Minutes of the FEO General Assembly – Cadiz, Spain – June 3rd 2007.
Held on 3rd June 2007. at the 53 rd SEDO Congress in Cadiz, Spain
Representatives present:
Dr Olivier Mauchamp, France, President of FEO, Representative of SPODF
Dr Jose M. Llamas, Spain, Vice President of FEO, Representative of SEDO
Prof. Jose Dahan, Belgium, Administrator of FEO, Representative of SOBOR
Prof. Mirjana Sasic, Serbia, General Secretary of FEO, Representative of SOS
Prof. Francesca Miotti, Italy, General Secretary Adjunct of FEO, Representative of SIDO
Dr Odile Steil-Hutereau, Luxembourg, Treasurer of FEO, Representative of SLODF
Dr Abraham Kiriakydes, Representative of Cyprus Orthodontic Society
Dr Julian O’Neill, Representative of British Orthodontic Society
Prof. Mladen Slaj, Representative of Croatian Orthodontic Society
SFODF = Société Française d’Orthopédie Dento-faciale
SEDO = Sociedad Española de Ortodoncia
SOBOR = Société Belge d'Orthodontie
SOS = Serbian Orthodontic Society
SIDO = Società Italiana di Ortodonzia
SLODF = La société Luxembourgeoise d’Orthodontie
The Agenda as published prior to the meeting was:
- 1. Call to order
- 2. Welcome by The President of the Congress
- 3. Welcome by SEDO President
- 4. Welcome by FEO President
- 5. Welcome to guests and observers
- 6. Welcome by WFO Representative
- 7. Apologies for absence
- 8. Approval of the Agenda
- 9. Approval of the minutes of the FEO General Assembly in Brussels, May 26 th 2006.
- 10. Matters arising from minutes not in agenda
- 11. Addendum to the Agenda
- 12. Report on FEO activities
- a. Report of the FEO President
- b. Report of the FEO General Secretary
- 13. FEO Award
- a. Winner of the 2007 FEO Award
- b. Deadline for 2008 FEO Award
- 14. FEO lecture and FEO speakers
- 15. Treasurer’s report
- a. 2006 accounts,
- b. Accounts to 1 st June 2007,
- c. Subscription rates for 2008.
- 16. Auditors Report
- 17. Website Report
- 18. FEO Newsletter
- 19. Reports from member societies
- 20. Report from MOIP meeting, Florence Italy, November 15 th - 18 th 2006.
- 21. EFOSA – EOS – FEO relationship
- 22. 2010 and 2015 World Conference
- 23. Application for new members of the FEO
- 24. Approval of the FEO Board for 2007 – 2008
- 25. Suggestions for future activities of the General Assembly
- 26. Any other business
- 27. Application to host the General Assembly 2008
- 28. Closing of the meeting
The meeting was opened at 3.00 p.m. by Dr Olivier Mauchamp, President of the FEO.
The President called the meeting to order at 3.00 p.m.
- Welcome by President of FEO
Dr Olivier Mauchamp addressed the participants, thanked all representatives for their attendance and expressed his regret that the General Assembly coincided with many national orthodontic meetings which resulted in several representatives not being able to attend the Assembly. He then gave floor to Dr Llamas, Vice President of SEDO, hosting the FEO Assembly.
- Welcome by SEDO President
Dr Llamas, SEDO Vice-President welcomed the attendants in the name of Dr Cruz, SEDO President, and wished them all a very successful meeting and pleasant stay in Spain during the Assembly.
Dr Mauchamp thanked Dr Llamas for his hospitality. He then pointed out that the benefit of holding the FEO General Assembly during national orthodontic meetings is gaining a greater knowledge of the host national Society and orthodontics in that country.
- Welcome to guests and observers
Dr Mauchamp thanked all representatives from distant countries for their effort to attend the Assembly. He stated that this year there was no observers from other countries and gave the floor to WFO representative.
