Minutes of the Annual General Meeting Shiatsu Society of Ireland Sunday 2nd February 2020 at 11:00am Cork School of Shiatsu
Minutes taken by Maria Exposito
Present: Joanne Faulkner, Chairperson – Maria Exposito, Secretary – Mary McHugh – Cindy Morrissey – Sheena Woods – Sarah Zugno – Diana Cassidy – Dorothee Clarke
Apologies: Claire Haugh – Maria Butler – Lydia Skowronsky – Patricia O’Hanlon – Julien Jolyu – Margaret Link – Siobhan Kirk – Frances Hassett – Mirabel Kohler – Tricia Frost – Brian O’Leary
i. The chairperson welcomed attendees and gave a brief update on the progress of the current committee during 2019.
SSI is growing significantly; things are moving forward with greater interest and increased amount of emails from abroad. There is a sense that interest in Shiatsu is growing in momentum and going in the right direction.
ii. Minutes of the Previous AGM in January 2019 were reviewed seconded and approved.
iii. Reports of Officers:
● Chairperson reported on swaps organised during the year. Dublin wasn’t quite as well attended as the one in Cork. However the Fascia Workshop in Dublin was very well attended, which brought up the issue of a suitable venue in Dublin that can accomodate bigger sized groups. The question was asked if Shiatsu College Dublin may be interested in hosting future workshops.
● The sense is that the swaps went well overall. The inclusion of skill shares is more appealing for members of the society as it brings learning that enriches their own practices. However Diana who regularly organises swaps in Cork, feels that the overall response to them is very poor and at a certain stage she even considered not doing them anymore. Cindy also organised one in Dublin which was attended by 3 local practioners. She reported the space used is not big enough to allow for more.
● It was also reported that the number of members of the SSI are increasing incrementally and if it keeps going that way things could move soon to the next level. Ideas for increased membership included: encourage Shiatsu students to become members, communicte the benefit of joining the Society overall. Sarah pointed out that maybe more information to the benefits is required, to write about Shiatsu community, what the SSI can do for you as a member and what you can do as a member for the SSI.
● The Secretary report is that the total number of members of the Society in 2019 is 34 which is 7 more than the numbers reported for 2018 of this total 21 are RPSSI members 8 are graduates and 5 are students. The renewal status at the time of the AGM is of 21 renewals processed against 13 still pending.
● Treasurer due to personal circumstances couldn’t be present at the AGM this year so the Chairperson gave a brief report on her behalf based on the documentation provided and kept in the SSI files. During the last AGM, there was a discussion about getting a bank card for the SSI to facilitate payments. This hasn’t been done yet as we didn’t have the need for it during the year as the reality is that it would only be required to have one to buy/pay things online such as Google or Facebook adds that we didn’t actually do.
● There was also a remark regarding the payments via Cheque as they are being phased out so we need to promote bank transfer payments and maybe provide instructions on how to take a screenshot to send as proof of payment to facilitate the processing of the renewals as the Secretary doesn’t have access to the bank account and needs to request confirmation from the Treasurer for each payment done this way.
iv. Questions of Officers:
● Who is going to take care of the Social Media awareness work? The alternatives discussed is either to find someone within the society willing to do it or pay an outsider as there is a budget of €150 for the person taking care of it. It is roughly 15 hours a month. Diana suggested we could ask Jasmine’s daughter as she might be interested in such a thing as part of her college work. Ideally someone with knowledge about Shiatsu should do it. Finally Cindy Morrissey is stepped up to take care of the social media aspect.
v. Election of Officers:
● Joanne Faulkner is happy to step down as Chairperson as realistically she has no time to continue on doing it. She sent out emails asking who would be interested in taking the position up but none has shown such interest so, unless someone happy to do it step in, she is happy to hold it as interim for 6 months after which she may have more time to dedicate to the SSI but she won’t be able to keep doing the Social Media – Seconded and Elected.
