Greetings Society Members,
I didn’t want too much time to pass following our successful Aesthetic Meeting 2024 in Vancouver before providing some Society updates. I hope that, like me and many of our colleagues, you left this year’s meeting on a real high. The educational content, networking events and attendee energy, with sunny Vancouver as a backdrop, could not have been better. This was my first time attending our annual meeting and I witnessed first-hand the power of camaraderie and collaboration, and the friendship that you all share. It is truly an honor and a pleasure to lead our organization and be part of this community.
Speaking of community, we officially announced that we are expanding ours with the launch of our new AlliedPro program. This is an opportunity for us to engage with nonsurgical professionals and share the training and certification we have provided for decades to surgeons. Nonsurgical professionals are such an integral part of your practices, and now we can provide them with education, expertise and community, as the marketplace experiences unprecedented growth. If you haven’t already, I strongly encourage you to sign up your team members by clicking this link. Signing up now allows you take advantage of special introductory pricing using these codes: SAVE75 and 4FOR3.
I also want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Dr. Haws for working alongside me during my first year. She has been a great guide and champion in helping me learn about The Society and advance our strategic goals. I have attached a five-minute year-in-review video that includes many of the things we achieved over the last year under her leadership with the board’s support.
In addition to launching AlliedPro, highlights included:
- Strategically growing our global alliances to now include a total of 21 MOU’s;
- Signing a five-year contract renewal with Oxford Publishing to collaborate and produce ASJ, our premiere publication in the aesthetic field;
- Creating our first digital marketing tool, to better tell our story of who we are and our value to members, partners and exhibitors;
- Refreshing and modernizing our social media presence and communications channels, including a new member blog on our website;
- Streamlining internal processes by introducing an automated payroll and expense systems; and moving to a quarterly membership application and renewal process - part of our goal to operate more efficiently and establish a balanced budget; and
- Introducing performance management tools to set actionable goals, KPI’s, and expectations to drive team motivation and a culture of accountability that drives our business forward.
Under Dr. Glickman’s leadership, The Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation also had a transformational year:
- Courtney Muehlebach was named Executive Director;
- ASERF went through a rebranding in order to modernize its image and visually link it to The Aesthetic Society as The Aesthetic Foundation as well as unveiling a new logo and website, https://www.theaestheticfoundation.org;
- Launched the Breast Cancer Journey Assistance Fund to assist patients with a wide range of care needs;
- The first study to utilize the unique capabilities of the SETA platform was launched with patient enrollment in early 2024;
- Data from Aesthetic One was consolidated and analyzed in order to market to industry partners and to launch our breast implant registry, ARISE; and
- Expanded our Externship program to serve more students in the year ahead.
Click here to see some highlights of their achievements this past year.
Another big achievement was enhancing our member publication ASN to include an expanded digital version. If you haven’t taken a look already, click here to enjoy all the great content published in the print version, plus interactive and additional content designed to expand members’ knowledge and understanding of everything aesthetic.
I have been in this role for 10 months and continue to be amazed by what we can do together as a team. It is the result of having a staff that is committed to providing exemplary service to our members, a passionate and supportive Board of Directors, and the engagement of members like you.
I am also excited about Dr. Kiya Movassaghi’s transition to President, as he has ambitiously embraced growing AlliedPro, both in membership and in educational offerings. He is also focused on identifying new revenue channels to accomplish our goal of long-term financial sustainability. He champions collaboration, communication, and transparency, all with an eye on ensuring our competitive edge.
Part of our modernization of our brand is the new name of our annual meeting: The Aesthetic MEET. It reflects our desire to be innovative, inclusive and to reimagine how we can provide the best educational content and an elevated and fun event. In addition to the new name, our 2025 meeting will take place a couple months earlier due to date availability. It’s still our annual meeting, but with a name and vibe that reflect our spirit of transformation, grounded in networking and community.
At the end of each quarter, be on the lookout for a new “State of The Society” town hall presented by Kiya and me. More information to follow about this initiative to drive transparency and member engagement.
I can’t say enough about how great this first year has been. It’s been a year of transition and has put us on the path to achieve our strategic goals and position The Society and Foundation for success. Our future looks bright!
Sincerely,
Mark Theis
CEO, The Aesthetic Society & The Aesthetic Foundation
