Rocky Mountain Neurosurgical Society

2025 Summer Executive Board Meeting

June 14th, 2025

Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa 

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

The meeting was called to order by RMNS president, Dr. Erik Parker at 1318. 

Present in person was Dr. Joel MacDonald, Dr. John Clough, Dr. Erik Parker, Dr. Justin Davis, Allie Whipple, NP and Jessie Tarnow, RN. 

Present virtually via Zoom was Dr. Shervin Rahimpour. 

Dr. Parker proposed an approval of the Winter meeting minutes, which was agreed upon by all in attendance. 

Report of the President: Dr. Parker expressed excitement about this year’s meeting and guest speakers. 

Report of the Vice President: Dr. Rahimpour reports a total of 16 vendor are signed up for the 2025 meeting. 15 bronze sponsors and 1 Silver sponsor. The welcome reception will be sponsored by Atec Spine. No additional sponsorship options were utilized by vendors this year. Dr. Rahimpour has updated the contact and vendor information list. He does feel that persistence in communication with vendors makes for a more successful meeting. He also indicated that a cohesive contact plan with vendors is helpful as well. Overall, given the international location of this year’s meeting, vendor participation was felt to be a success. A suggestion was raised to extend the VP role to a 2 year commitment for continuity and all members felt this was a reasonable idea. Dr. Rahimpour has agreed to continue his service and will serve as VP for the 2026 meeting as well. Dr. Clough suggested considering giving talks that were vendor specific to continue encouragement of vendor involvement with this meeting. This will be considered at future meetings. 

Report of the Treasurer: The current account balance shows the organization is recovering and in better financial shape. Having several expensive meetings in a row caused budget concerns, which seems to be improving. Eliminating the Sunday group event for this year’s meeting has helped save costs. This is the end of Dr. Davis’s three year term. 

    • Current Account Balances
      1. Wells Fargo $93,499.62 ($68,492.95)
    • Membership Dues
      1. 69 Active and 2 Associate Member(s) (67 + 1)
      2. 23 Members 3+ years behind in dues (17)
      3. 32  (38) Members Paid Dues
        • 2025 dues collected $5,875 ($6,800)
        • 32 paid by QuickBooks Invoice
      1. Unpaid Dues $19,550 ($14,275)
        • $5,275 new unpaid dues from this year ($2,200)
    • 2024 Annual Meeting
      1. Attendees
        • 15 Members (20)
        • 2 Non-members (8)
        • 9 Residents (7)
        • 5 Allied Health Professionals (4)
        • 14 Exhibitors (16)
      1. Revenue: $93,041.50
      2. Expenses: $78,945.63
      3. Net: $14,095.87   
    • Overall Financials
      1. January 2024 $10,978.72
      2. June 2025  $93,499.62
      3. Net $82,520.90
        • $15,814.41 paid towards 2025 meeting 
        • $5000 paid towards 2026 meeting
    • Miscellaneous
      1. Non-profit Corporation Status:
        • Filed in Texas in 1974
        • Reinstated in 2021
        • Periodic Report Filing   “A nonprofit corporation is required by law to file an informational report not more than once every four years upon request by the secretary of state.”
          1. Periodic report filed 2025
            1. Next report due 2029
      1. Liability Insurance
        • USLI (United States Liability Insurance Company)
          1. Annual Premium $1,726 paid for 2025
      2. Taxes
        • Taxes filed for 2023 fiscal year
        • 2024 taxes in preparation

Report of the Secretary: Dr. John Clough did not have any new news to report today. This is the end of his three year term. 

Report of the Website Administrator: Dr. MacDonald discussed continuing utilizing both Eventleaf and the online abstract center for future meetings. Both services are easy to use and are a low cost to the organization. 

Report of the Historian: Dr. MacDonald did not report any new business. 

Report of the Membership Committee: There were no new membership applications for 2024/2025. Suggestions were made to discuss membership with Dr. Evan Joyce. Dr. Clough also has a new partner, Dr. Adam Grooms, who he will discuss potential membership with. 

2025 Annual Meeting: Dr. MacDonald spent time preparing a budget for this year’s meeting to keep expenses to a minimum. He estimated a total cost for the meeting around $63,765. Per Eventleaf, there has been $74,184 captured so far. There will likely be some attrition due to overage on the room estimate. The hotel indicated they may be willing to negotiate this number at the end of the meeting. The opening reception will take place on the lawn (weather permitting) and a Flamenco duet has been secured for entertainment. A DJ has also been secured for the closing banquet. It was felt that due to continued low resident attendance and minimum support from the academic programs, continuing to offer virtual presentations should be considered. 

