This page is dedicated to what has happened with the Oklahoma Chapter of the AMTA, our legislative efforts, events and reports from the various committee chairs, and other reports from members of the AMTA-OK. To submit an article, please email us at AMTAOK@yahoo.com .

Oklahoma Annual State Chapter Meeting!

June 28th, 2008   

Oklahoma Health Academy

1939 N. Moore Ave

Moore, OK  73160

8am-9am Registration & Continental Breakfast

9am-12noon Introduction to the Rossiter Technique, Pt. 1

12noon-2pm Luncheon, Annual Meeting & Elections

2pm-5pm Introduction to the Rossiter Technique, Pt.2

Please contact Scott Rayburn, 1st VP , Events & Education Chair to RSVP.

Please Join Us!

 Do you want to know what is really going on?  Show up, participate and find out!

 Elections!

Offices up for Election:

· President

· 2nd VP

· Treasurer

· Delegate

 If you are interested in serving in one of the offices above please fill out the Candidate Application & Volunteer Search form included in your last newsletter or click here to download it  and send it with your resume to:                                            

 Trudie Davis

Nominations Committee        

3128 NW 63rd Street,

Oklahoma City, OK     73116

 Government Relations Report!

Delegate’s Report!

Treasurer’s Report!

Participate in the big conversation about the future direction of our State Chapter.

Get an opportunity to meet and get to know more therapists.

Enjoy the incredible education. Richard Rossiter is amazing and you will learn things that you can incorporate into your practice immediately to make a difference with your clients.  Click Here for a PDF Brochure of the Rossiter Technique

There  will be good food and a lot of great prizes!

 The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.

Vincent Lombardi

The Four State Conference hosted by the Kansas Chapter!

June 6-8th, 2008 in Overland Park, Kansas

Please go to the Kansas' Chapter Website for more information,

or click here for a PDF brochure!

The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon      

 April 27th, 2008

by Rocky Chen, CMT

On April 19, 1995, a great wrong was done in Oklahoma City.  In April 2001, thousands of runners converged in downtown Oklahoma City for the Inaugural OKC Memorial Marathon, each having their own "reason to run".  Runner's World Magazine has named this event one of the "Top 10 Marathons to Run in the U.S.", in part because of the incredible community support for this race.

This year, we anticipate between 17,000 to 18,000 runners, making it the largest run in the state of Oklahoma. The OKC Memorial Marathon Organizing Committee has been working for over 6 months to make this the best possible running experience.  This year, we plan to have about 50-70 massage therapists on the sports massage team to provide post-event massage sessions for the athletes.

Along the 26.2-mile course of this race are 168 banners, each one with the name of a person who died because of injuries sustained on April 19, 1995.  The race will start at the East Gate of the Memorial, wind its way through Bricktown in downtown OKC, past the OU Health Sciences Center, through some historic downtown neighborhoods, and north to Lake Hefner before heading back south, with the finish line a block east of the Memorial. The massage tent will be located about a block south of the finish line, in Reunion Park.

As a runner in the marathon every year since its 1st year, I have enjoyed training for and participating in this event. Sadly, this will be my 1st year to NOT run . . . but that is because I have been asked to be the Massage Director for the OKC Marathon this year. Although I'll miss the camaraderie of my fellow runners on the course, I'll have 50-70 of my closest friends with me in the Massage Tent.

If you would like to volunteer to work as a massage therapist at the OKC Memorial Marathon this year, please contact Rocky Chen at (405) 923-9615 or at RocksBox@gmail.com.

The new Spring 2008 newsletter is up on the website - check out the news on the government relations page!

The new Spring 2007 Newsletter is up on the Newsletter page, and the 4 State Conference Pages are up and ready! Keep your eyes peeled on the various pages, because we are adding the trade show exhibitors and the sponsors on the website as soon as they sign up! Books of Discovery is sponsoring the Anatomy Spelling Bee - and supplying some great prizes!

Chris, Xerlan, and Lynne were joined by Scott Rayburn, Education Chair and 2ndVice President for a meeting with the Oklahoma Board of Private Vocational Schools (O.B.P.V.S.). As many well know, the Oklahoma Chapter is the host this year of the Annual 4 State Conference, and even though the Oklahoma Chapter is not a school, or in the business of hosting seminars, the O.B.P.V.S. was considering having us pay the same fee and post the same bond that a school would, unless we limited the attendance to strictly AMTA members. The leadership of the Oklahoma Chapter of the AMTA feels that it is in the best interest of the massage community, to hold this conference for all Massage Practitioners, not solely AMTA members, so we persevered, and were asked to provide an agenda, and details about the proposed conference at  the next meeting. This was that "next meeting".

It was a quick meeting. This issue was the first on the docket after approvals of minutes and other business stuff for the O.B.P.V.S., and, to put it simply - the Assistant Attorney General upheld what the Oklahoma Chapter of the AMTA had stated all along. Calling the 4 State Conference a "school" or a "seminar school" was stretching definitions, and that it was the opinion of the Attorney General's office that the O.B.P.V.S. had no jurisdiction over this event. This means that the 4 State Conference will be open to all Massage Therapists - regardless of association, for the good of the profession, promoting the art, science and practice of massage.

Keep your eyes on the website - the conference pages will be added soon!

New web pages added to the Legislation/ Government Relations section of the website - "Positive Propaganda"  - positive articles that support legislation, and "Legislative Resources" - a page with links to other chapter's websites, as well as links directly to other state's licenses, statutes, and laws pertaining to massage. We have also added a "links" page to the site, with links to AMTA National, the NCBTMB, and the Missouri and Arkansas chapter web sites. The Four State committee is working diligently on putting together the details and refinements on the Four State Conference, and we should have that section of the web site up and running soon.

Okay - File this one under the "Why we need legislation"

It seems that a " massage therapist" in Durant Oklahoma is being charged with sexual assault. The Daily Oklahoman had an article about it in the December 23rd issue. Here is the link to the story. http://www.newsok.com/article/2989816

This story brought a number of issues to the forefront:

1) We need a way of defining who is and who is not a massage therapist.

2) We need to more effectively educate the public about what to expect from a massage

3) We need to empower the consumer to report offenses

4) We need to be able to feel confident that something will be done

5) We need a way for the massage therapy industry to check ourselves.

Perhaps the most disturbing facet of this situation, next to the crime that was committed, is the fact that the accused was a former Bryan County Sheriff, who left the force to run for state senate in 1987. What does it say when a potential public official can manipulate the fact that we have no current state regulations so they can sexually assault clients?