“If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to…” I am going to stop here and let you keep humming the tune to this catchy 1967 counter-culture ballad and suggest a few things you might be sure to do:
- Register for the 56th AASV Annual Meeting and a preconference seminar or two.
- Reserve a room in the conference hotel’s AASV room block by February 4, 2025.
- Make your travel arrangements, scheduling your departure time after 12 pm PST on March 4 so you don’t miss any of the Tuesday general session.
- Update your AASV directory and LinkedIn profiles. Add a current picture so your colleagues recognize you.
Are you already tired? You still must pack, set your out-of-office notifications, and fill in your social calendar, which should include the AASV/AASVF Monday Luncheon and AASV Awards Reception where we recognize our outstanding students and colleagues. A professional meeting “done right” always feels like a whirlwind to me. One colleague gives his account:
Wake up early to have breakfast, then attend most of the scientific program, chatting along with other pig professionals about swine health and production plus any other swine emerging topic, plus doing this, plus doing that…busy eh…successful meeting I would say!
In 2023, I had the privilege to attend the 55th Annual Meeting as well as the 27th International Pig Veterinary Society Congress, held in conjunction with the 15th European Symposium of Porcine Health Management, and Association of Mexican Veterinary Specialists in Swine (AMVEC). As I reflect on those meetings, I realized that swine veterinarians worldwide are alike in a lot of ways. The most striking to me, which Dr Karriker described in his November/December 2024 JSHAP Officer Message, is the number of swine clinicians and scientists worldwide and the constant desire of swine veterinarian’s for evidence as a foundation. Each of these meetings recorded over 1000 registrants and as many as 2700 attendees; a clear indication that the experiences and research delivered at these meetings stand to be very impactful for the pigs, their owners and caretakers, and the consumer.
Another similarity of swine veterinarians is our appreciation for preparedness, whether the emergence of African swine fever or changes to pig rearing standards. The AASV Annual Meeting requires preparation on the part of the Program Planning Committee, the AASV staff, session chairs, speakers, and attendees. With that in mind, I asked some of our AASV members who regularly attend the AASV Annual Meeting and other professional conferences to share what they do before, during, and after.*
Before the meeting
- Seek out sessions or discussions on topics outside your direct expertise. This year it might be the ChatPIG seminar on Saturday or the Pig 101 on Pig One-on-One session on Monday.
- Read the proceedings papers in advance, jot down a few questions you might have after reading the paper to enhance your engagement and get the most out of the session. This will be especially helpful during the “Ask the experts: How is a herd-specific vaccine produced?” panel discussion being held on Tuesday.
During the meeting
- Get involved in the conference! Attend and join a committee meeting on Saturday morning or volunteer for the Vet Hunt or Speed Networking event.
- Attend the research talks and view the posters. Research Topics and Student Seminar presentations and posters are juried and guaranteed to focus on applied swine health.
- Do not be afraid to ask and answer questions candidly. It builds trust amongst students and colleagues that we can be life-long learners. A graduate student shared that “it is great to hear from veterinarians about what is, and what is not, working. Learning from somebody that already has exposure to the topic can make you think about how you can approach it differently or replicate it in your reality.”
- Visit the technical tables, a great place to learn about new technologies and potentially arrange a trial for or give feedback on a product.
- Set a personal goal to meet and interact with several new people. Contact them beforehand and ask to schedule a time to talk and learn more about what they do and their routine. Some suggestions would be our global attendees that include speakers in the Global Hot Topics session and our AASV Board or Director members from Districts 10 (Mexico) and 11 (Canada).
After the meeting
- Make sure to thank staff, members of the Program Planning Committee, chairpersons, speakers, sponsors, and yourselves for taking the time to come, listen, learn, and “Be the Pig’s Champion.”
- Arrange time with your peers, associates, or even form a journal club to review the key takeaways and list any action items. For one colleague, these are crucial steps to reinforce connections, share insights, and create collaborations.
Although virtual training events and webinars are increasing in popularity, they do not replace the in-person experience. To close, I hope you are coming to the 56th AASV Annual Meeting in San Francisco; I will be sure to find you there. Safe travels!
Rebecca Robbins, DVM, PhD
AASV Vice President
* Thank you to the following AASV members that provided input for this message: Drs Daniel Moraes, Enrique Corona, and Jessica Seate.