86th Annual Western Veterinary Conference Concludes in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) March 04, 2014

The 86th Annual Western Veterinary Conference (WVC) offered more than 1,000 hours of high quality educational programming to nearly 15,000 attendees during a five-day event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Total attendance increased by 3 percent over last year’s figures. Veterinarians accounted for more than 6,000 of the 14,800 total attendees. Other attendees included veterinary technicians, practice managers, office support staff, guests and exhibiting personnel. More than 10 percent of the attendees were from outside of the United States, with more than 40 countries represented.

More than 515 exhibiting companies filled the Exhibit Hall in 2014 to a sold-out capacity. While the majority of exhibitors represented pharmaceutical, pet food and medical device companies, others such as financial services, publishers and pet product manufacturers enjoyed being a part of the world’s largest veterinary Exhibit Hall under one roof.

“We are very pleased with the success of our 86th annual conference,” said David Little, CEO of WVC. “From an educational perspective, the conference is designed to provide high quality veterinary continuing education in a broad variety of species and topics. With more than 1,000 total CE hours available this year, we certainly accomplished that.”

During the conference, held Feb. 16 to 20, attendees had the opportunity to earn up to 50 continuing education (CE) hours in 12 program areas.

New in 2014 was WVC Live!, an online live-streaming experience available to those who could not attend the conference in person. More than 350 daily online visitors tuned in to watch the 20-minute TED-style talks covering topics ranging from animal hypnosis to corporate culture.

The conference also honored attendees for their outstanding achievements in the veterinary field. James W. Furman, DVM, received the Distinguished Service Award recognizing his efforts as a WVC Past President who has made significant contributions to WVC and veterinary education. Recipients of the Meritorious Service Award, recognizing non-members of the WVC Board of Directors for significant contributions to WVC and veterinary education, went to Dennis Olsen, DVM, MS DACVS, and Gary Landsberg, BSc, DVM, DACVB, DECVB-CA. Jim and Judy McGonigle; William Fortney, DVM; and Allan Drusys, DVM, DVPH were all honored with the Special Recognition Award, given to individuals who have offered service to WVC, which contributes to the organization’s success.

Registration for the 87th Annual Western Veterinary Conference in 2015 will begin May 1. To learn more about the conference or WVC’s year-round continuing education opportunities, visit wvc.org.

About Western Veterinary Conference

WVC is the premier continuing education provider for veterinary professionals. Located in the world-class destination of Las Vegas - Entertainment Capital of the World - WVC hosts its annual conference for veterinary professionals each February where global authorities present the most up-to-date scientific and practice management topics to more than 14,500 total attendees. Additionally, WVC opened its conference/training facility, the Oquendo Center, as a dedicated hands-on learning center for the veterinary profession. For information about WVC, go to wvc.org. Questions: 866.800.7326 or carin (at) wvc (dot) org.

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