● Tricia Frost proposed as Treasurer – Seconded and Elected. ● Maria Exposito proposed as Secretary – Seconded and Elected.
vi. Substantive Motions ● Change to the constitution to clarify the registration process of practitioners trained overseas: Section 3, point F will read as follows: Practitioners applying for Shiatsu Society of Ireland from abroad must first present their college diploma for verification of this qualification by the committee. If qualifications to the standard of the Shiatsu Society of Ireland, being the same as the ESF requirements (at least 500 hours of training) and proof of practice cannot be verified the applicant must undergo assessment by the Panel. It is agreed that the school of the country of origin needs to be contacted to verify qualifications.
● Constitution and renewal documents to be uploaded to the website: The current links are broken and not working. That needs to be fixed.
● Arrange Garda Vetting Through SSI: Treating anyone under the age of 18 requires to have a parent present during the session or have them provide a waiver. Cindy agrees to drive the project forward to arrange the Garda Vetting through the SSI.
vii. Any other Business ● Shiatsu awareness month: Joanne proposed to organise one as they do in the UK during the month of September as it feels like March, the other alternative, is already too close to have time to organise anything. However Cindy was more in favor of doing it in March as she doesn’t believe September is a good month for doing such thing, so eventually the agreement was to do one in October, learn from it and then do another one in March next year and reassess from there.
● Marketing awareness: Although we do not have budget for marketing we do have some money to do a 6 week campaign. Joanne has actually found a good marketing person she believes we could use as he has an idea of what shiatsu is so the proposal is to go to him and find out what he can do for us for 6 weeks. Also the idea is to create a focused group to work on the campaign and include more media such as the radio as well as direct and social media marketing.
● Trading online voucher: The LEO office offers this voucher of €2500 if you spend an amount of €5000 in creating your own website, to financially help with the expenses of the website. The thought was for the SSI to apply for the voucher but as a Society we cannot do so as it is only available for companies but this is an option open to any member of the Society operating as sole traders willing or in need of creating their own website.
● Vitality expo in Dublin: The possibility to participate was discussed as this is a big event. However due to the associated cost the Mind Body Experience may be a more reasonable option.
● Mind Body Experience: This is a less expensive event, for which there is the money, taking place in both in Dublin and Cork. Because of these reasons it seems to be more feasible and worth our while to participate in it. Diana doesn’t mind doing it in Cork but wants support as last year there were too many things taking focus out of shiatsu going on this event so we are looking for a group of at least 6 people to participate and have that way at least 3 people each day. – Email to go out to members and particularly to students to get them involved as this is the time to start their practice.
Tricia suggested to buy a plinth for the SSI to be used in such events because last year the one provided in Dublin broke during a treatment. Discussion went around wether getting a chair would be a better investment and wether it would be a good idea to check with the community if someone has one to donate. In fact, Sheena may have one. This issue affects more Dublin area as in Cork, the school of Shiatsu is already facilitating the equipment in an informal way. – Email to go out to members in case someone has a plinth or chair they are willing to sell/donate to the SSI.
● Shiatsu skills & practice swap: Joanne proposed to organize a skill share session in Cork and Dublin and take the opportunity to bring information regarding the trading online voucher for the members to get a better understanding on how to avail for it. 1st one to be take place in May, possibly at the end of it and considering October/ November for the one in Dublin. Sundays are considered to be the best day of the week to organise these meet ups and we also need to keep an eye in Dublin to host them as the current one may not be suitable anymore – Dublin school to be approached to see if they have availability to do so. – Members to be asked if they are willing to share their skills on these swaps.
● Shiatsu Training & Workshops: A maternity/pregnancy workshop with Finnoula in Dublin was asked for. Diana proposed to contact Andy Harp to have a workshop on how to use the tiger warmer in Cork.
● Teacher Training requirements with the Society: Discussed and agreed to refer back to the existing document explaining the process. No changes on that.
● ESF update: All the countries have a common meditation organised on the 1st Friday of each month at 9pm. They are working on regulating the education level standard all across Europe; In France they have an SPS (professional system) in place and while the current level in most countries is FETAC level 5, Austria wants to move it forward to level 6. According to Edward Trip the difference between level 5 & 6 is not that big and if 3 countries concur on that, the EU will go with it.
