One Last Reason To Go To Conventions

I roomed in Minneapolis with fellow PMTI alum Pauline Lockard. It was her first AMTA convention and it was interesting to see everything -- the AMTA, the convention, massage therapists -- through her eyes.

But maybe the best part happened on Saturday. She had the morning free so she decided to walk through downtown Minneapolis to the Mississippi River. Along the way, she discovered the glory that is the Mississippi River, a farmers market, an Oktoberfest (with an oompah band, natch), and a nice walking trail along the banks of the river.

She came back with a look of wonder and delight on her face. She could not stop talking about how delightful it all was. How surprised she was by how simply pleasant it was.

I took a walk that same morning, though I never made it to the river. First, I stopped in at the Jean Stephen Galleries because they had a special exhibit of Dr. Seuss prints. I had a long chat with the owner about the Dr. Seuss work as well as about several other artists presented there. Some entrancing and engaging work in many different media. I'm very glad I stopped in. I really wish I was in a position to buy art.

I also stopped for brunch at one of the few food options open on a Saturday morning downtown -- Ike's Food & Cocktail. Wow. When you sit down, they place a sticky bun on your table the same way another restaurant would place bread sticks. They call it the "big as your head sticky bun" and, well, they're right. It's as large around as my face and about 2 inches high.


And it's a freebie. I just kept staring at it with my jaw dropped. The waitress said, in effect, "yeah, we get that alot". You can supplement that with an all-you-can-eat breakfast for $18.


Seriously? Because you imagine I haven't eaten in a week?


I ordered a chicken sandwich. While I waited for it, I managed to nibble my way half-way through that sticky bun despite my earnest intention not to touch it. What could I do? It was just sitting there!


The chicken sandwich arrived. Like far too many chicken breast offerings at American restaurants, it was overcooked and dry. I nibbled the two slices of bacon off it. Discovered the cheddar cheese was excellent and ate that off too.


When the waitress came back to inquire after my satisfaction, I mentioned I wasn't going to eat the sandwich because it was overcooked. She quickly offered to have the kitchen make me another one. Whereupon I had to admit that I had, uh, also kinda sorta ruined my appetite with the sticky bun so I wasn't actually hungry any more.


And she took the chicken sandwich off my bill anyways. So I got a sticky bun, bacon, and cheese for breakfast for the price of a soda.


That, my friends, is genuine Minnesota. These people are as nice as Garrison Keillor keeps telling us they are.


I burped my way back to the hotel and convention center.


When a lot of my friends in DC heard where the convention was this year, their general reaction was "Minneapolis?? Why would I want to go there??????" I was quick to defend Minneapolis but I think part of the low turnout this year was that people didn't think there was anything interesting to see/do/eat in Minneapolis.


They were wrong.


This is a sweet little city and a sweet not-so-little state. I don't want to live here because it's also the upper midwest and I know from experience that I can't take the winters. But I was grateful for the chance to visit a city I think is an under-appreciated gem of a city and call it a business expense.


The AMTA convention, or any other business trip, gives you an opportunity to see a new place with a new set of eyes. I discovered Powell's World of Books through an AMTA convention. I took the time to explore Sedona as a side-trip from the Phoenix AMTA convention. I have a new appreciation for Cincinnati thanks to the AMTA convention.


Get up, get out, go. Or at least give it some serious consideration. You might just discover the next Sticky Bun Of Death.

Social Media'ing

For quite a while, my husband and other friends have been after me to write a blog, especially for my practice. I’ve been very very resistant to this. Even though I am (also) a writer and I enjoy writing, I’ve had a strong sense that a blog would be a lot of work if I was going to do it well (and why do it any other way?) and would be a lot more time-consuming than these well-meaning friends and husbands realize (none of whom, I’d like to point out, is running a business or writing a blog themselves!).

I’ve written travel blogs for years and they are well-received by friends and family. So I have a very good idea of what it takes to do the writing. It is, just trust me, a lot more time- and energy-consuming than it appears to the reader. I enjoy it but writing a travel blog is related to a single event that I know will end. Writing for my business will not end or at least not any time soon.

