Dear Colleage
Please see a number of important news items from your Association below:
- Two new Directors
- Marketing Survey
- Mobility Survey
- Upload data to the CMS before audit
- Public profile on the CMS for Full Members
- Past Newsletters, the Professional Mountaineer and the Website
- UIMLA Webinars
- Conference and AGM 2025
Two New Directors
We are pleased to announce the appointment of two new Directors to the Board of the Association. Following the AGM, we received two applications. We would like to welcome Graham Holmes in the role of Finance Director and Richard Phillips in the role of Aspirants & Members Director. Richard’s role will also include mentoring. We are certain that Graham and Richard will bring valuable expertise to the Board from their professional experience and careers, and from their work as IMLs. Read a little more about them here https://baiml.org/about/directors/.
Marketing Survey
The marketing survey ended on the 15th of January and we received 59 responses. Mike is processing the results which we will use as input in developing a marketing strategy. Highlights from the survey are:
- 92% agree that BAIML should engage in marketing activities to build brand recognition, increase awareness of the IML profession and promote the expertise and value that IMLs bring to treks and outdoor activities.
- The target audiences should be the general public, the adventure travel industry and potential and current aspirants.
- The marketing budget range selected most was 6-10% of the membership fee.
- 81% supported attendance at events such as mountain festivals, trade shows and conferences.
Mobility Survey
We would like as many of you as possible to complete the mobility survey by following the link below. This will help us gather valuable information and help to drive our mobility efforts going forward. We cannot stress how important it is that members support us with their experiences so we can validate and develop the guidance we give.
Click on the link to answer the survey: https://forms.gle/RXTeKEFw8wADXLmX6
The survey is open now and runs until the 28th of February.
Upload Data to the CMS before Audit
All full members MUST have uploaded the following data to their CMS profiles:
- Passport style portrait photo in your profile (i.e. one that could go on your passport),
- Your professional liability insurance details including upload of your certificate,
- Your first aid details including upload of your certificate.
During March, the data will be audited according to the requirements from the UIMLA compliance audit.
Public Profile on the CMS
Please ensure that you have made part of your CMS profile public so that your membership can be validated by the validation link https://mt.tahdah.me/public/validation. This provides assurance to deployers and clients that you are a member and complying with the association membership requirements. This is also important for issuing Outdooractive codes and manufacturers with other equipment deals. It is therefore a must for all full members.
Go to your profile and in the top right you will see the menus below, click “Privacy”,
In the list that appears underneath, ensure that “Public Profile” and “Public Memberships” are ON. You can also select further information to be public if you like. You can check what your public profile looks like by clicking on the top link (above) “My Public Profile”.
You can check if you are searchable using the validation link above.
Past Newsletters, the Professional Mountaineer and the Website
In addition to being able to find board meeting minutes and AGM documents, we have now added the newsletters from 2022 onwards (like this one) to the member’s area of the BAIML website, so if you have missed one you can always find it there.
Also, all digital editions of The Professional Mountaineer (since 2018) can be found on the website as normal, with the latest edition ready for download. It is possible to opt-out of the paper copy by contacting the office, should you wish to do so.
There have been numerous website content improvements over the last few weeks and the public facing pages have largely been updated, and the member’s area is now being looked at. Keep checking back regularly to see the improvements.
UIMLA Webinars
As already advertised, UIMLA is running a series of webinars with more to come in February and March. Details of these and registration links can be found in the member’s area of the website. After each live webinar, attendees will receive an attendance confirmation from UIMLA. This must be attached to your CPD entry for it to be valid using the category “UIMLA Webinar”. Add also the title, provider (you can type who) and a short description of the webinar.
Conference and AGM 2025
The next conference and AGM will be held at Glenmore Lodge on the 21st to 23rd of November. The CPD programme is almost complete and we hope to advertise more details about the conference soon.
