HerbalEGram:

HerbalGram

This peer-reviewed, quarterly journal may be ABC's most visible and important vehicle to increase public awareness and professional knowledge about medicinal herbs. HerbalGram features articles, research reviews, conference reports, book reviews on medicinal plants, the history of their use, ethnobotanical and modern clinical research, and legal and regulatory developments regarding the marketing and sale of medicinal plant products.

ABC met its primary goal for HerbalGram with the publication of four issues in FY2003 (fiscal year ending October 31, 2003). Issues are to be published in January, April, July, and October. However, in order to publish four issues in FY2003, the time between the last three issues was reduced, resulting in publication in March, June, August, and October.

ABC's agreement with Rector-Duncan included contracting with Branch-Smith Printing, of Fort Worth, Texas, for printing. Because of this, beginning with HerbalGram 58, ABC now benefits from lower costs and favorable terms.

• Publish 4 issues on the planned schedule date.
• Increase advertising revenue.
• Implement a marketing campaign to retailers.
• Post one fully illustrated HerbalGram feature article on the ABC website each issue.

HerbClip consists of the HerbClip Educational Mailing Service and HerbClip Online. This innovative service is published twice monthly and provides valuable information about compelling issues affecting the research, marketing, and responsible use of medicinal plants.  Each HerbClip publication (both mailing and online versions) provides summaries and critical reviews of 12 seminal articles drawn from a wide variety of newsletters, scientific journals, government documents, special reports, and mainstream media. The mailing service also includes the original articles when permission has been granted. The entire database of more than 2,000 HerbClips is available online.

Twenty-four HerbClip bins were produced this fiscal year compared to 15 bins last year. In FY2003 62% of all HerbClips included the original article attached to the HerbClips that were mailed. The reprint permission costs required for some articles were deemed too expensive based on the 2003 budget for HerbClip. We propose to increase the FY2004 budget for article acquisition and will seek ways to reduce the cost of reprint permissions.

HerbClip goals for FY2004 include:
• Publish a full complement of 12 HerbClips twice a month for a total of 24.
• Design and implement a plan to increase reprint permission rate.

The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs

The Guide is a 512-page reference book and continuing education module accredited for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, dietitians, and naturopaths. It is a comprehensive review of 29 of the most commonly used herbs in the United States and 13 proprietary products, and their relevance to modern medicine.

The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs (The Guide) was published on April 1, 2003.  ABC sales fell below projections in part because original projections were unrealistically high. In addition, the market for clinical herb books is tight due to a sluggish economy, potentially competing books, and the increased access to information via the Internet.

We experienced difficulties marketing The Guide to book distributors and some retailers mainly due to the pricing structure. Thieme, ABC's exclusive distributor, originally recommended that we price The Guide> higher, and we decided to raise the retail price to $69.95 effective November 1, 2003. Raising the retail price will allow us to make the wholesale and distributor prices more attractive to these markets.

Last year the ABC Board of Trustees set marketing The Guide as a top priority for ABC in FY2003. However, due to limited human and financial resources, we have been able to implement only a small portion of the marketing plan. More efforts will be undertaken in 2004.

The Guide goals for FY2004 include:
• Implement process for updating.
• Continue implementing marketing plan.
• Meet budgeted sales goals.

ABC provides Media Education by responding quickly to incorrect or misrepresented stories in the media, addressing studies with errors in their design, and posing alternative therapies to dangerous or ineffective ones. In addition, ABC proactively educates the media through press releases, interviews and providing media support.

Media Education  continues to be a valuable service to ABC members and the general public. During FY2003, we distributed 9 press releases, gave 56 documented interviews, and provided innumerable instances of media support. Mark was interviewed for 8 television and 18 radio shows. ABC estimates that it was responsible for more than 90 million print impressions on herbal stories through just three articles that appeared this fiscal year. High visibility articles of FY2003 in which ABC had a role include: USA Weekend article on top five herbals by Jean Carper, Newsweek article on rhodiola by Anne Underwood, Family Circle article on herbal remedies by Rachel Rabkin, and USA Today article on tea by Nanci Hellmich. Successful addressing of inaccuracies and misconceptions include two articles in the New York Times (ginkgo and ephedra) and one in the Chicago Tribune on GMPs (good manufacturing practices).

Web Presence

ABC Website

ABC maintains an extensive website with many areas available to the general public and some sections reserved for members only. The website features five databases, a vast collection of educational links, an online catalog, and much more.

Website goals for FY2004 include:
• Increase number of visitors by 20%.
•Create a comprehensive search function
• Explore possibility of a more active news portal.

ABC's content licensing program, Herb-Ed-Web (HEW), is a data warehouse of science-based content including articles, research, color photos, and current news items. Designed for educational institutions, e-commerce sites, and other health-related organizations, the program benefits customers by increasing traffic to their sites and adding credibility through offering reliable information produced by a reputable, third-party organization.

This year Herb-Ed-Web (HEW) was expanded to include HerbMedPro™, an interactive, electronic herbal database providing hyperlinked access to the scientific data underlying the use of herbs for health. This addition was the result of a cooperative agreement with the Alternative Medicine Foundation. HEW now offers seven components: HerbClip Online, HerbalGram Archives, Herbal Information (Common Herbs, Herb Reference Guide, and Botanical Booklets), The Complete German Commission E Monographs, Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs, HerbMedPro, and Steven Foster Photography: Medicinal Plants Volume I. All content is electronically formatted for easy adaptation and may be reconfigured to meet unique needs.

