Introduction

Dear friends,

What an amazing journey it has been for IAM this last year! And we feel it will be an incredible year to come, with many challenges and gifts. We submit the following report in respect and gratitude for all that we've received, and with the hope and faith that we shall continue to make progress toward our goals.

We see ourselves as a spiritual school with a global mission and message. We see our work as building a national, global movement for heart-centered change; contributing to an emerging heart-centered culture; building heart-centered communities of love and harmony; expanding and energizing the hearts of as many people as possible, and indeed, of humanity itself, toward love, harmony, and beauty; helping people to find themselves and what they are seeking within their own hearts and enable them to help others do the same; answering the cry of hearts around the world, who long to end their alienation and separation and join together in love and beauty; and energizing people toward true and lasting heart health. Our work is about the creation and realization of the divine human being.

May the Message of God spread far and wide!

Susanna Bair, President
Puran Bair, Vice-President
Jack Carpenter, Treasurer
Lynn Stevens, Clerk
Asatar Bair
Robin Carpenter
John Kroeker
Karen Poulson
Alia Judith Simpson
Blanchefleur Underwood
December 15, 2008

 The year in review

From the time the Board met in June 2007, to its last meeting in July 2008, IAM has experienced a truly remarkable period. Here are the highlights:

Living Heart Media

IAM formed a subsidiary company, Living Heart Media (LHM), charged with creating and marketing media products which focus on the heart. LHM created several such products, the book Energize Your Heart in 4 Dimensions, by Puran and Susanna Bair and the Energizing Heart Rhythm Meditation 2 CD set by Susanna Bair. Thus far we have sold 2,000 copies of Energize Your Heart and about 350 of Energizing. Both products are sold nationwide through the major distribution channels of mind/body/spirit products. LHM has succeeded in a competitive publishing environment, achieving the remarkable feat of breaking even in its very first year of business, incurring $55,562 in costs and about the same in revenue. We salute the LHM team of Jack Carpenter, serving as CEO and Director of Marketing and Distribution, Asatar Bair, serving as VP and Lead Editor and Designer, and Porter Underwood, serving as Secretary.

Nationwide Book Tour and Public Relations Campaign

To support the sales of Energize Your Heart, Puran and Susanna embarked on an ambitious nationwide book tour with PR support from a major New York PR firm, Planned Television Arts. This was by far the largest such effort in IAM's history. Key accomplishments of this tour include:

• Created new contacts in the tour cities of Boston, Kansas City, Phoenix, Boulder, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, New York, Madison, Missoula, San Francisco, London, Tucson, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Minneapolis, and Washington DC.
• Increased national exposure, including articles in 76 newspapers in the top 300 markets in the US; reviews in Natural Health Magazine (circ. 386,000), New Age Retailer (circ. 6400), Energy Times, upcoming article in Women's World Magazine; 26 radio interviews on various stations, including national, regional, and local.
• Created a core group of 68 new Instructors of Heart Rhythm Meditation; this entry-level certification adds new energy and interest toward the eventual goal of training more Certified Teachers and Mentors.
• Increased knowledge of our web traffic, more mentions on blogs, links to our sites, and increased total web traffic.
• Generated over $110,000 in sales of books, CDs, video, and other merchandise. For 2006-2007 sales were $7,528.
• Sent out a total of 150,000 brochures, increasing visibility for Energize Your Heart and Heart Rhythm Meditation.
• Learned new information about the relationship between Heart Rate Variability and the dimensions of the heart, particularly the effect of common pharmaceuticals on the heart. We believe this places us at the forefront of HRV research.

We thank Karen Poulson for her dedicated effort to make the book tour a success, Jack Carpenter for his consistent attention to detail, Asatar Bair for design support, and Leo Powell for providing administrative support. We also thank all the members of IAM who provided help and support in finding venues and bringing people to the events on the tour. We could not have done it without you!

International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM)

Since 2000, Puran and Susanna have presented yearly at the ISSSEEM Conference in Boulder, CO. This year, they were given the prestigious Founder's Award. Puran and Susanna were also invited to be Keynote presenters at the 2009 ISSSEEM Conference. This is a great development and we expect it will lead to increased recognition and exposure in the future.

A Note on the Institute's Financial Position

The Board decided to make a major move last year in starting LHM and pursuing an ambitious book tour and marketing campaign. We celebrate the courage of this decision, and note that it has required expenditures well above anything IAM has done in the past. This increased level of expenditure has led to a loss of $189,839 over this past year. We are thankful that we had the money in IAM's capital fund to bear these expenses, and we have faith that the work that has begun with this year's campaign will continue to bear fruit in the future.

We also wish to note that IAM has experienced strong growth in total revenue (including the generous support of our contributors) in the last 5 years, experiencing an average annual compound growth rate of 24.7% (In the attached chart, the years begin and end June 1st.) We are thankful for this growth, and we strive to integrate the new members who have come to us this year.

 Our intention for the coming year

The Board sees this year as a time of transition. Changes are in store in the economy, as we enter a recession of unknown duration. During this contraction period, we feel it is important that IAM focus on:

• Teaching how Heart Rhythm Meditation can be applied to improving relationships and financial security.
• Building community: we are continually getting the message from our members that they love the sense of community that is present at IAM gatherings; we want to enrich and deepen our community bonds during the time when we're together as well as when we're apart.
• Fostering empowerment: we see the work of the heart as a dynamic exchange.
• Listening to our members and to each other.
• Giving support to the organization: to teachers, mentors, instructors, to the founders, and the office staff and infrastructure.

The above are the broad outlines. Our specific strategies include the following three areas, which are organized and led by the Board members listed:

1. Build a website that is more community-oriented, more interactive, incorporating modern social networking technology; stock the website with rich content, including open-sourcing much of IAM's teachings into free media offerings (John, Puran, Asatar)
2. Create a broader audience for IAM's seminars, retreats, mentoring, and other products through better planning, communication, and marketing (Jack, Susanna, Blanchefleur)
3. Create a volunteer workforce, based on donated time. IAM is, at present, a national organization without a national workforce. Create better organizational support for and communication among mentors, teachers and instructors; create easily accessible teaching materials, including course outlines, brochure templates, FAQs, guidelines about pricing structures, etc., available on the IAM website. Create a special annual event for mentors, teachers, and instructors. This committee has many other good ideas, and you may be hearing from them soon! (Alia, Robin)
4. Open the channels of communication between the IAM Board and the rest of the organization. We want to co-create this organization with you!