Like New Orleans, the AVMA Annual Convention is unique and offers what locals call lagniappe—a little something extra. It derives from a Quechuan term that means "to give more."
The son of a veterinarian, David Little grew up attending AVMA conventions as the family summer vacation. Little, now director of the Convention and Meeting Planning Division, said, "Wherever the convention was, that's where we took our one summer vacation. We have attempted to continue that philosophy and design the convention as a family-friendly meeting."
It wasn't long ago that the convention had the stigma of being primarily a governance meeting. While activities associated with AVMA governance are still important, the Convention Management and Program Committee—currently chaired by Dr. James E. Creed—has developed a dynamic, quality continuing education program that could compete with any other major veterinary meeting, Little said.
The AVMA program features multiple tracks across a broad range of species and employment types to cover the diverse interests of the profession. Little knows of no other major national veterinary meeting that allocates in-depth programming to areas such as one health, disaster preparedness and response, prevention of and response to outbreaks and pandemics, food safety, animal welfare, governmental regulations and legislation, shelter medicine, and public and corporate medicine—featuring topics such as globalization issues.
AVMA convention registration includes a top-rated keynote speaker at the Hill's Opening Session, world-class musical entertainment at the Merial Concert Series, a lively atmosphere unique to the convention city at the special social event—this year, the Bayer Bayou Bash, and headlining comedians at the Fort Dodge Final Fling.
Most AVMA convention attendees are members of the Association, which represents more than 80 percent of active U.S. veterinarians. The convention is a value-added membership benefit, rather than being profit-driven, with a registration fee that's the second lowest among major veterinary meetings.
Location is another advantage. To bring the meeting closer to home for all AVMA members over time, the convention rotates to major cities in three geographic regions of North America.
"I believe the collegiality of belonging to a national association and having the opportunity for our members to join in one location once a year as a group with a common bond is a large part of what our meeting stands for," Little said. "No other national veterinary meeting can provide that experience."
