ISTM Membership Assembly:
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Vancouver, B.C., Canada

The 2007 ISTM Membership Assembly was called to order by Dr. Prativa Pandey, President. She announced that the meeting would follow "Robert's Rules of Order." Mrs. Brenda Bagwell was appointed Parliamentarian for the meeting. Prativa presented a brief report, highlighting ISTM accomplishments during the previous two years, which included:

• Membership crossing the 2,000 threshold and still growing,
• A successful regional conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland,
• A consensus conference of the Migrant and Refugee Health Committee,
• Pre-exam courses held in both North America and Europe,
• Increased visibility of the Journal of Travel Medicine since the change of publishers to Blackwell Publishing, and
• Relationships with other organizations such as the European Centre for Control and Disease Prevention (which invited ISTM to be part of a Scientific Consulting group) and the WHO (for which several ISTM members wrote chapters for their new travel health book), as well as our continued relationship with the U.S. CDC in the GeoSentinel project.

Prativa noted that the ISTM research grants each year are for up to $10,000 US. Also, for the first time travel grants with a total value of $13,000 were given to six people from developing countries to assist them in their travel to attend and present at this CISTM.

Additionally, Prativa stated that there is now more recognition for the Society and for the field of travel medicine, that members receive more value for the membership, that the ISTM has fostered a spirit of volunteerism, and that we are fiscally sound.

Dr. David Freedman presented the Secretary/Treasurer's report. He reminded members that the ISTM has been on a July to July fiscal year since 2005. This type of accounting allows for robust budgeting and allocation of funds in coordination with the annual Executive Board meetings each May. He reviewed the current checks and balances that are in place regarding ISTM expenses. ISTM's current financial situation is doing well - JTM is about at the breakeven level, membership revenues are at record levels, and the CTH review courses were a breakeven activity. David also announced that the ISTM would be moving to dedicated office space in June 2007 and noted that there would be upfront costs for this as well as ongoing office rent. Investments continue to be conservative, but with guaranteed steady income.

David also reported the following:

• ISTM's membership has surpassed the 2,000 member mark for the first time.
• An Internet-based Executive Board election was held with a record 30% of the membership casting ballots.
• Registrations for CISTM and ISTM-sponsored courses were moved in-house.
• The ISTM secretariat has overseen the growth of the TravelMed listserv to over 1,000 member-subscribers. There is now a state-of-the-art web-based search utility available to sift through the wisdom accumulated over 11 years and 15,000 postings on TravelMed.

Concerning TravelMed, David asked for a hand vote on whether or not to continue to allow TravelMed listserv postings regarding "clinics needed." The membership overwhelmingly agreed to the continuation of this practice.

Committee reports were presented by:

Dr. Charles Ericsson, Publications
Dr. Michele Barry, Professional Education
Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky, Certificate of Knowledge Exam
Ms. Rebecca Acosta, Practice and Nursing Issues
Dr. Anne McCarthy, Research
Dr. Brian Gushulak, Migrant Health
Dr. David Freedman, GeoSentinel
Dr. Robert Steffen, Journal of Travel Medicine

Special Presentation

At this time, Prativa presented Brenda with a plaque honoring her 14 years of service as ISTM Administrative Director.

Announcement of ISTM Elections

President elect - Dr. Alan Magill, USA. His term will be 2009-2011.

Counselors - Dr. Eric Caumes, France, Dr. David Shlim, USA. Their term will run until 20011.

President's Transition

Prativa turned the meeting over to Dr. Robert Steffen who presented a very nice introduction of incoming President, Dr. Frank von Sonnenberg. Following the introduction, Prativa presented Frank with several gifts, including his own personal "plane". In return, Frank presented Prativa with a "retirement" hat and flowers.

Discussion:

There was a question concerning ISTM finances and the plans for the money held in investments as well as whether or not members can review the ISTM audits. David answered that the Executive Board makes the final decision regarding all ISTM finances and that upon request, any member can review ISTM audits. He did note that ISTM must keep a substantial reserve of funds at all times in case of the failure of a CISTM meeting in order to allow ISTM to function up until the subsequent CISTM.

A question was raised about translating the examination into other languages. Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky, chairperson of the Examination committee, explained that the exam is not a country-specific exam; it is an international exam. The ISTM bylaws dictate that all ISTM-related meeting would be held in English, therefore it was decided that this applied to the exam as well. She did note that it is costly for a society of our size to carry the cost of the exam and that the ISTM is not in the position to have the exam translated into different languages which would require initiating a complete infrastructure for registration, administration, scoring, and validating the exam in each separate language.

One member said that the welcoming remarks made in French by an ISTM member at the Opening Ceremony were inappropriate.

New Business:

Frank announced that CISTM11 would be held in Budapest, Hungary, May 2009. The conference will be held on the grounds of the University in Budapest.

Frank's goals for 2007-2009 are to move the society forward and perhaps move into the post-travel area as a field in which to grow the society.

Respectfully submitted,

Brooke Gouge Administrative Assistant