Minutes

The meeting was held at the Ramada Inn, East Brunswick, NJ. In attendance were Bekki Bock, Nancy Price, Kathy Jones, Ted Rubel, Ellie Zimmer, Myrellen Merry, Lynne Sabo, Steve Wozniak, Michele Egberts, Maggie Doonan, Bill Stanley, Preeti Madan, Janet Bingales, Abbie Brody, Susan Dahl, and Steven Kantor. Lynne Sabo , the President, called the meeting to order, and the attendees introduced themselves.

Susan Dahl gave the secretary report for Secretary, Carrie Niler, and the minutes were accepted. Preeti Madan presented the Treasurer’s report, and it was accepted. Ted Rubel gave the National Council Delegate Report. The National Council will be meeting in 2 weeks in Tempe, AZ. They are taking applications for a National Technologist of the Year. We do not know the parameters for this honor, but Ted will inform us next time. Bekki Bock gave the Membership Committee report. Our numbers have not been tallied yet, as there seems to be some discrepancies in the SNM system of knowing who has & has not paid. Hopefully this will resolve soon, and we will know where we stand.

Next the area councilors gave the news from their areas. Janet, representing Long Island, said there are only a few openings at this time. Kathy, of Lehigh Valley, reported that there are no known open jobs there. Steve K., from Philadelphia, said he knows of 2 positions available at Bryn Mawr Hospital (Chief Tech & Staff Tech) and a Chief Tech Position at Holy Redeemer Hospital. Steve W., from Central Jersey, reports that Robert Wood Hospital outside of Trenton has broken ground on a new wing & that the Nuclear Med Dept will soon have a new home. They will be getting a new camera also. He has heard of a Cardiac Nuc Tech position in one of the local Cardiologist offices. Susan, of North Jersey, reports that there are 2 FT positions open that she knows about, a 1-man general Nukes/Pet position in a private office, and a Chief Tech opening at a large hospital in her area. The Garden State Society will be having their next symposium on Sat., 02/04/06 at St. Barnabas ACC, in Livingston, NJ at 8:00. There will be 3 speakers & 3 credits. This is free to GSSNMT members & $10- for everyone else. Breakfast is included. Ellie, representing South Jersey, reports no known openings at this time. Maggie, from the Bronx, knows of a FT split- position, which is looking for another part-timer to complete it in Hawthorne, NJ., but none in the Bronx at this time. Not reporting was Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan , & Westchester, so nothing is known about the job markets or activities in those areas. Also attending today was Bill Stanley of Stoney Brook College (LI, NY), who reported that the college has a new BS program for Nuc Med Techs, and will graduate their first class in 6/06. Bill thought they might be having a satellite location soon in Manhattan, that could be possibly used for Tech meetings, once the interior of the building has been renovated to accommodate a large lecture hall. He will keep us advised.

The new Web Site was discussed. It is up & running & easy to find and navigate thru. It was decided that we will not be using PAYPAL for the Spring Meeting Registration after all, due to its inability to be shut down & then brought back up during the blackout period for on-line registration. The web-site is to be revised by this Friday. Job postings and announcements will continue to go thru Abbie to be uploaded on to the site. Each listing will automatically expire in 30 days. Try to put everything in a PDF file, or a Word Document, to facilitate easy uploading of information. The site will have applications & registration forms for the March meeting, that techs will be able to print on their own to send in. Vendors who purchase “Gold” Booths at the meeting will auto- matically get Hot Button Web-site access, that is , if you click on their logo, you will go right to their Web-site. Other Vendors will only have Cold listing on our site, but will be identified as Supporting Vendors.

Next the Spring Symposium, being held at the Tropicana Casino & Hotel in 6 weeks, was discussed. The Scientific Program is all set, reports Michele Egberts. All the speakers are confirmed and the VOICE credits have been applied for and approved. Next year, we must remember to make the 2 copies of everything & send it in together, to make it easier on the SNM. Registration has not yet begun, but Janet Bingales reports that all is in place, and she will be ready. The flyers go out sometime next week. She will need help in the booth, however, whenever anyone can lend a hand. Nancy Price says so far we have 15 Exhibitors supporting us with booth space, 2 of which is the “Gold” kind. We will be getting a Generic Plaque for “Best Booth 2006 Meeting”, which will save time and $ on engraving. We will be using Generically Framed Certificates for 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up of Best Booth, as well. We will discontinue giving out token gifts for the Vendors. Instead, Lynne will be hosting the Welcome for the Exhibitors Cocktail Party on that Thursday evening, and that should be enough to thank them for their attendance. Instead, our extra money should be used for honorariums & thank-yous for the speakers, without which, no one could receive credits. Steve K. is in charge of Student Affairs for the meeting, and he has told them to register early to insure space. Ellie Zimmer is the Site & Program Coordinator, and she reports that the main problem this time around was that the folks at the Tropicana were not very responsive, and it took many unanswered e-mails to nail down simple details with them. Finally, she was able to get menus, floor plans, and answers to various questions, which did not seem obvious to her, but she wanted to be sure about to report to the Committee. For the usual Beef & Brew party, it was decided to change it to an h'ourd'ouvers and cocktail party, as most people had already eaten dinner by then. They will use house brands of liquor, and we decided it was in our best interest to use the per-person charge, rather than the per-drink charge, which would probably wind up being greater. We will estimate approx. 200 people, but that may be fine-tuned later, depending on registration numbers. We will have a better idea for next year after this year’s meeting. There will be desserts also served. The Disc Jockey Company was discussed with Ellie & Lynne both impressed with their range of music and entertainment. There will be the traditional sit-down luncheon the next day. We need at least 2 moderators per room, and we could use some volunteers. We discussed at length the use of the stamps for the sign-in/sign-out procedure. Maybe next year we will look in to bar coding, as an alternative.

The date for 2007’s Spring Symposium, also at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, is in our contract for March 9-11 (Thursday for rooms, Friday & Saturday for meeting space/rooms. After the 2006 symposium, we will decide when the next Section Council Meeting will be held.

Ellie motioned for the adjournment of the meeting & it was seconded by Bekki & approved.