● Diana proposed to have the students informed that being a shiatsu practitioner requires some level of professionalism.
● Cindy Asked if anyone has contacted the Health Insurance providers to include shiatsu in their coverage. Some people has but it happens that they don’t consider us big enough.
Julien Joly Diana Morrison Diana Cassidy Susan Boyce
Sally Dunne Maria Butler
The chairperson welcomed attendees and gave a brief update on the progress of the current committee during 2018 and made the announcement of Siobhan stepping down from the Secretary position and Maria Exposito stepping forward for election. It was highlighted that there is a need to change the renewal process, making it easier so people do not need to fill up the form each time. There is also a need to change the constitution to allow a change on the bank account, so we can have a card against it that shall require one signature only (The Treasurer’s)
Minutes of the Previous AGM in February 2018 were reviewed and signed off.
Reports of Officers:
Chairperson presented the stats of the activity on the Facebook page: There has been a significant increase on the number of page likes, reactions, shares & comments and post reach towards the end of the year when the strategy of consistently and regularly publishing posts bringing awareness about shiatsu was implemented. This strategy has proved to be far more successful than paying Facebook to boost post which was tried around May and June. The overall outcome is very satisfactory:
visits to SSI website 2018 – 4,467
visits to SSI website 2019 to date – 622
Facebook has 508 followers
The Chairperson also reports that there has been attempts to hire a person to take care of the marketing aspect of the Society; several people were contacted during the year for the matter but despite the efforts this endeavour has been fruitless due to limited budget.
Secretary reports that the total number of members for 2018 was 27 and the current membership renewal for today is standing at 16 of which 12 are registered practitioners, 2 graduates and 2 2ndyear students. With regard to “Society Activities” members have expressed interest in workshops on the following subjects: Shiatsu refreshers for longstanding practitioners, pregnancy & gentle spinal manipulation.
Treasurer presented the accountancy report for the period starting October 2017 up to present, January 2019. The Period started with an Opening Balance of €9813.39. The total expenditure during this time has been €6213.79 ending with a current balance of €6621.40.
Questions of Officers:
Patricia asked: Do the Paid adds work? Helena stated that the College spends €50-€60 per month and it works very well. She emphasized the importance of employing a person who does a professional job about it. Discussion followed about how to get more interaction on Facebook and Instagram.
Election of Officers:
Joanne Faulkner proposed as Chairman- Seconded and Elected.
Tricia Frost proposed as Treasurer – Seconded and Elected.
Maria Exposito proposed as new Secretary – Seconded and Elected.
Substantive Motions
Proposed Projects & Budget for the year
Chairpersons vision for 2019/20
Month
Activity
Host Organiser
Cost
January
AGM
Joanne
€180
February
Sheild sent to members
Begin membership Updates
Joanne
March
Photoshoot
Joanne
€350
April
MBE Cork
Tricia/Joanne
€500 est
May
MBE Dublin
Joanne
€500 est
June
Shiatsu Skill and practice Swap – Dublin
€150
July
August
September
€
October
Shiatsu Training
€350
November
Shiatsu Skill and practice Swap – Cork
€150
December
Ongoing
Advertising
Fb inst and twitter posts
€1800
Total
€3830
Changes to the constitution to point(f) of section 6. Finance to allow having a visa debit card against the Society’s bank account: Constitution currently reading “The Society shall have a bank account into which all moneys shall be lodged and cheques shall be signed by the Treasurer and an appointed Committee member” will be changed to “The Society shall have a bank account into which all moneys shall be lodged and visa debit card attached to this account shall require one signature. The Treasurer shall be responsible for approving all purchases made using this card from this account.
Changes to the constitution to include a clause with regards to membership applications from practitioners from abroad. The wording will read as follows: “Practitioners applying for Shiatsu Society of Ireland from abroad must first present their college diploma for verification of this qualification by the committee. If qualifications to the standard of the Shiatsu Society of Ireland cannot be verified the applicant must undergo assessment by the Panel.
