IFFAS Meeting Minutes

IFFAS Council Meeting Buenos Aires, Argentina. September 22, 2000.

Council Members Attending

Yoshinori Takakura, M.D. President; Michael Coughlin, MD, President Elect; Zelman Simonovich, MD, Secretary; Suguru Inokuchi, MD, Asian Federation; Nestor Natiello, MD, South American Federation; Mauro Fuchs, MD, South American Federation; Michael Shereff, MD, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society.

Proxies

Paul Benamou, MD for Michael Stephens, MD, European Foot and Ankle Society Michael Coughlin, MD for Ronald Smith, MD, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Sandro Giannini, MD for Francesco Malerba, MD, European Foot and Ankle Society Yoshinori Takakura, MD for In Heon Parks, MD, Asian Federation

Dr. Takakura called the Council Meeting to order at 17:30 p.m. Buenos Aires time. Dr. Takakura asked Dr. Coughlin to chair the meeting.

MINUTES

Council reviewed and approved minutes from the July 17 meeting in Vail.

NEW MEMBERS

Council discussed requests for IFFAS admittance from the Australian Foot and Ankle Society and the South African Society of Foot and Ankle Surgery. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society representatives agreed that the Australian Society could join the American group. Dr. Simonovich moved that the IFFAS accept the Australian Foot and Ankle Society as a member of the North American Regional Organization, i.e., the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. Council unanimously approved the motion. Dr. Giannini said that admittance of South Africa would be discussed at the upcoming European Society instructional course in Bologna. Council agreed to discuss the European Society recommendation at its next meeting.

IFFAS LOGO

Dr. Benamou expressed the opinion that IFFAS should utilize the CIP logo as its own. Dr. Natiello noted that he had proposed an IFFAS logo that incorporated the CIP logo with a circle around it. Dr. Coughlin summarized Council��s previous discussion of the new logo. Council previously had agreed that it wanted to adopt a logo that would utilize some elements of the CIP logo, but clearly would convey a new image. Council members agreed that the current proposed logo with two globes appeared too unwieldy. After some discussion, Council reversed its decision and two new proposals were suggested: a) that the logo contain the orthopaedic tree with a foot and wing and the IFFAS banner but no globes; b) that the logo eliminate the foot and wing as well as the globes and incorporate the CIP shield and man. Adherents of both proposals suggested the logo include a circle around the other graphic elements. Council agreed by a vote of six to five to develop a logo that incorporated the CIP shield and man. Dr. Benamou agreed to develop the logo with a circle around it and submit it to the IFFAS office.

IFFAS CERTIFICATES

Dr. Coughlin suggested that IFFAS give certificate with the embossed logo to retiring Council members. He estimated it would cost $800 to $1,000 to develop the certificates. Council agreed to the suggestion and asked the IFFAS office to obtain a bid on prices for the certificate.

FINANCES

Dr. Coughlin asked Mr. Cantrall to provide a financial report in Dr. Dereymaekers absence. Mr. Cantrall reported that IFFAS currently has $6,787 in its cash account. Phone and travel account for most of the annual expense. It was suggested that the IFFAS use the AOFAS phone situated in the same office building since most communication is by e-mail or fax and the federation only receives one or two phone calls annually. A bill for the IFFAS annual subscription of $3,000 will be sent to each regional organization on Oct. 1 and should be paid by November 1. The annual management fee is $8,000. The remainder of the subscription goes to the IFFAS treasury. The secretariat anticipates expenses of about $4,000 over the next year for developing the logo, new letterhead, and phone costs. No travel expenses are anticipated. Dr. Coughlin asked Mr. Cantrall to speak with Dr. Benamou about the official items needed for meetings, such as banners and a large logo on the podium, etc. Council asked that the cost of the logo, letterhead and other official items be discussed at its next meeting.

NEXT COUNCIL MEETING

Dr. Coughlin suggested that Council consider holding meetings at sites that would minimize travel expenses for the Executive Director. He proposed San Francisco or San Diego as possible sites for the next meeting. Council agreed unanimously to hold its next meeting in San Diego, California on Friday, July 20, 2001 at 1 p.m.

FUTURE TRIENNIAL MEETINGS

The 2005 triennial meeting will be held in Europe and the 2008 triennial meeting in South America. The European Foot and Ankle Society is considering three sites for the 2005 meeting - Luzene, Naples, and Paris. EFFAS will decide on the site at its upcoming instructional course in Bologna. Council asked EFAS to email its decision to the IFFAS office as soon as possible for consideration by IFFAS. Dr. Coughlin proposed that the AOFAS assume all risk for the 2002 triennial meeting in San Francisco and make a contribution to the IFFAS treasury if the meeting makes a profit. Council agreed unanimously that this should be the arrangement for all IFFAS triennial meetings. Dr. Coughlin further suggested that the host country contribute 10 percent of the profit to the IFFAS treasury. Dr. Simonovich offered a counter suggestion that the host country share the profits with IFFAS 50/50. Dr. Nateillo suggested a third option, i.e., that the host nation receive one third of the profits, the regional organization one third of the profits and IFFAS one third of the profits. Dr. Coughlin noted that the AOFAS Board of Directors hasn��t discussed the revenue sharing arrangement and this proposal would need to go back to the AOFAS Board for consideration. Council took an informal vote and nine members preferred that IFFAS receive one third of the profits and the other two thirds be split between the regional organization and host country.

TRIENNIAL MEETING

Mr. Cantrall reported on progress with the 2002 triennial meeting. AOFAS has signed a contract with the San Francisco Hyatt. A call for abstracts will be announced in the AOFAS Specialty Day program and at the Specialty Day meeting in San Francisco, March 2001. The social program will likely include trips to Monterrey and the Napa Valley wine country. Dr. Ronald Smith will be the program chair and Dr. Glenn Pfeffer has been proposed as the local host. The Program Committee will finalize the program and mail a brochure with accepted abstracts by January 2002. The abstracts and program will be listed on the IFFAS web site as well. Dr. Coughlin suggested that papers be presented on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning and that the program end on Sunday at noon. He suggested a registration fee of $500.

IFFAS CALENDAR

Council reviewed the IFFAS Calendar. It was noted that a chronological calendar helped members more effectively plan for future meetings. Council agreed that the calendar should include two listings: a chronological list of all meetings and a separate listing of regional, national and other meetings.

IFFAS WEB SITE

Mr. Cantrall reviewed recent updates to the IFFAS web site. The web site now highlights the triennial meeting prominently on the home page with photos of the meeting city and a link to information on the meeting city (San Francisco for 2002) as well as the meeting hotel. The site will include abstracts from the meeting and a registration page once the program is finalized. Mr. Cantrall suggested that with the IFFAS calendar on the web page also include calls for papers with registration information, links to hotels, and information on the host cities for regional meetings as well as photos of sites for regional meetings. Mr. Cantrall noted that commercial interests may provide sponsorship money, which could be used to further upgrade the web site. He suggested that the Council adopt a policy on web sponsorship and advertising. Council agreed that IFFAS should pursue sponsorship for its web site. It was noted that the web site includes a section on the founding meeting that notes that CIP was disbanded. Council agreed that this section should be changed to state that IFFAS evolved from CIP and that the word "disbanded" should be removed from the web page. Council reviewed current links to other societies and offered suggestions for further links.

The meeting was adjourned at 19:15 p.m.