Figures confirm BEVA Congress is booming
The British Equine Veterinary Association has reported growth in delegate numbers at its annual Congress again this year. With almost 1200 vets and vet nurses attending, representing a 20% increase on 2016 in overall delegates, a sold out exhibition hall and a waiting list for teaching sessions, the three-day equine veterinary educational extravaganza has become more popular than ever.
BEVA Congress is the largest equine veterinary conference outside the US and its reputation means that it attracts world-class speakers from across the globe. With this calibre of speaker, six concurrent lecture streams blending science and innovation with pragmatic guidance, panel discussions, and practical hands-on teaching BEVA has always been the go-to event for equine vets and mixed practitioners at all stages of their careers.
This year the figures showed a 20% overall delegate attendance increase on 2016, which included a 28% rise in UK delegates. Of these 75% were vets who had been qualified for more than a dozen years and therefore likely to be decision-making directors, partners or senior members of their practice.
BEVA Congress’s scientific programme was highly lauded with 92% of delegates saying there was nothing BEVA could have done to improve it. The practical demonstrations, which included ultrasound using a live horse this year, received 4.7 out of 5 stars, while the new workshop sessions received a full 5 star rating.
Liverpool Convention Centre’s vast exhibition hall was sold out four months before the event. A diverse array of 118 exhibition stands benefited from the added attraction of the demonstration areas that included more practical content than ever. Daily sessions from world-renowned names such as Jean-Marie Denoix, David Freeman, Ceri Sherlock, Roger Smith and Fernando Malalana gave delegates the chance for some exclusive hands-on CPD.
Fernando Malalana, senior lecturer in equine internal medicine at the University of Liverpool Equine Hospital said: “The practical demonstrations allow participants to be trained in a number of procedures and techniques with which they may not be familiar, under the guidance of more experienced colleagues. These sessions were very well received with a great rapport maintained at all times between the demonstrators and the participants and provide a great addition to BEVA Congress.”
BEVA Congress also received glowing reports from exhibitors. William Bedell, a Partner at Horse Weigh said: “BEVA Congress is always a priority for us, because it is highly relevant, well organised and extremely popular. This year we estimated that the quality of footfall was up by 30%. Because the vets know we will be there every year they use Congress as the place to make a purchase or upgrade an existing weigh bridge and we have made a good number of sales conversions already.
“The BEVA team always go the extra mile; they organised enthusiastic vet students to help us set up and then when we became short staffed at short notice they sourced a delightful third year Liverpool student to help on our stand. For us it’s the best veterinary conference bar none.”
Jo Holme, Managing Director at Bequestrian said: “BEVA have succeeded yet again to pull together a great event for us to exhibit at. I am delighted with the amount of enquires from the delegates and will definitely attend next year although may need a bigger stand next time! The equine and veterinary profession are a pleasure to work with.”
Next year’s BEVA Congress will be held in Birmingham from 12-15 September 2018. You can watch the highlights from 2017 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4qI8hyNu9s