- Welcome by WFO Representative
Prof. Miotti welcomed the participants on behalf of Prof. Athanasiou, President of WFO. She forwarded his regrets for not being able to attend the Assembly and conveyed his greetings to all representatives.
FEO General Secretary, Prof. Sasic, informed the participants about letters of apologies received from Prof. A. Athanasiou, Prof. V. Moutafchiev, Dr. A. Thom and Prof. A. Pereira.
The agenda was approved without any modifications.
- Approval of the Minutes of the General Assembly in Brussels May 26th 2006.
The General Secretary sent the Minutes of the previous General Assembly to all Societies No notifications or modifications were received. The Minutes were approved and accepted unanimously.
- Matters arising from minutes not in agenda
There were no matters arising.
- Report of the FEO President
Dr Mauchamp stated that in the past year he concentrated his activities as FEO President on duties that he regards are of utmost importance: representation of the FEO on all levels, FEO Award and FEO Newsletter.
Dr Mauchamp said that he represented FEO in Vienna for the EOS Congress during which he had a long conversation with EOS Council about importance of FEO. The discussion continued at the subsequent EOS Council meeting in January, which he attended both as a member and FEO President. He informed the participants of the dissolution of COCIO after the completion of its objectives. He also reported of his presence at the SIDO-MOIP meeting as FEO representative.
Concerning the FEO Newsletter, its importance was stressed as a connection between FEO member societies, bringing them together and spreading information between them. He and Prof. Miotti have decided to produce a specimen newsletter to be presented at the general assembly in order to decide if such a project should pursued.
- Report of the FEO General Secretary
Prof. Sasic thanked the President of SEDO and President of the Organizing Committee of the 53rd SEDO Meeting for their hospitality. She stated that in the past year, since the Assembly in Brussels, much effort has been put into accomplishing the decisions made by FEO Board. These efforts are starting to yield results but more is required. For the time being very substantial foundations have been laid and definite results will soon follow. She stated that FEO Board met once more after Brussels, during the EOS Congress in Vienna. During that second meeting the Board defined the activities for the coming period and those were:
- - To enroll more national societies in FEO,
- - To improve the degree of affirmation of the FEO,
- - To work on the annual FEO Award,
- - To differentiate the roles of EOS, EFOSA and FEO,
- - To establish the annual FEO Award for Best Lecturer,
- - To discuss the possibility of establishing the foundation for financing important research projects in FEO member societies.
Concerning the interest of national societies to enroll in FEO, the General Secretary informed the participants that letters had been circulated to all non-member societies. Dr Mauchamp also contacted several societies personally.. The response from Nordic societies was that they currently have no interest in enrolling. Countries in transition, such as ex-Yugoslav and ex-USSR countries are currently preoccupied with their own problems and cannot think about joining FEO. Czech and Polish societies are considering enrollment but , as yet, without definitive decision. The Slovenian society is preoccupied in organization of the EOS Congress. The Albanian society is interested in joining the FEO.
Dr Mauchamp proposed that a new FEO letterhead including all FEO Board members and constituent societies with their contact information should be produced.
Prof. Miotti has composed a promotional article about FEO.
Concerning the FEO Award, all arrangements have been carried out. A full report will be produced later.
Regarding the differentiation of roles of EOS, EFOSA and FEO – the Board has concluded that there is no confusion or interference between these organizations and their roles.
Concerning the establishment of the annual Best Lecturer FEO Award – this project is yet to be recognized by national societies. However, positive responses are expected in the near future..
The proposal for financial sponsorship of 5.000 EUR for important research projects of national FEO member societies is yet to be evaluated for its feasibility and an appropriate protocol must be drafted for its proper application.
An additional FEO activity was the organization of the FEO General Assembly.
Prof. Sasic ended her report by once again thanking all FEO Board members and representatives of national societies for their help and support.
