September 2009           return to newsletter contents page

AVDA Annual Conference a Success

AVDA’s 2009 Annual Conference held April 19 - 21 at the Renaissance Vinoy® Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg, Florida proved a tremendous success. Attendance and sponsorship remained strong despite the economy. Nearly 200 AVDA members gathered together for unique networking and educational events in part made possible by our dedicated sponsors who donated a record $119,000 this year.

Alan Beaulieu from the Institute for Trend Research, returned this year to update attendees on short-term and long-term economic forecasts and their impact on the animal health industry. Alan continues to be one of AVDA’s most popular and highly rated speakers. Michael Staver from the Staver Group engaged attendees with truthful life and business lessons. Tim Evans from Vetnosis spoke on the Global Trends in Animal Health. A panel of veterinarians including Karen Felsted, National commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI), David Gnad DVM, MS, Dipl. ABVP (FA) and Bill Rood, DVM of Rood & Riddle addressed trends impacting practices and the key issues veterinarians are struggling with today. The panel also made recommendations to address issues and make improvements.

The preparation of speaker presentations took a giant leap forward this year with the help of AVDA member Focus Technology Group. FTG compiled and loaded all of the speaker presentations onto jump drives for each attendee. Thanks to FTG, our Tech Sponsor of 2009.

To view Alan Beaulieu’s presentation, click here.

Outstanding networking opportunities like the Annual Scramble Golf Tournament, Welcome Reception and Awards Banquet & Reception allowed distributors and manufacturers to talk one on one about their business challenges and their growth ideas. This year’s Monday afternoon schedule was left open to allow attendees the option of making additional business appointments or joining a Networking Social provided by the Animal Health Institute (AHI) EDI Council.

This year also brought the return of the AVDA Culinary Institute on Tuesday for the non golfers as well as a mini Tennis Social on Monday. As attendee interests expand we are pleased to add events and enhanced conference options. Please forward suggestions for next year to AVDA@ksgroup.org. 

Our event concluded with an awards presentation and dinner dance. AVDA was proud to present two Lifetime Achievement Awards to Fintan Molloy of Teva Animal Health Inc. and John A. Webster, Jr. of Webster Veterinary Supply Company.

The entire 2009 AVDA meeting was captured by our photographer. To see photos, click here. Remember the photos are password protected for attendee privacy. Passwords were previously sent out to AVDA members and attendees via e-mail. If you do not have the password, please contact Casey Joseph, AVDA Coordinator at casey@ksgroup.org or 443-640-1040 x116.

Attendance at the Annual Conference continues to grow. To view the full attendee list, click here.

AVDA is incredibly fortunate to have generous sponsors dedicated to enhancing our Annual Conference. In addition to earning the appreciation of AVDA attendees, sponsorship offers enriched program quality via speakers and social events. Pfizer Animal Health was the 2009 Grand Sponsor. For a full list of sponsors please click here (link to sponsors PDF). Sponsorship opportunities for the 2010 Annual Conference can be found here or contact AVDA Headquarters for more information.

Next year’s conference promises to offer the same kind of value to attendees, so mark your calendar for

AVDA’s 2010 Annual Conference to be held April 18 – 20 at the Silverado Resort in Napa Valley, California. More information about the meeting will be posted on the AVDA web site, www.avda.net. Promotional and registration materials will be mailed to attendees in January 2010.