3rd for the AGM!