Dr Mauchamp stated that this year five papers were received from three national societies. Out of the 16 possible votes from constituent societies 7 votes were received. The societies that voted were: Bulgaria, France, Greece, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Portugal and Serbia. The results were: Paper #1 – 1 vote, Paper #2 – 3 votes, Paper #3 - 1 vote, Paper #4 – 1 vote, Paper #5 – 1 vote. The best paper FEO Award goes to Paper #2 – “A Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing ‘one-step’ and ‘two-step’ Orthodontic Bonding Systems” by Manning N, Chadwick SM, Plunkett D and MacFarlane TV - published in Journal of Orthodontics, Issue 4, 2006.
During this Item some possible changes were discussed. The Board proposed to the members to add a stipend to the current FEO Plaque and cover part of the expenses for the recipient to present his work. It was proposed that if the winner of the Award comes personally to the General Assembly meeting and gives a 10 minute presentation of his work he should be awarded a sum of 1.000 Euro and paid travel expenses up to 500 Euro. In order to give time to the winning authors to be prepared, the award would be presented officialy one year later, at the following General Assembly.
The deadline for the 2008 FEO Award was set at March 16th 2008.
- FEO Lecture and List of FEO Speakers
Dr Mauchamp stated that finding a way to recognize a best lecturer from any of the European societies is very difficult. Therefore it was decided to leave this issue for the time being and to devote some more effort in future to compile a list of lecturers. Dr Mauchamp said that Dr Nir Shpack from Israel is doing a great work for MOIP on collecting detailed data about potential lecturers and that he can pursue the work for FEO as well. Dr Mauchamp said that when the list of lecturers is completed it will be possible to organize a vote for the Best FEO Lecturer Award.
FEO Treasurer, Dr Odile Steil-Hutereau reported that society’s funds are in good health. There was income from member societies and expenses for the website, Board and the Award. At the moment there is an amount of 32.000 Euro in a fixed-term account and 24.000 Euro in a normal account. All members have paid their subscriptions except for Russia and Romania. Since she has problems contacting those societies Dr Steil-Hutereau asked for help in contacting their presidents.
Dr Steil-Hutereau stated that subscription rates will remain the same for the next year – 1 Euro per member for active member societies and 0.5 Euro per member for corresponding member societies.
The Treasurers report was accepted.
Dr Dahan and Dr O’Neill stated that Treasurer’s Report has been screened and examined and that no errors were found. He also thanked Dr Odile Steil-Hutereau for numerous years of excellent work.
Dr Mauchamp informed the participants that he had received a letter from Dr Thom in which he stated that regretfully he must resign from FEO and his duty as FEO Webmaster. Dr Mauchamp thanked him for the wonderful work he has been doing with FEO Website in the past years. He suggested that because of the website hosting company and all the benefits of a native English speaker, the position of the FEO Webmaster should be given to someone from UK. He proposed that Dr Thom’s successor should be Dr Julian O’Neill. Dr O’Neill accepted the duty and made several notes on how website could be improved in future. After a short discussion about website improvements Dr Dahan made a proposal to officially and formally thank Dr Allan Thom for his work in FEO in the past years as Secretary General, President and Webmaster.
Dr Mauchamp asked the representatives to examine the specimen FEO Newsletter that was circulated them earlier. He explained that separate printing of the FEO Newsletter for all members would be very costly and that it should be better if it could be printed in national journals or national newsletters. He also suggested leaving a blank space in the FEO Newsletter in which national societies could place information about their local activities, perhaps even in their own language. This would be easier than to translate the whole newsletter and it would make a good link between the FEO and the national society. There was a short discussion by the members about the contents of the national part of the FEO Newsletter as well as about possibility of putting the Newsletter on national websites and the electronic forms to be used for this.