This blog has confirmed my expectations somewhat. It is work and I do have to think about it all the time but it’s not as time- and energy-consuming as I feared.

Now those same people are telling me I need to be “doing” social media. Everyone is doing it! It’s critical to business success! You have to do it! They, of course, are still not running businesses themselves or doing social media for these non-existent businesses either but that doesn’t stop them from providing their useful opinions.

The session on social media on Thursday validated my expectations and observations. The presenter was very clear that one of the things everyone has to think about first is how much time you’re willing and able to devote to this sorta thing. He was very cognizant of the fact that we don’t make money doing social media. We make money when we rub people.

It’s nice to see someone admit that, that social media is time-consuming and it’s OK to not want to do it or not want to do it all the time. There are a lot of messages -- even beyond well-meaning friends and relatives -- that as small business owners we’ve just got to be all over whatever the latest thing is.

I am rarely an early adopter for new technologies. I’m not technophobic -- I was a technical writer in my previous profession -- but I am techno-cautious. I’m also very time-aware and I know how quickly my time evaporates, especially when I get on-line. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and mostly just remember a glowing screen!

So when I get back to Australia, I will re-visit my notes from the Social Media session, make some decisions that fit into my time and reality, and use it but I’ll use it to my benefit and in a way that fits my life.

Now I think I’m going to actually get off this screen and go for a walk in the real world…..

Where's The Buzz?

I gotta say, this convention does not have the buzz of previous conventions. It’s smaller, it’s quieter, it’s definitely more subdued. The energy just isn’t here. Maybe it’s me but I think it’s mostly the convention itself.

The vendor hall is missing the level of noise that it normally has.

Very few people are hanging around the Minnesota chapter host booth even though they are thoroughly lovely and helpful people full of very practical and useful assistance.

There aren’t the swarms of people in the hallways between session creating the hum of excitement (or disappointment) from their most recent session and in anticipation of the next session.

There aren’t little knots of people sitting on the floor or camping on empty tables perusing the schedule for the next place they want to be/see/shop.

It’s real easy to pick up tickets to sessions at the last minute.

I can move through the marketplace / vendor hall without trouble.

Tables are easy to find in the coffee shop and the snack bar. All day.

I’m not saying these things are bad, just that they aren’t my normal experience at an AMTA convention. Next year we’re in Portland OR (Powell’s World of Books!!!) October 19-22. Hope to see some of you there.

Who Am I?

It’s been an odd week for me. I’m surrounded by massage therapists but I don’t feel like I belong here. I’m not currently a practicing MT and I feel disjointed, disconnected, possibly even discombobulated. I’m interested in sessions that are more about thinking about massage than doing massage (so I may be skipping the morning session today on forearm and arm pain. Useful but I just can’t seem to get excited about it.)

When I became a massage therapist, I left a career that had also defined me for almost 20 years and I found that disorienting for a while too. I get a lot of satisfaction out of my professional life. I worked hard in both professions to improve my skills and my professionalism. In both cases I was active in professional societies. I took (and take) pride in the fact that people appreciated my work. So maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised by how disjointed I feel when I’m not living the MT life, especially when surrounded by massage therapists.

I still am an MT, technically, but I’m not practicing. I gave my sister a foot rub last Saturday but that’s the first person I’ve rubbed since the end of July. What does it mean to be a massage therapist who isn’t massaging?

I have a friend in Texas who, like me, studied journalism in college. Like me, she started a writing job upon graduation. Unlike me, she stepped away from it a few years later to accommodate her husband’s job and then the arrival of her children.

I remember her saying she was no longer a writer. And I corrected her. The skill, the background, the relationship to words, and the very attitude necessary to be a writer still lived within her. No one was paying her to write but she still is a writer in my mind, even 20+ years later.

