• Dates: June 25 – 27, 2004
• Location: Toledo, Ohio

The Inaugural International Association of Animal Massage and Bodywork Educational Conference was presented to encourage education, networking, and professionalism in the fields of animal massage and bodywork.

Our goal was to make this conference professional, educational and entertaining for all of our attendees. We succeeded.

The Conference was held at the Clarion Hotel
Westgate, 3536 Secor Rd., Toledo, OH.

Our speakers covered a wide variety of subjects and demonstrated the tremendous depth of knowledge, experience, and purpose in our burgeoning organization.

• The conference proper started with Barb Rennert, of the Red Cross teaching a certification course on Small Animal CPR.
• Amy Snow and Nancy Zidonis, from Colorado, not only held the pre-conference workshop, they also started off the conference with a great discussion of small animal acupressure. Their lecture caught the attention of the editors of our primary regional newspaper, The Toledo Blade, who published an article about the conference on the front page of the next day.
• Bryan Carlton Flournoy, mesmerized the audience with his animal communication lecture, which was more of a streaming channeling.
• Jonathan C Rudinger gave the Keynote address, sharing his vision of the organization and challenging those in attendance to work together to grow and develop the IAAMB.
• Marcia Holman showed us how we can use the principle of Feng Shui in our offices and homes.
• Cindy Blum traveled from Maryland to discuss the use and philosophy of Bach Flower/ flower essences.
• Stacy Lewis flew in from Minneapolis for a day to share her experiences and insights as a Tellington®TTouch instructor.
• Patricia Whalen-Shaw discussed equine massage;
• Aimee St-Arnaud demonstrated how she and the Best Friends Animal Society has used activism in helping animals throughout the United States.
• Reiki energy was shared with speaker Susan Bones.
• Business Coach, Linda Fayerweather showed us how organization and strategic goal setting will help us grow our businesses.
• Teresa Mazzella, Angel Scent Aromatherapy, our ambassador from CANADA, discussed the chemistry and science that underpins aromatherapy. She also shared which essential oils are beneficial and which we need to watch out for.
• David Drake, DVM, balanced out a lot of the more esoteric, touchy-feely energy work with very specific anatomical descriptions of locations of acupuncture sites, how, why and when treatment is performed.
• Jonathan Rudinger discussed the effects and practices of massaging dogs in water.
• Erin Kelly, of Michigan, shocked and amazed those in attendance with her demonstration of EFT, E-tap.
• Beth Taylor, from Illinois, discussed animal nutrition and the benefits of using a raw, natural and organic diet for our dogs and us.