- Reports from National Societies
Prof. Sasic stated that 11 societies sent their reports on time. The countries that did not sent their reports were: Cyprus, Russia, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Macedonia. All reports will be available on the FEO Website. The representative from Cyprus stated that they have sent their report on time. Dr Mauchamp explained that sometimes there are problems with e-mails and their delivery due to computer viruses, etc. It was suggested by Dr Dahan that multiple copies should be sent by e-mail to both General Secretary and President and that his office could even provide forwarding of all the reports and data by regular mail.
In addition the representative from Spain stated that their society has 1450 members, 400 of them specialist. Dr O’Neill from UK informed the participants about the new national program in Great Britain that was introduced by the government that has made significant impact to orthodontics in aspect of education and practice. After short discussion it was decided to discussed in due time when the impacts of this change can be evaluated better. The representative from Croatia reported a problem with general practitioners in Croatia and the formation of parallel orthodontic societies. The representative from Israel also stated a problem with general practitioners in Israel who are practicing orthodontics. The representative from Cyprus also informed the representatives about problems with affirmation of orthodontists in their country.
- Report from MOIP Meeting, Florence, Italy, November 15th-18th 2006.
Prof. Miotti informed the participants about recent meetings of MOIP in Cairo and Florence. She said that goal of the first meeting was to connect northern and southern countries and exchange knowledge and experience. That was perhaps an over-ambitious objective. Therefore the goal of the Florence meeting was to find out more about situation in specific countries. She said that it would be useful if a meeting could be arranged yearly. At first, those could be joint meetings with national societies. The next meeting will take place next year, with SPODF in Venice. All Mediterranean countries have been invited to participate. Out of 20 countries 18 have joined.
- EFOSA – EOS - FEO relationship
Dr Mauchamp stated that Dr Thom was in charge of those affairs until now. He also stated that FEO will continue to promote the idea that all three groups should cooperate since they all have their own value: EOS from a scientific aspect, EFOSA as professional union representation and FEO representing the national societies at the European level. The relationship between these three organizations should be improved perhaps to form a joint representative body from all the three entities.
- 2010 and 2015 World Conference
Prof. Miotti informed the participants that 2010 conference is going to be held in Sydney, Australia. Currently the Scientific Committee is being formed. Prof. Miotti then discussed the organization itself as well as the topics to be covered and fields of interest. She also informed the members that the WFO council had selected London as the 2010 conference venue. The FEO assembly asked the president to convey their congratulation to Jonathan Sandler in charge of the project
- Applications for new membership
Dr Mauchamp informed the participants that three letters concerning membership have been received in the past year. The first was from Israel. Because of the current entry in FEO Bylaws that country has to be geographically located in Europe to become a member this issue was put aside for time being.A second letter was application for membership from Albania. After a short discussion concerning the Albanian society this application was approved. The third letter was an application for membership from Germany and this was unanimously and cheerfully accepted.
- Approval of the Board 2007-2008
There will be no change of officers and the existing Board was approved.
- Suggestions for future activities of FEO
As an addition to suggestions mentioned earlier under earlier Agenda Items, the representative from Croatia asked if there is a possibility of formal FEO support for some of the Croatian national activities and meetings. This was accepted and it was decided that in the future national societies could ask for official FEO support by contacting either the President or the Secretary General.
Dr Mauchamp stated that since there had been numerous discussions earlier, the exact meaning of the term European society should be defined precisely in order to prevent future problems with societies from non-European countries applying for FEO membership.
The second issue that Dr Mauchamp brought up concerned the change to the FEO Bylaws. It has been suggested that Bylaws should be altered to increase membership of the Board for a more active relationship within the societies. A suggestion was made by representative from Cyprus that elected Board members should not occupy same position more than twice in order to have more people involved in the process. It was decided that all suggestions would be debated and put to a vote next year.
- Application to host FEO General Assembly 2008.
After a short discussion three possible venues for next FEO General Assembly were set: Opatija in Croatia, Brighton, UK or Venice during the SFODF-SIDO-MOIP meeting.
Dr Mauchamp thanked all participants for attending.
The meeting concluded at 6.10 p.m.