I know by the same standard, I still am a massage therapist. I still think like an MT. I still care like an MT. The knowledge, the experience, the attitude still live inside me. So by the standards outlined above, I’m still an MT.

But can I tell you a little secret? I don’t actually have an urge to rub someone. I was sure I would. I was sure by this point -- 6 weeks after my last massage -- I’d have twitchy hands, anxious to rub any one or any thing! I don’t and I don’t quite understand that.

I love and respect the life of an MT but I will also admit that it can be hard, draining, and frustrating sometimes. It’s not a lavender-scented float through life, riding the love waves from my satisfied customers. (darn it) It’s…….work. And some part of me is, frankly, happy to be able to walk away from it for 6 months.

But I still feel like I lost a point on my internal compass by stepping away. I lost a filter, a lens through which I knew myself.

I’m a little embarrassed by all this. I feel like my internal self-ness should be centered and grounded in something more enduring and essential than my job. But that job engages huge swaths of my mental energies. I suppose if my husband passes before I do I’ll experience something similar because my marriage engages huge swaths of my emotional energies.

So, this is normal. Right? Right?

Fewer People but Still A Good Time

So, yesterday was my first official full day at the convention. And.....?
Marketplace

The vendor hall / marketplace is dramatically smaller than it's been in years past. The word on the carpet is that the AMTA had a lot of trouble attracting vendors this year. It's close to half the size it was in Phoenix or Cleveland. There are still lots of equipment manufacturers and lotion purveyors. But virtually no new small/start-up companies.

The one new one that I think is kinda funny is a guy selling t-shirts and bumper stickers. His products are all screamingly left-wing, feminist, vegetarian, new age, and hippie. Which means I love it! But I haven't seen a collection like that in probably 20 years and that was at a women's music festival back in about 1990.

But he's doing a brisk business! :)

Massage Therapy Foundation Posters

They have bulletin boards with big displays on research projects sponsored by their foundation. I don't usually read them because we're still at the stage as an industry where we have to do research to "prove" that massage can be relaxing and help alleviate pain. (No, the medical community won't just take our word for it.) sigh

There's a display, though, about a program in Boston that provides free hand massage to homeless people in a city program in conjunction with a PT training program. I really liked what I read. I know there are MTs at the women's facility at Luther Place over in Logan Circle but I'm feeling myself drawn to Ward 6 and 7 in NE DC and I'm wondering....casually, lightly.....if my practice (whenever I start practicing again) might be able to do something like this there.

Hmmmmmmm.......

Old Familiar Faces

I ran into former PMTI Executive Director Demara Stamler! She's here with the organization she's currently with (an alternative accredidation for cosmetology, aesthetician, and massage schools, I think). She looks wonderful and seems very happy.

Learning, I'm Always Learning

One of the big attractions to the convention is the workshops. If you take a full slate over three days, you've earned 12 CEUs for the year. You can fulfill all your NCBTMB requirements simply by attending the AMTA convention each year and taking your courses here.

But of course, not every workshop is going to excite and inspire you. Some are well-presented. Some....not exactly. I've taken two so far (I'm blowing off the ethics course I signed up for this afternoon because I'd rather blog).

Building A Successful Massage Practice: I'm going to give it a grade of "C-". My biggest complaint is that I don't think the presenter did a good audience analysis first. She was a solo practitioner in PA for about 18 months (many years ago). She was the only MT in her town and was quickly swamped, so she started hiring other MTs and spent 10+ years running a massage-specific "spa" before she sold it.

Unfortunately, about half the room identified themselves as solo practitioners who had no desire to run a multi-therapist practice. And her whole presentationwas based on the assumption that we all are or want to be running a multi-therapist practice.

Woops.

Plus, her defintion of success boils down to "make heaps of money by following general business best practices".

Eh. It wasn't bad so much as not terribly useful.

Using Social Media: OK, I'm giving this guy an A+. Loved it! He's not an MT (and a Canadian to boot! Oh my!) ;) but he really did "get" that we tend to be small operations, tend to be behind the curve on technology, and don't have a lot of time for social media.

