Member Update on Highly Successful Conference 2023
Friday 6th October 2023
The AOTI Annual Conference 2023 concluded this afternoon and was a truly wonderful 2-day gathering of the Occupational Therapy community. The feedback from delegates, exhibitors, presenters and guests has been overwhelmingly positive. Sincere thanks to everyone who helped make it the great success it was. In particular, I would like to thank:
- The Conference Committee – Dr. Claire Murphy (Chairperson), Kul Bhushan, Meabh Bonham Corcoran, Mairéad Mac Crossain, Megan Walls, Shalelah Karkon, Éle Quinn and Sharon McMorrow – and the student volunteers
- Sophie Pozzey, our Event Planning and Conference Administrator, Brian Condon, Conference Lead on the Management Team, and the AOTI staff – Veronica McKenna, Orla Foster and Gráinne Wall
- The Sponsors of Conference – Accora, Evolution, Homecare Medical, Momentum Healthcare and Trulife – and the exhibitors
- The Conference delegates, presenters and session moderators as well as the inspiring keynote speakers – Samantha Shann, Dr Anita Atwall and Joanne O’Riordan
- The Slieve Russell Hotel staff as well as Roy and Tim from Focus AV
The collective efforts and participation of everyone made Conference 2023 a truly memorable one and we look forward to an equally enjoyable, informative and energising conference in 2024. Please be sure you share your feedback with us if you attended the Conference. If you were inspired by the event and would like to get involved in the Conference Committee, they would love if you emailed them at [email protected].
The first ever hybrid AOTI AGM took place yesterday as part of the Conference programme with members attending in person and remotely via Zoom. Patricia Regan presented the Chairperson’s report and Anne Hughes Kazibwe presented the Director with Responsibility for Finance report. The audited accounts for 2022 were approved and Richard Ensor & Co were approved as AOTI auditors for 2023.
Patricia Regan was re-elected to the Board of Directors for another 4 year term. The co-option of Joanne Fallon, Genevieve O’Halloran, Maria Gomes and Emre Dogan to the Board of Directors was also ratified at the AGM. When the formal proceedings of the AGM concluded, I presented the CEO report which you can read here.
We placed a special emphasis at this year’s conference on the importance of our members to the success of AOTI. On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Management Team, I would like to thank each and every one of you for joining AOTI or for continuing to renew your membership. We are very grateful to those members who volunteer their time to support the operation of AOTI including our Committees, Advisory Groups, delegates and representatives.
We are an organisation of and for our members and are dependent on members’ generous volunteering of their time to achieve our successes and strengthen the effectiveness of AOTI. I call on any members who would like to get involved in AOTI to please get in touch. This volunteering flyer summaries the benefits of getting involved and the types of opportunities available for you. As the flyer says, volunteering with AOTI is a great CPD opportunity!
Finally, I am delighted to let you know that Andrew Semple received the prestigious award of Lifetime Member of AOTI at last night's conference dinner. Andrew was given this award by the Board of Directors in recognition of his outstanding contribution to AOTI and the profession of Occupational Therapy. Congratulations to Andrew on this well-deserved recognition of all he has done and continues to do for the Occupational Therapy profession in Ireland.