Changes to the Constitution with regards to assessment of new RPSSI members. New practitioners on the day of obtaining their qualifications from their college, if they are already members of the Society and a member of the Panel is present as part of their assessment, can become a Registered Practitioner. Practitioners who have qualified more than 2 years prior to the addition to this rule must undergo assessment by the Panel or by a committee member, if assessment could not be carried out by panel.
Mid-Year application only open to new members: Practitioners can join and receive a reduced fee. All renewals must be done at the beginning of the year. Explanatory email to go out to members.
Bounced Cheques: These incur in a bank charge that must be paid by the applicant. Explanatory email to go out to members.
Any other Business
SSI seal & renewal reminder: An email is to go out to the members reminding them about the renewals and how not renewing the membership can affect their insurance cover. Also, the SSI Seal will be sent out to all the members who have renewed for their perusal.
Photoshoot:Joanne proposed to do another photoshoot in March in the same rooms used last year. Patricia recommended some other rooms in DCC (Adrianne Crowe) which Joanne would like to check so exact date and venue is still to be decided.
Participation on the MBE discussed: Helena recons that is not worth it as the place has been very quiet the last couple of years and very few practitioners have volunteered for it. Helena will give the SSI banners for this event. The budget is €1000.
Shiatsu skills & practice swap: Joanne proposed to organize a skill share session in Dublin in June with the following agenda: Shiatsu for Dementia & Alzheimer, Shiatsu Stretches and finish with a Swap. A similar session will be organized in Cork in November.
Shiatsu Training & Workshops: The SSI will organize some training for the practitioners’ benefit. Suzanne Yates, Tamsin Grainger and Jasmine Itter were contacted for this matter. Suzanne might not be available until 2020. Between Tamsin and Jasmine, the decision was in favour of Jasmine who is offering 3 alternatives: 1. Letting go of “fix it” Shiatsu- Empowerment for your client, 2. The Fluid field – Shiatsu and Fascia 3. An Introduction to Movement Shiatsu. The second option was the most voted (4 votes) against the 3 votes for the 1stoption and 1 vote for the 3rd. This training will be subsidized for the members of the Society with a price of €20 versus a price of €60 for non-members. It was also agreed that the Society will be offering a 10% to non-SSI related workshops and practitioners will have to make their case to obtain this coverage.
Should we pay for social media ads? Helena believes it is worth paying for them as this is working very well for the College on the other hand Joanne feels that the current system is enough for the time being until we manage to find a marketing person to do it. Agreed that Joanne will continue with the marketing until a person is found for the task.
Distribution of the minutes of the meetings: Joanne proposed for them to be distributed to all the members. This was seconded by Patricia O’Halon and agreed.
Mentorship program: A proposal to offer support to practitioners has been discussed in the last years however Helena said that this was arranged previously and received no interest from the members.
Discussion regarding CPD points: it has been noted that members are not returning the forms. The questions were: Can we require members to fill and return the forms? Should we update the CPD form? Most people agreed that the current form is simple enough and that practitioners need to return the form to remain members hence a firmer stance will be taken in this regard.
Regulation on people advertising as Shiatsu Practitioners: This is about Online trainings that are being advertised as Shiatsu Practitioner training. Joanne has contacted them with the request to remove the word practitioner from their advertising. There is also a request for members to report non-practitioner advertising for Shiatsu.
Ficta membership: All in agreement to not renew membership with them.
ESF Update given by Mary Mchugh. Seamus Connolly resigned as Political Officer of ESF and President of EFCAM. Chris Mc Alister is our current ESF President.
Task to make a comprehensive list of the Shiatsu Practitioners in Ireland. Joanne proposed to contact every member to ask them to nominate 2 or 3 practitioners who are not members and ask following questions: Have you heard of the SSI? Do you know what it does? Have you thought of re-joining? What stops you re/joining? What would make you re/join? What would you like the SSI do for you? What do you need in your practice? There was no agreement to follow up on this.
