What's in a Title?

Christopher E. Laxton has stepped into the lead position—CEO—at the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB), a role formerly filled by an executive director. Laxton explained the title change:

"I think it communicates two things. The first thing it says is this is a mature organization with some size. It's an acknowledgement of the maturity of NCB [sic].

"The NCB is 14 years old, we have a budget of $9 million and a staff of 26, we have a complex layering of programs that we run and a large volume of interactions with our customer base," he added.

"The second thing is we want to communicate quite clearly to the community that this is a new day for the organization. We're not doing business as usual, and this is one small way of saying it's not the same old NCB."

Former Executive Director John Page was let go by the board in August 2006 and has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the NCBTMB and former NCBTMB Board Chairperson Elizabeth MacInytre for wrongful termination of employment. As of press time, the last action on the lawsuit had taken place March 21: The case was continued for a case-management conference.

—Karen Menehan