Scientific Program Report: Dr. Grandhi was enroute to Mexico during the Executive Board meeting and was unable to attend. He has expressed interest to other board members about continuing his term for a second year now that he is familiar with the role. The board members present were in agreement with this plan. 

CME Committee Report: This was the first year working with the CNS and although there were some hiccups, it was overall felt to be a good experience. The cost of joint providership with the CNS is high, $7000. The AANS is still not providing joint providership at this time. No other joint providership opportunities are known at this time.

Future Sites: The 2026 meeting will be held at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. Dr. Parker has initiated plans with the hotel. 65 rooms blocks are currently in the agreement. The hotel will forgive 20% of the room before attrition. Room cost is $300 with an option to upgrade to a suite for and additional $350. The welcome reception will be held on the terrace and all other events will be held in the ballroom. A $5000 deposit has been paid. The hotel has a kids club on site, which will work well for the two kid’s parties. There is a $35,000 food and beverage minimum. Breakfast will be held outside of the meeting room. AV equipment will need to be determined. A suggestion was made to host the President’s dinner at a distillery close by. Shuttle transportation may be needed due to the distance from the hotel. This option will be explored and discussed further at the next meeting. 

Sites for the 2027 meeting were discussed. Many potential sites were discussed, keeping in mind a continued effort for a trim budget. Kelowna, BC, Colorado Springs, and Whistler were among the top contenders. It was felt that waiting another year or two before having an international meeting may be a good idea. A site has not been set at this time and will be discussed further at the Winter meeting. 

2025-2026 Executive Board 

    • President: Dr. John Clough
    • President Elect – Justin Davis 
    • Vice President – Shervin Rahimpour
    • Secretary: 
    • Treasurer: 
    • Historian: Dr. Joel MacDonald
    • Member at Large: Evan Joyce (not board certified yet and not an RMNS member, but he has expressed interest in joining/involvement with the group).
    • Scientific Program: Ramesh Grandhi 
    • CME Committee:
    • Local Arrangements (2026): Dr. Erik Parker
    • Local Arrangements (2027): 
    • Nominating Committee: Dr. Erik Parker, Dr. Mark Mahan, Dr. Brad Duhon
    • Membership Committee: 
    • Website Administrator: Dr. Joel MacDonald

It was recommended to discuss potential leadership roles for the 2025-2026 year with Dr. Lega, Dr. Asfahani and Dr. Aoun who could not attend this year’s meeting. Other members that have not served on the board should be explored as well. Dr. MacDonald has offered to serve again if needed. 

Old/New Business: The topic of continued low resident attendance and minimal support from the academic programs continues to be a challenge for securing talks for the meeting. Due to this, it was agreed to continue offering a virtual option for resident abstracts presentations. Discussions occurred on how to reach younger neurosurgeons and adapt the society to guarantee continued RMNS success. The financial burden on residents for attending the meeting was discussed. A solution suggested was to provide a financial incentive for each resident talk. $100 per talk was suggested. A suggestion was raised for a higher monetary value for in person talks. This will be discussed further at the Winter meeting. A suggestion was made to shorten the meeting by 1 day (end on Tuesday). Attendance seems to be lower on Tuesdays. A discussion was had regarding extending the length of the talks each day versus having 1-2 talks prior to the opening reception. Continued discussion will be had on this topic.

A proposal was made to skip the Sunday group event again next year. It was also suggested to potentially move the golf or pickleball events to earlier conference days, when attendance is higher. It was also suggested that the Sunday night event be kept as a site specific event. If a site has an exciting event, then an event could be added for that specific meeting. If there were no great options for the Sunday night event, then it could be skipped. All in attendance felt this was a reasonable option to consider for future meeting planning. Another suggestion was to potentially charge attendees the actual cost of the event, instead of subsidizing part of the cost from the RMNS budget. This will also be considered when planning future meetings.

Dr. Parker reports the CSNS (Counsel of State Neurosurgical Society) has offered that an RMNS representative can be sent to their meeting if a surgeon would be interested in attending or becoming involved with their organization as well. The surgeon must practice in a state that does not have a state society. RMNS would support a physician attending if interested, but would not push for a member to attend. 

At this time, it was decided to hold the Winter board meeting via Zoom again to save costs. The financials will be reviewed after completion of the meeting and if funds are available, consideration can be made to hold the meeting in person. On average, the cost to hold the meeting in person is around $10,000. 

Dr. Parker made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 1540 and this was agreed upon by all members.