DESA International Board Meeting

Sept 8, 2006 Papendal, Arnhem, The Netherlands

Front Row (from Left): Jorge Mariaca (Bolivia); Paula Harper, Rick Philbin, Judith Jones-Ambrosini, Joe Henrick, Bill King ( USA)

Middle Row: Helga Smidtman, Leo Heere,(The Netherlands); Ria Vanderstraeten (Belgium); Ulrike Thurm (Germany); Genevieve Batzli (France & Switzerland); Assel Abishera (Kazakhstan); Afa Ibrahimova (Azurbijan); Gerardo Corigliano (Italy); Monique Hanley (Australia); Evert van Schothorst (The Netherlands)

Back Row: Rypke Postma (The Netherlands); Tuguy Esgin (Australia); Felice Strollo (Italy); Wendy Janssen (The Netherlands)

Agenda

Representatives from attending countries and DESA afflilated organization board members met as has become the custom at the bi-annual international meeting. A spirited disucssion of topics ensued, including: evaluations of the Papendal congress; obstacles and suggested ways to balance the format and fees of the conferences to attract both athletes/members as well as healthcare professionals; plans for the next 2008 conference; suggestions on better communication between DESA affliated organizations; and announcement of an initiative for an international bike race in Italy.

The discussion led to fhe following agreements:

1. Dr. Leo Heere and his team were congratulated on hosting an excellent conference. It is an arduous task and their hard work made the congress an outstanding experience. The scientific content was exceptional. Thank you for your efforts.
2. In order to attract more members who are interested primarily in the opportunity for sport specific activities and interaction with other active people, it was suggested that future conferences devote equal programming to both the scientific and the activities tracks. The obstacles in financing both tracks at afforable prices must be overcome to make attending the conferences more attractive to members. The organizing committee should contact affliates during the planning stage for ideas and assistance in obtaining local registrations.
3. DESA USA took the action to evaluate North America as a possible site for the 2008 conference. This evaluation is to be completed and a proposal presented to the Board by 1 Jan, 2007.
4. Better communication among the member affliliates is lacking and needs improvement. Towards this end, DESA US agreed to expand its website to include international coverage. Each affliliate country agreed to provide content for posting to their Internatiional page, written in English. Links to their local websites will also be provided. DESA US will also maintain the International Board email database and distribute information on a regular basis, such as informaton announcing the annual DESA Atheletic Achievement Awards application process will be emailed to the Board to generate more international candidates for these awards.
5. International Bike Race. ANIAD, the Italian afflilate, is planning to host a competitive bike race to be held in Tuscany in October 2007. The International Board was requested to publize the event to measure interest in such a race. The details have yet to be completed, but ANIAD expects to be able to provide accomodations for race cyclists while in Italy, with travel to/from Italy to be borne by the individual cyclist. More information will be posted in the ANIAD page of the DESA website, www.diabetes-exercise.org