He was very clear, very organized, and very practical. I took tons of notes and now feel like I can actually make an intelligent decision about how to (and whether to) use Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn and other social media to support my practice.

It was exactly what it was billed to be and exactly what I needed.

Today I was supposed to take an Ethics class, which I'm blowing off. Tomorrow is an intensive session on arm and forearm pain (whose anatomy still confuses me) and emotional intelligence.

MT Body of Knowledge: Beth Carey (PMTI Director of Education) attended that. Biggest complaint was that she wasn't sure what we're all supposed to do with this thing.

MT Best Practices: Again, Beth Carey, and she gave it a big thumbs up.

Geriatric Massage: good reports from both Pauline Lockard and Robert Weidemeyer, both PMTI alum.

Hospital-Based Massage Therapy: Beth was disappointed that they weren't more specific about how to make a hospital-based program work.

The AMTA, in general

I'm going to differentiate between the AMTA membership and the AMTA official organization.

The membership is full of diverse, interesting, occasionally obstreperous, often goofy people doing the best they can. The conversations I overhear (or, OK, eavesdrop on) tend to be about "how do I do the best possible work for my client?".

The official organization still frustrates me. The whole message bulletin board thing continues to be a problem (see yesterday's post for the low-down on the blossoming Bulletin Board Fiasco).

• It turns out there are several more PMTI grads here and it would have been wonderful to invite them to the happy hour last night but we didn't know they were here and we had no good way to communicate with them.






The DC, VA, and MD AMTA chapters had their own impromptu happy hour last night that we probably would have folded ourselves intobut there was no good way to put that info out.

The organization has decided not to put room numbers on the tickets you get at registration for each of your workshops. Since they have always done that in the past, most attendees are discovering about 5 minutes before their first session that they have no idea where it is.

THAT information is in the daily "newspaper" that the organization is putting out and it's only available at the registration desk which most of us are not going back to after we've finished registering on the first day.

Unless they are making room assignments at the very last minute (and I don't get the impression that they are), what's the point? It can't be to save paper because it doesn't it. Maybe it's to "force" people to read the daily newspaper??

I would ask but I don't honestly expect a straight answer.

Massage! More Massage!

The bulk of the convention is planned, designed, and run by the national office. However, the local chapter (Minnesota in this case) always has a booth, arranges one evening outing, and hosts/staffs a massage room.

Because MTs are, on the whole, kinda crappy at making sure they're getting regular massage. :)

I always get a massage at the convention (even though I'm quite good at getting regular massages!!). The prices are reasonable and it's always nice to experience a different MTs work.

The space this year is laid out very nicely. It's in a big ballroom with cloth curtains (as always) but the practice rooms are huge (I measured; they're 12' x 12'. Our master bedrooom at home isn't that big!). They are nicely appointed (and you can buy all the appointments at a bundled price!), though they lack bolster (major oversight from my perspective).

And how was the massage? Not bad. It wasn't an Oh My God! kinda massage but she got the job done.

We were joking at the happy hour last night that it's impossible to just "get a massage" once you become an MT. We become kinda particular about the massage we get. We know what a good massage, a bad massage, and a great massage is. It's hard to be satisfied with even just a "good" massage if you've have access to great massages.

One of the things I've noticed in the last few years is that some MTs have a ... presence to them that makes a big difference in the session. From the moment they first put their hands on me, my body at some deep level says "ah, they know what they're doing, they will take care of me, and I can relax into this". Just by that first touch of their hands.

It's a special talent. I first noticed it at a seated massage kiosk (believe it or not) in the Glasgow Scotland airport. Ako Shigihara in DC has that special touch. I know I do too, though not all the time.

Today's MT didn't have it. And there were times I thought "she's going through the motions to fill out the time and it's kind of....boring" though the work was still ultimately effective.

Still glad I did it. My back and neck and feet are much happier than they were when I got up this morning. Even if it can't be a GREAT massage, I'll still be glad I got a good massage.

