Minutes of the Annual General Meeting for NTOI Friday 7th of June 2019
Green Isle Hotel, Clondalkin
Minutes NTOI AGM 7.6.19
In attendance
Liz Gale – Admin
Linn Thorstensson – Director
Lynne Dalton – Director & Company Secretary
Fabrizio Marini – CPD committee
Brendan O’Brien – Social Media Committee
Linn T opened the meeting with introductions and welcome the attending members and our sponsors (Invivo, Gastrolife, Wild Nutrition, Pharma Nord, Nucleotide Nutrition, Lorisian).
She also introduced to other directors Lynne Dalton and Maev Craven.
LT read out agenda
There were no proxy , no special resolution, no objections, no EGM, no objections to 2018 AGM
Directors report no objections
Organisation continues to grow in numbers and strength. Main organisation representing NTs in Ireland. Remind attendees that all work is voluntary and that all members are part of the organisation
Financial report was read out by Liz Gale.
No material misstatements
Reappointment of auditors
McCann & Co. proposed by LT and seconds by Ciara Beague – motion passed
Election of directors
Longest serving director stands down, which was Linn T. Proposed for re- election by Fabrizio and Linda de Courcey
Overview of current membership numbers was given by Liz Gale
Current membership 363 / 240 full / 55 non practicing / 64 students
Plea to renew as possible to the beginning of the year
LG drew attention to membership site where practitioner details can be set up and also to log CPD.
Other benefits and functions on the membership site:
Natural standards database
Webinar page NTOI logos
Free tutorial on navigation of site
A new public website has been launched and was shown on the projector screen – The new website shocases articles , recipes and blogs – The committee invites NTs to submit pieces for the public site
Note public events page –An urge NT to submit their events here also. This is a great opportunity to get their own events marketed to the public.
NTAW 2019 / 2020 – Summary and new ideas read out by Liz Gale
Took place in Feb 2019 – sponsored by Pharma Nord , well received and a lot of participation
Suggestion for 2020: 3 – 4 regional events local NTs. NTOI will cover room hire, print etc. and up to regional group to organise content i.e. presentation, cooking demo, sales, invite other therapists. A vision of a mini Well Fest.
NTOI would seek a sponsor. Charge small fee for public attendance via Eventbrite and profit shared with contributing NTs.
Would still be a NT week with events taking place at various points in the weekend.
Linda de Courcey proposed that more than one day may be needed in Dublin and at the weekend to accommodate families etc.
CDP updates etc was given by Fabrizio Marini
Fabrizio gave and overview of CPD . There are approx events on every month. Two by NTOI, Behind Closed Doors and Antony Haynes seminar in the first half of 2019.
Thanked attendees for support.
Companies are eager to have seminars here, they are approaching us. Fabrizio encouraged all NTs to do business with these companies.
Webinars are popular. We feel the right mix of webinars and seminars are available now. There are plenty of opportunity to obtain CPD points.
Fabrizio mentioned the Summer series that is done in collaboration with NTOI for its members – Dilis Claire, Ben Brown and Robyn Puglia. These are webinars and recordings will be hosted on the membership site for future viewing.
CPD events September to November – IFM, Biocare, Nutri Advanced.
Fabrizio was giving an update on the CPD check done at the end of 2018. 42/246 had obtained CPD requirements – 154 emails were sent asking members to log CPD.
Not keeping up with CPD is bad for NT as a business and also for clients who are not getting the benefits of up to date practitioners.
Room agreed that 42/246 was not an acceptable situation.
Irish Life is now recognising NT as a profession – we must keep up with CPD.
He mentioned that in 2020 will begin exclusion of NTs who do not keep up with their CPD requirements.
Question was proposed that CPD should be allowed to be carried over – confirmed this was 10 points – confirmed that the surplus would show on the checklist.
Anna Collins – CAM conferences recognise by BANT allowable?
Third section where NTOI will give accreditation for BANT approved? So much CPD events on offer now that shouldn’t need BANT events to hit target of 30 points.
If attending BANT approved conferences then they can be used as registered points. If they are recorded conferences or online webinars then they will count towards personal points.
Social Media Team update was given by Brendan O’Brien.
Social media team is the result of a think tank a few years ago. Brendan O’Brien, John Staunton and Gregana Gaydadzhieva (Geri) John Staunton has since stepped down.
Brendan explained how the social media team works, raising tide for all boats, public awareness
They had good success in first year.
SM team acted as a funnel for NT week.
Impact / Growth – FB 1000 new followers, twitter 500, Instagram 800
Aim is to create and air of professionalism around what we do.
Brendan encouraged members to reflect a professional image, to avoid NT reflecting questionable practices and they should be mindful of contentious topics such as cancer and vaccinations
He made a request for volunteers to the SM team.
Blog section on website – needs 4 volunteers – 1 blog a month. Act as gatekeepers for blogs that will be submitted by greater membership.
Event section – concentration point for health and wellness around the country – needs 3 volunteers to collate events and promote.
Ciara Wright suggested a hashtag – promote #thisiswellness as an umbrella term for the whole NT community.
Suggestion of public newsletter sent out via an email.
Brendan gave a plea; “The more we do for each other the more everyone will get out of it. Shrug off the idea that we are all competing with each other and that we are all fishing from the same small pond.”
Health insurers update
Linn T – gave update on behalf of Catriona Fitzpatrick.
In 2018 letters were sendt to Irish Life, Laya and VHI.
Irish Life now recognise registered NTs with NTOI.
Irish Life require a membership certificate / membership number to verify the claim.
Liz to confirm with Irish Life if membership number would be sufficient.
Conor Saunders spoke about testing with Biomnis.
He had been in contact with Tom Darmody. He mentioned a nurse in south Dublin called Gabby who may be available for phlebotomy.
Suggested a Profile called NTOI Smart Check – similar to GP blood profile
FBC. LFT, kidneys, Fe suited, B12, folate , CRP
Also 4 x thyroid profiles – affordable if leave out rT3.
Can tick for ad hoc – like minerals, ttg, hcy and Cu profile a possibility
Female hormone profile also available.
Biomnis have huge selection of tests – can add on as needed via code.
Ciara Wright raised the question – Are we insured via Balen’s to interpret bloods? This will have to be investigated further.
Meeting declared closed.
Minutes recorded by Lynne Dalton.