A major achievement this year was upgrading HEW to include co-branding so that the look and feel of the licensees' websites are maintained as visitors are viewing the licensed content on their sites. A benefit of co-branding is that when content is updated by ABC's IT/Web staff, the changes are automatically reflected on the licensees' sites. This makes for a seamless process for the content licensees. This year we also began to offer links from product ingredients on a licensee's site to an ABC search function for that ingredient. At this time we have 12 content licensees.

Herb-Ed-Web goals for FY2004 include:
• Increase revenue from HEW
• Add new components to the portfolio, if possible.
• Offer comprehensive automatic search function

Education Programs

Internship Program

The primary goals of the Internship Program are to provide education to university students and others about herbal medicine and its role in today's society, while obtaining help for ABC in completing some of its projects. In 2003, we had formal arrangements with two universities for student rotations: The University of Texas College of Pharmacy and Texas State University San Marcos Family and Consumer Sciences Department.

In 2003, we had two dietetic interns from the Mayo School of Health Related Sciences in Rochester, a journalism intern, from the University of Texas, and other interns from programs other than those already mentioned.

For the 2003-Ô04 school year, a primary project for healthcare interns will be to gather information for herb profiles similar to the work done for the herbs that appeared in The Guide. These can then be used and/or repurposed for numerous projects and requests.

Internship goals for FY2004 include:
• Retain current standards of the internship program.
• Maximize the internship experience for the interns and for ABC.

Ethnobotanical Tours

These field workshops are accredited for Pharmacy Continuing Education, designed to foster an appreciation for and an understanding of the vital role the prolific rainforest ecosystems, their medicinal plants and natural products play in past, present, and future global health care. ABC has sponsored ethnobotanical trips to Costa Rica, Belize, the Peruvian Amazon, and Africa in association with the Texas Pharmacy Foundation, International Expeditions, Inc., and the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER). The trips were not offered during 2003. ABC will again work with ACEER to begin offering the trips to the Amazon/Machu Picchu in October 2004.

Professional Continuing Education Courses

ABC's professional continuing education (CE) project for the past year was The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs (The Guide). Projects under development include single herbs projects and certification of retail employees.

In addition to The Guide, and using material from The Guide, ABC initiated two additional CE courses in FY2003. The Black Cohosh Educational Project incorporates the monograph from The Guide and an HerbClip on BC in a written module for physicians and pharmacists. The Herbal Information Course is an online course that will be administered by the National Training Institute, a division of Virgo Publishing. The certificate will be Herbal Information Specialist and will be renewed annually. This will be a new revenue stream for ABC.

Gardens

ABC's gardens serve as an important part of our educational mission. They provide visitors an opportunity to study and learn about a wide variety of useful plants. Creating a beautiful, welcoming space provides us with the opportunity to increase our presence and value in the community.

ABC partnered with the Sunshine Community Gardens (SCG) in fall and winter of FY2003 to grow flats of herbs in ABC's greenhouse that were sold at the SCG plant sale, the Wheatsville Herb Fair, the Zilker Garden Festival, and ABC's own Medicinal Herb Fest.

Other than the Sunshine project, the main focus during FY2003 was the same as FY2002, to maintain the existing gardens with the resources we have. We have been able to maximize the resources we have. ABC is able to use its 10,000-gallon rainwater collection system to water the grounds.

Safety Labeling Program

In 2002, ABC contracted with Pharmavite Corporation to develop safety information on 21 herbs that, when complete, would be used on Nature's Resource product labels. This became known as the Safety Labeling Program.

SLP goals for FY2004 include:
• Complete FY2003 obligations to Pharmavite
• Develop the process for assessing new SLP requests
• Investigate grant proposals to expand SLP

Community Outreach

ABC participated in seven events this year. We partnered with the Sunshine Community Garden to grow herbs and sold them at three external events and ABC's Medicinal Herb Fest (see Gardens above). This fall we participated in the Green Festival, Festival de las Plantas, and Let's Get Cooking (all events where Mark spoke).

Although ABC lists regularly scheduled tours on our website, most tours were given for individuals and small groups who contacted us independently. ABC gave one offsite and two onsite presentations in FY2003. The offsite presentation was to the Austin Herb Society on basil, the herb of the year. The onsite programs were for two summer enrichment programs, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired high school student, and Green Teens, a Texas Alliance for Human Needs middle school student program.

ABC held its first-ever Medicinal Herb Fest and the general opinion is that it was successful. ABC received a $3000 grant from HEB grocery to hold the event and made about that much at the event selling books, plants, memberships, and food. Between 400 and 500 people attended. There were 27 exhibitors, 3 herb walks, 3 classes, and 3 demonstrations.

Strategic Appearances and Presentations

Mark travels extensively, making presentations to educate a wide range of audiences about ABC and vital issues in the herbal movement.

Mark's presence at these many events is vital to ABC's educational mission, and it garners support for the organization.

A review of the schedule below will show the extent of his travel and speaking obligations. Of significant importance is the impact Mark's travel has on ABC's development efforts and his high visibility at conferences often helps reinforce current members' decisions to continue to support ABC. Mark routinely tries to take time on trips to visit current members and/or potential new Sponsor Members. Such meetings have improved our relations with current members, and has generated new Sponsor Members.

Mark Blumenthal's Presentations and Conferences/Meetings Attended - FY2003