Dear Members,
It is with great honor and gratitude that I write my last report as your president. We started the year with the theme of "energy and team" and we have had exactly that! A year of reimagination, a reboot of our society, and incredible growth. The success we have achieved did not happen in a silo. I am most grateful to my colleagues on the Board, our committees, our CEO and our dedicated staff who shared my vision and mission of advancing our society to the next level by regaining our status as the premier Aesthetic Society.
To adapt to the rapidly changing aesthetic market, we needed a reboot process and that required us to objectively reimagine all facets of our society: internally reimagining our governance and externally reimagining the three pillars of our society: membership, education and industry relations.
TOWNHALL WEBINAR MARCH 12
To adapt to all the changes in the market, The Society's governance had to be modernized to function like a private corporation. Over the past eight months The Aesthetic Society engaged in a comprehensive evaluation of its governance structure to promote efficiency and transparency to the general membership. With the help of a nationally recognized firm specializing in professional association operations and taking input from The Governance Task Force, membership and Trustees, the Board of Directors conducted a comprehensive review and ultimately adopted the series of amendments. While many are technical, there are a few worth noting:
- The Nominating Committee composition has been refined, and the process of selecting its members has been amended to ensure that all members can apply for a position on that Committee. Instead of merely calling names at the Annual Member Business Meeting, applicants will submit a comprehensive application, which the existing Nominating Committee will evaluate and present a slate to the full membership for a vote.
- To stay in line with industry best practices and allow for greater strategic collaboration and agility, the Board size will be reduced from the current 17 to 11-13.
- Future leaders will be selected based on an objective and merit-based system.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE APPLICATION
On the membership front, I am excited to report that we have grown and have record membership numbers. In fact, we have seen nearly double-digit growth in all categories of membership. We have become a more inclusive society nationally and internationally. With an improved value proposition and removing some barriers, the number of new active members has significantly surpassed the number of retiring members. Our global reach has expanded, and I am thrilled to report double digit growth in the number of global alliances as well as international membership. In response to enormous demand, we created the new international residents and fellow's category which has been received with great enthusiasm. We have also opened registration to our colleagues from the three core specialists to our meetings
and recently the Board has approved creation of new category of membership for the core colleagues who would like to join our society and learn and contribute to our education within their scope of practice as defined by the American Board of Medical Specialties. They will enjoy all the benefits of membership except for the right to vote.
Another membership gap has been for non-MD contributors in the aesthetic market. One of the biggest gaps in the aesthetic market is the lack of leadership in the nonsurgical segment. We created the Allied Pro category of membership in The Aesthetic Society. The purpose of this category is to serve all non-MDs who deliver aesthetic services, from the front office personnel to the back office and all the ancillary providers in a medical spa. This initiative has been received with tremendous support from surgeons, Allied Pro members and industry and I foresee this category to grow rapidly as we enhance its value proposition.
On the education front, I assigned an Education Reimagination Task Force charged with reassessing the content and delivery of our education in ways we have not done before. We have created The Aesthetic Society Academy which is our digital platform where all our education content will reside. In better serving all members of the aesthetic community, we created webinar tracts targeting specific audiences: these include the Saturday masterclasses for all surgeon members, the MOU webinars in collaboration with our global partners, the Blueprints webinars focused on all nonsurgical treatments targeting surgeons and non-surgeons with five tracks: injectables, health and wellness, devices, skin care and business management. In addition, our entire education team, has worked tirelessly to organize this year's reimagined meeting, The MEET.
THE AESTHETIC MEET REGISTRATION
Lastly, we had to reimagine how we interact with our industry partners. I am proud to announce that the industry has noticed our renewed role in the aesthetic market. Their support, including the creation of a new level of partnership at signature level, is at its highest level. I believe that the industry shares our new vision and is more excited to partner with us going forward.
Dear colleagues, all these efforts are starting to pay dividends validating our vision and strategies set forth by our leadership. But by no means is this the time to become complacent, rather we need to continue this momentum by building and working together. Let us continue our momentum of "team and energy" and take it to Austin, Texas at The Aesthetic MEET March 20- 23, 2025. I hope you can all join me in Austin to celebrate the accomplishments of the year with a toast and hopefully a SK run/jog/walk with all proceeds going to The Foundation towards research. I am so excited to introduce to you your new president, my friend, Dr. Tracy Pfeifer. Tracy is primed for the position and has been intimately involved with all our initiatives. I have no doubt that she shares the passion and vision to further enhance and elevate The Aesthetic Society.
Once again, thank you for allowing me to serve as your president. It has been an honor and privilege, but it has also been an incredible year of growth personally. I am grateful for all the friendships, support and especially for the personal texts of encouragement and love!
Your President,
Kiya Movassaghi, MD, DMD, FACS
