The UK’s leading ECC veterinary Congress has taken place virtually for the first time – with 1,227 visitors welcomed across the four-day event.
Holding the conference and exhibition online resulted in a surge in interest from international delegates with vets and vet nurses attending from 37 different countries including North America, Kuwait, Hong Kong and Australia.
The event, which ran from November 4 to 7 and was organised by out-of-hours emergency providers, Vets Now, took place on a virtual event platform, and gave delegates an unrivalled opportunity to access the latest topics in emergency and critical care, delivered via live lectures and debates plus additional pre-recorded content.
More than 30 of the profession’s leading suppliers, including headline sponsors Woodley Equipment Company, attended in the virtual exhibitors’ hall.
Internationally-renowned veterinary professionals Kieran Borgeat, Dan Fletcher, Megan Brashear and Claire Sharp were among several high-profile speakers delivering learning across six learning streams from those new to ECC through to advanced practitioners.
ECC specialist Dan Lewis, Vets Now’s national ECC lead, devised the virtual Congress programme.
He said: “2020 has obviously been the year where live events have changed all over the world. The challenge for event organisers is to try to deliver an innovative and safe interactive learning experience for our delegates and according to our feedback, we’ve achieved that and more.
“Delegates have commented on some added benefits including things like less environmental impact and waste through less travelling, and more flexibility due to being able to look back on the content over 30 days. Delegates also felt it was easier to answer questions of the speakers without feeling intimidated.
“We obviously missed seeing everyone in person but gathering together online like this was such a one-of-a-kind experience that I think most delegates left feeling really well-informed and assured.”
The interactive, cutting-edge platform Vets Now used allowed for live content, an interactive exhibition hall and more opportunities than ever for delegates to network and learn from some of the world’s leading veterinary experts discussing emergency and critical care.
In the period since inception in 2004, the Vets Now ECC Congress event has grown into one of the biggest of its kind in the world – offering delegates 60 hours of CPD under one roof.
The decision to move the event to a virtual events platform, as opposed to cancelling it due to concerns over Coronavirus, is part of Vets Now’s continued commitment to the advancement of emergency and critical care.
Building on the success of this year’s virtual event, Vets Now will announce details for next year’s ECC congress in early Spring 2021.
