Pictured from left to right, Alexandra Alday, Sidronio “Chilo” Casas, and Lydia Nixon
The Florida State Massage Therapy Association (FSMTA) held its annual convention and trade show in Orlando, FL from June 22-26, 2016. Both Lydia Nixon, Board Chair, and Alexandra Alday, Program Operations Administrator, gave a presentation before 300 students and massage therapists with less than two years of licensure at the FSMTA’s Successful Start Program on the first morning of the convention. This program gives tips and advice to future and new therapists on having a successful practice and avoiding disciplinary action down the road. This year, the program also included a panel, which Ms. Nixon and Ms. Alday sat on, to answer questions posed by the audience. This presentation was well received and many students stopped by the board’s booth to express their gratitude and ask more questions.
The FSMTA held a Legislative Summit during the convention focused on “Modernizing our Scope of Practice” that Ms. Nixon and Ms. Alday attended and provided feedback on the proposal. We will be discussing the FSMTA’s proposal at our next Board of Massage Therapy meeting in July.
In addition to participating in the Successful Start Program and Legislative Summit, Ms. Nixon and Ms. Alday attended the convention and represented the Board of Massage Therapy on the tradeshow floor each day to provide information to attendees and to promote the Department. This event was attended by more than 1500 people and Board staff gave away well over 1000 promotional materials and information packets regarding Unlicensed Activity, the Department’s Healthiest Weight Initiative, the new Versa Online web portal, and the current renewal requirements.
Mr. Sidronio “Chilo” Casas, Unlicensed Activity Liaison, joined Board staff at the convention. His presence was immeasurably helpful for those attendees looking for more information about how to report unlicensed activity and the investigation process. Many FSMTA chapter president’s asked if Mr. Casas would attend one of their chapter meetings to provide more information and the opportunity for chapter members to ask questions.
We look forward to participating in the FSMTA’s Annual Convention and Trade Show next year!