To Julien, an important aspect of Zen Shiatsu is about making contact with another,
a way to communicate non-verbally and through a touch that says I see you with my
heart and with my hara (intuition centre) with empathy and without judgment.
I aim to offer presence to my clients, a space of acceptance and ease so that they feel free to trust, deepen and release and emerge free to express their individual and authentic selves!
For Claire, Yoga, Shiatsu and Breathwork are a perfect “trinity” – each enhances wellbeing. With the addition of Tantra she offers many ways to connect body, mind and spirit; take a look at Claire Haugh’s Practice – “HeartSpace”
I used to wonder what was the point of having a Shiatsu Society. We can operate as a qualified practitioner without it. Currently there is little if any regulation for non-conventional therapies in today’s society. Also insurance availability is not dependant on being a Society member. It was a few years ago that the relevance of the Society to the integrity and professionalism of our practice made itself known. It was brought to the Society’s attention that a hairdressing/beauty salon in Dublin was offering Shiatsu as part of their ‘treatment’. The person offering it was not professionally qualified having done just a basic Shiatsu course and had no professional insurance indemnity associated with his/her Shiatsu practice. I assume that it was the Salon’s insurance that was in place to cover this. The Society contacted the salon concerned and Shiatsu was removed from their advertising. If the person had been allowed to offer Shiatsu at that level, it would have opened the door for other salons to do the same thing and would have really hurt the integrity and professionalism of Shiatsu. I wonder if salons are aware that their insurance may be nullified if they take on people who are not qualified in the area that they are working in. Apparently this is not the first and won’t be the last time this happens. This is where the Society is required to protect the integrity of our practice to the on-street outlets and the general public and also to ensure that only properly qualified practitioners can be let loose on the populace. Currently, as I mentioned earlier, there is little if any regulation for the training and standards of the non-conventional practitioner and, theoretically, someone with a basic skills workshop under their belt could set themselves up as a Shiatsu Practitioner – mind you they probably would not be able to get their own insurance in place but this is rarely questioned by the client/receiver. This is only one point of having a dedicated Shiatsu Society to cover our backs (as it were). If the Society were to cease to function and we moved to a different Society with little if any knowledge of Shiatsu, would that work? they may not have the knowledge required to monitor our practice. So take a few minutes to email and request your renewal form at shiatsucommitteeireland@gmail.com or download the form directly Download SSI Membership form Membership application form. Balens has a Shiatsu Group Practice scheme with a reduced rate so in effect it costs you nothing to make sure that the Shiatsu Society exists for all our benefit.
I aim to offer presence to my clients, a space of acceptance and ease so that they feel free to trust, deepen and release and emerge free to express their individual and authentic selves!
For Claire, Yoga, Shiatsu and Breathwork are a perfect “trinity” – each enhances wellbeing. With the addition of Tantra she offers many ways to connect body, mind and spirit; take a look at Claire Haugh’s Practice – “HeartSpace”
For Claire, Yoga, Shiatsu and Breathwork are a perfect “trinity” – each enhances wellbeing. With the addition of Tantra she offers many ways to connect body, mind and spirit; take a look at Claire Haugh’s Practice – “heartspace” http://www.heartspace.ie
Anna is a fully qualified and registered (SSI, IMTA) Shiatsu and Zone Face Lift practitioner. Her clinic is located in the luxurious 5-star Urban Wellbeing Centre in Galway city. She is offering holistic health therapies as Zen Shiatsu, Chinese Cupping and Moxibustion, and Innovative Natural Beauty Anti-ageing therapy Zone Face Lift.
Anna is a fully qualified and registered (SSI, IMTA) Shiatsu and Zone Face Lift practitioner. Her clinic is located in the luxurious 5-star Urban Wellbeing Centre in Galway city. She is offering holistic health therapies as Zen Shiatsu, Chinese Cupping and Moxibustion, and Innovative Natural Beauty Anti-ageing therapy Zone Face Lift.
