News / Profession

State Association Leaders Meet in Florida

Editorial Staff

FT. LAUDERDALE, Florida - Over 300 state, national, and international chiropractic leaders met November 9-14 for the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA) annual conference, held in conjunction with the World Federation of Chiropractic is and Association of Chiropractic Colleges' Conference on Philosophy.

Other groups meeting during the weekend included the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, the American College of Chiropractic Consultants, and the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters.

"This was an extraordinary weekend for chiropractic," said newly elected COCSA President Dr. Tom Klapp. "All of these diverse groups meeting in the same locale provided an unprecedented opportunity for chiropractic networking, which is a mainstay of the COCSA purpose - networking, communicating, and working together for the common good of chiropractic."

Much of the 2000 COCSA meeting was geared toward providing training for elected leaders and staff members on successful association management.

"This is really what sets us apart from other chiropractic training programs," noted COCSA Executive Director Janet Jordan. "Sure, we deal with chiropractic issues because it's important for our state association leaders to know what's going on out there, but we are really the only resource for chiropractors on how to run a state association."

State association leaders learned new strategies to effectively lobby state legislators; market their associations and develop corporate alliances; provide member services; plan more successful and profitable meetings; and protect their associations from litigation.
State association leaders also heard from other state and national leaders about legislative initiatives that have taken place across the country, including an impromptu and moving presentation on the recently signed VA bill by David O'Bryon of the ACC, one of the primary players in its passage. Also discussed were the various legal battles being waged on behalf of chiropractic in the halls of justice, with recommendations that updates on these battles be posted regularly to the new COCSA website ([url=http://www.cocsa.org]http://www.cocsa.org[/url]) that was unveiled during the weekend.

Elections

During the annual business meeting, the election of the 2001 COCSA Board of Directors took place. Here are the results:

President - Dr. Thomas Klapp, Michigan Chiropractic Council

• 1st Vice President - Dr. Kevin Donovan, Chiropractic Society of Rhode Island
• 2nd Vice President - Dr. Stephen Simonetti, New York Chiropractic Council

• Secretary - Ms. Doris Christman, Florida Chiropractic Society

• Treasurer - Dr. Jerry DeGrado, Kansas Chiropractic Association

• Past President - Dr. Dale Cohen, New York State Chiropractic Association

• District 1 Director - Mr. Gene Veno, Pennsylvania Chiropractic Association

• District 2 Director - Dr. Jeff Fedorko, Ohio State Chiropractic Association

• District 3 Director - Dr. Fred Nelson, North Carolina Chiropractic Association

• District 4 Director - Ms. Sharon Muggli, North Dakota Chiropractic Association

• District 5 Director - Dr. Terry Peterson, Arizona Association of Chiropractic

The COCSA also elected new representatives to the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters:

• District 2 - Dr. Mark Dehen, Minnesota Chiropractic Association

• District 3 - Dr. Jonathan Griffiths, Alabama State Chiropractic Association

• District 4 - Dr. Jerry DeGrado, Kansas Chiropractic Association

The 2001 COCSA meeting will be held November 8-11 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Charlotte, North Carolina was selected as the site for the November 2002 meeting.

For more information about the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations, visit http://www.cocsa.orgor contact Executive Director Janet Jordan at (803) 356-6809.

January 2001
print pdf