OK, time for lunch. More tomorrow!

AMTA as alien life form

The AMTA seems like a foreign entity to me more and more.

Alien Observation #1

There used to be a bulletin board at the convention. You posted "hey, meet me at McDs for lunch!" and "anyone found a blue umbrella?" and "can I catch a ride to the airport Sunday morning?" and those kind of notes on it.

I intended to put a note on it about my book and asking for certain kind of MTs to contact me if they were willing to let me interview them.

But there's no bulletin board. It's been "cancelled" because there were too many "inappropriate" postings.

Join me now in a big "huh?".

I asked for clarification. They hemmed and hawed but finally said people were posting "for a good time call...." notes and (drumroll please) poetry. Really, it just couldn't be tolerated any more. So, rather than removing the offensive posts, they just cancelled the bulletin board.

Care to join me in another "huh?".

Alien Observation #2

The FAQ on the AMTA website about the convention included questions about recommendations more affordable lodging suggestions since the lodging deal is with the Hilton. The answer was, in effect, no we won't provide that. But we will help you find a roommate!

Because everyone loves sharing a room with a stranger.

Does the national office not understand their own statistics that say the average MT in America working full-time makes less than 35K? That makes the Hilton, even with a discount, not so attractive to many people.

And do they appreciate that the vast majority of us are self-employed? We don't have an employer willing to pay for our travel and lodging? (Actually, I've been to the national offices and talked to them about just that question and I can tell you the answer: a very loud "no". They actually believe the majority of us are somebody's employees!)

But to be honest, I don't generally find that the AMTA national office "gets" massage therapists all that well. Kinda disappointing for a membership-based organization.

Mobs and Mobs of MTs!

Sitting in Milwaukee, waiting for my connecting flight to Minneapolis and the American Massage Therapy Association annual convention! Hundreds of massage therapists wandering loose in one space!

Chaos and mayhem may well ensue. Actually, I think we can count on it, at least a little bit. :)

I really look forward to these conventions every year. I know a lot of MTs don't see the point of spending the time, money, and energy but I always find it worth it. I meet cool people who give me a whole new perspective on what it means to be an MT. I take interesting courses. I get the buzz that comes from being surrounded by people dedicated to their professional lives. I get to see a new city (OK, I travel to Minneapolis regularly so it's not as new to me) and....

.....I get to shop!

Honestly, I'm not normally a big shopping kinda gal (OK, admittedly, except for books). But it's just so nice to have all these massage-centric vendors in one place. I've never really found a massage "store" anywhere in the real world (not online) where I can cruise and peruse. But the vendor hall at these conventions is just so fun and interesting. At least half of it is stuff I am never ever going to buy for any reason whatsoever. But there's always stuff that's just interesting to check out and there's always something I end up buying.

(Plus, yes, they have lots and lots of books!) :)

This year, I have a couple of concrete goals for the convention, apart from the continuing ed and the PMTI happy hour.

- Talk to Lippincott, Wilkins, and Williams (the Big Name publisher in our biz) about the business book I'm writing and what it would take to get them to publish it.

- Meet and interview MTs who are running multi-therapist practices about their experiences as "the boss" for aforementioned business book.

- See if there are any other published authors there who can give me a realistic set of expectations about publishing in the massage industry (do I need an agent? Where does one find that particular creature?)

- Talk to the education chairs for a couple of state chapters to see if they would be interested in sponsoring Kitty and I to teach Energy 101 for their chapter. (Damn, that's the promo material I was supposed to pull together before I left. Oh well!) (sigh, I probably should have brought more professional-grade clothing with me.)

- Blog the experience for your viewing pleasure. :)

Now that I see those goals in writing, um, that's a lot ot accomplish in 3 days.....I have been accused of over-scheduling before and it looks like Australia hasn't cured me of that habit just yet.

But I'm jazzed and this is the perfect environment for me to do some important things so I'll just do what I can and see what happens. Kind of like the rest of my life.

Stay tuned....