World Massage Conference

Join Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) at the World Massage Conference (WMC), online June 4–6 and November 12–14, 2012, as we celebrate lifelong learning in the massage profession. During this "virtual conference," the world's top massage educators such as Laura Allen, Ben Benjamin, Eric Brown, Erik Dalton, Whitney Lowe, Til Luchau, Aaron Mattes, Thomas Myers, Ruth Werner, and dozens more present through live broadcasts, panel discussions, and streaming video. All of the sessions are recorded and available for on-demand replay.

Don't miss ABMP Education Day on June 6, 2012, where ABMP's Director of Education Anne Williams and Massage & Bodywork magazine's Editor in Chief Leslie Young host a special day of programming to celebrate lifelong learning.

> About the World Massage Conference—June 4–5, 2012
> World Massage Conference Schedule of Events
> About ABMP Education Day—June 6, 2012
> ABMP Education Day Schedule of Events
> A Unique Gift for Your Special Instructors
> An Exclusive Discount for ABMP Members
> Questions? Need Help? Contact Your ABMP Education Department

About the World Massage Conference—June 4–5, 2012

The World Massage Conference (WMC) is a virtual conference that takes place online twice a year in the spring (June 4–6, 2012) and fall (November 12–14, 2012). Considered the largest event in the massage profession, WMC had more than 15,000 massage professionals from around the world participate last year. The profession's top educators, authors, and practitioners present through live broadcasts, panel discussions, and streaming video. Participants can instant message questions to the presenter, as well as chat directly with educators and other attendees throughout the live event. All of the sessions are also recorded and available for on-demand replay.

"We wanted to make sure that the World Massage Conference was accessible to massage professionals, schools, instructors, and students everywhere," says Eric Brown, who created the virtual conference with fellow massage therapists Melanie Hayden and Scott Dartnall. "By leveraging technology in the way we do, the massage community can get access to presenters—true legends in the profession—that they would never otherwise have an opportunity to hear in person. This year we partnered with ABMP to provide a special opportunity for teachers, and discounts on the conference to ABMP professional members."

World Massage Conference Schedule of Events, June 4–5, 2012

Click here for a full schedule and description of events at the World Massage Conference. Please note that all times are listed as Eastern Standard Time.

About ABMP Education Day

ABMP is proud to be a sponsor of the World Massage Conference and to host ABMP Education Day on June 6 with special programming developed to celebrate lifelong learning in massage. These sessions are not just educational; they're inspiring. Massage students, teachers, and therapists will be exposed to fresh ideas, evidence-based methods, and the personal stories behind the work of top-rated massage educators. The chance to feel connected to a global massage community and experience the pride therapists take in their work acts like an adrenaline shot and reminds each of us to continue our personal growth in the massage profession.

Massage & Bodywork magazine One of the key characteristics of massage therapists seems to be an insatiable thirst for knowledge, deeper understanding, and continuing hands-on skill development. At the World Massage Conference this spring, ABMP Education Day will celebrate lifelong learning with a special program lifted from the pages of Massage & Bodywork magazine (M&B). As ABMP's flagship publication, M&B is produced six times a year to support massage professionals in their efforts to stay current in our dynamic field. ABMP's Director of Education Anne Williams and Massage & Bodywork magazine's Editor in Chief and ABMP's Vice President Communication Leslie Young will join a host of noted authors and educators as we look together at defining articles that reflect the unique insights, perspectives, and current trends that inspire our paths as lifelong learners and massage therapists.

