Ohio Mediation Association

OMA Membership Meeting

                                                                             Distribution: Post to mediate.com/ohio

Date:               February 1, 2008

Time:              11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Location:        MCL Cafeteria on Schrock Road

Attendees:      13 members and 1 non-member

1.  Welcome and Introductions.  All attendees introduced themselves by providing their name, location of services, and a brief description of their mediation job or cliental. 

2. President’s Comments.  Jay Patterson shared that this is his last meeting as OMA president. He spoke briefly of the great strides that OMA has made during the past year in terms of increased membership and participation on various committees.  Jay also shared information on employment opportunities available in Athens County and Hancock County. 

3.  Immediate Past President’s Comments. Per Shirley Cochran, OMA current has 151 members.  We have exceeded our goal to have 150 members on board before the end of the calendar year! 

            Articles for inclusion in OMA’s next newsletter should be forwarded to Shirley by the 20^th of February 2008.

4. Vice President’s Comments.  Phil Dunfee provided an update on the next annual OMA conference to be held on May 9, 2008, at the Vern Riffe Center, 77 S. High Street.  The speaker will be Dr. Larry Fong.    OMA members will receive more information via a mailing that will include details on how to register for the conference.  The mailing will also include the OMA membership form for 2008. 

            Per Phil members can expect to see improvements in the OMA website next year. 

5.Treasurer’s Comments.  Per a report provided by Sheri Center, it’s been a quiet month fiscally. 

• $150.00 received in membership fees
• $12.00 interest added to the account balance
• Treasury balance is $24,813
• A large upcoming disbursement is money to fund OMA’s statewide advertising campaign

6. Secretary’s Comments.  Christy Radigan encouraged attendees to update their information included in the OMA on-line directory.   Without a valid email address, a member will not receive important notices from OMA.

7.  Case Study Group. Susan Shostak reported that today’s study group has been canceled due to personal issues experienced by the presenter.  There will be a case study following the June OMA meeting.

8. Other Business.

• Faith Walzak shared that Delaware is hosting Domestic Violence training sponsored by the Supreme Court on November 5 and 6, 2008.
• Ed Kraus announced that Cuyahoga County is hosting a great program on youth and conflict on March 28 and 29, 2008.
• Sandra Frederick announced that June’s speaker is Ann Snyder, Summitt County magistrate.  Speaker for the August meeting is Scott Brown who will share information on foreclosure initiatives.  Sandra encouraged members to share ideas for future speakers.
• Eileen Pruett briefly spoke on the new foreclosure task force being formed.  They’re exploring pro bono mediations conducted by attorneys.  Initial training will be provided in February 2008.

9. Program.  Today’s presenter, Martha Camp, provided very interesting and insightful information addressing the topic of: “Mediators – Are you a Compliance Professional”.  Martha did a great job of distilling information on research completed by multiple individuals about what it takes to get individuals to say yes.  She also shared information on how the brain functions, what information people consider to arrive at decisions, and some of the ethical considerations for mediators.  She recommended two books.

·        The Psychology (Influence) of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

·        A Mind of Its Own by Cordelia Fine

Great job, Martha!

10. Adjourn.  The next meeting will be conducted on May 9, 2007, at the Verne Riffe Center.

Prepared by:  Christy Radigan, OMA Secretary