ABMP Education Day Schedule of Events, June 6, 2012

Note that all times are listed as Eastern Standard Time

10:45 a.m.–11:00 a.m.	Welcome to ABMP Education Day at the World Massage Conference with Anne Williams, Leslie Young, and the WMC team
11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.	Session 1: Celebrating Lifelong Learning—A Panel Discussion with Ben Benjamin, Cliff Korn, Whitney Lowe, Jan Schwartz, and Ruth Werner.
Lifelong learners are people who seek out fresh ideas, alternative perspectives, and chances to explore our changing, dynamic, information-rich profession by keeping their senses active and their minds open. Join lifelong learners Ben Benjamin, Cliff Korn, Whitney Lowe, Jan Schwartz, and Ruth Werner for a panel discussion that reflects on the many ways we can express our curiosity, enthusiasm for life, and love of massage as practitioners, students, teachers, and lifelong learners.
12:30 p.m.–1:00 p.m.	Video Programming
1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m.	Session 2: Igniting the Fire—Choosing a Path of Professional Mastery with Til Luchau
Massage and Bodywork therapists are great learners. Evidence is in the impressive (even overwhelming) amount of continuing education and specialty offerings available, both in person, and online. With all choices for learning, how do you choose wisely? What will best serve you, your passion, your practice, and your clients? And, beyond which workshop to take, how do you chart a path of ongoing mastery that gives lasting professional and personal fulfillment? Join Til Luchau and Anne Williams as they guide you through these questions, and help you see learning, passion, and mastery in a new way. Using simple self-assessment methods, experiential exercises, and powerful inquiry, this engaging webinar will give you new perspectives and practices that can serve you for a lifetime. As William Butler Yeats famously said, "Education is not the filling of a pail. It is the igniting of a fire."
2:30 p.m.–3:00 p.m.	Video Programing
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m.	Session 3: A Conversation with Anatomy Trains’ Lifelong Learner: Thomas Myers
For more than a decade, Tom Myers, the visionary author of Anatomy Trains and Fascial Release for Structural Balance, has contributed groundbreaking articles and several pivotal series' to Massage & Bodywork magazine. Myers studied with Dr. Ida Rolf and has practiced integrative bodywork for more than 35 years. In this behind-the-scenes session, Myers shares the evolution of his ideas, the questions that keep him curious, the formative moments that led to Anatomy Trains, how he inspires his students, and his continued work in the massage and bodywork profession.
4:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.	Video Programming
5:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m.	Session 4: An Inspired Career
An important part of ABMP's mission is to support massage therapists in the development of fulfilling careers, in whatever form those careers might take. Some therapists strike out on their own and work as independent practitioners, others work as employees, and many have blended occupations. In this panel discussion, a trio of Massage & Bodywork magazine's favorite business experts such as Laura Allen, Eric Brown, and Irene Diamond focus on the fun, creative, and self-empowering aspects of maintaining an inspired massage career.
6:30 p.m.	Closing

A Unique Gift for Special Instructors

This year, ABMP and the World Massage Conference want to support massage schools as they honor their special massage instructors. Each state-approved massage school is encouraged to recognize two instructors by completing the application form. Fill in the name and email address of two instructors of your choice and they will each receive free registration to the conference and access to more than 50 hours of continuing education, and certificates of completion with the successful passage of an online quiz (regularly $249). These instructors can share the live or recorded broadcasts with their students in their massage classrooms and earn their continuing education hours at the same time.

If you are a state-approved massage program, complete the application form to register your two special instructors. Encourage these instructors to share the conference by broadcasting the live presentation or recorded replays in the classroom. Act now because the deadline is Friday, May 25, 2012.

If you are an instructor at a state-approved massage program, encourage your school owner, director of education, or massage program manager to nominate you or special colleagues for this unique gift. You can also register for less than half price as an instructor using this special link below. If you register using this link, ABMP will make sure you get access to certificates of completion for CE reporting absolutely free (regularly $50), with the passage of an online quiz.

An Exclusive Discount for ABMP Members

The World Massage Conference provides discounted rates to members of select massage and bodywork associations. As an ABMP member, you are automatically assured the reduced rate of $97 (regularly $199) to participate in this unique online conference.

In addition, as a sponsor of the conference, ABMP has arranged a special offer only available to ABMP members when they use the link below to register (you must register by May 25, 2012, to get the deal). Usually conference attendees pay an additional $50 to obtain access to certificates of completion for 50 hours of continuing education, with the passage of an online quiz. ABMP members who register using the link below are automatically signed up to receive access to the 50 hours of completion certificates for free. So, as members of ABMP, you receive an additional $50 off the conference fee for a total savings exceeding $150!

This offer is not available anywhere else, so to register for the conference and obtain access to the exclusive ABMP membership offer for free certificates of completion (with successful passage of an online quiz) you must use this link to register.