End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Anthony Dennison — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 13:02:39 GMT

I stopped going to congress after finishing my CertAVP - I was finding the lectures seemed to be aimed more at new/recent graduates or older vets wanting to refresh. There wasn't as much cutting edge or interesting topics.

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Judith Joyce — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 07:38:58 GMT

It's very sad - Congress used to be the hook for membership so think its hugely unbonding but almost certainly a reaction to the massive changes in the profession since its heyday, so guess its time for a reset, since the incrememtal changes to congress don't seem to have worked. Congress had got overblown in Birmingham - perhaps small animal practice has too.

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Neil Wheadon — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 10:44:41 GMT

With lots experience of clubs with National events, this really is a poor decision.

For an organisation to grow/maintain numbers then an event like this is important in profile management. I've never been to BSAVA but from what I hear the move to Manchester and COVID (but this is an easy blame) were reasons.

With some imagination and listening to members a pared back event would have been more appropriate. A meeting like this sets you apart, it will be less of a reason to join BSAVA in future I feel, as what else does it now offer that many others do?

Neil

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

William Easson — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 14:01:33 GMT

I've been going to BSAVA Congress most years since graduation in the 90s. I do think it got too big, and with that lost a little focus. Having to fit the event in the ICC may have kept things in a smaller area, and led to more selective lectures and themes. Expanding to the NIA with the xhibition then led to issues with lower footfall through the exhibition. Increasing the size also increased the cost to attend, and then leads to cost-benefit thoughts. If you can spend a similar amount of money on a focused CPD course, then it can tilt the decision that way instead.

At some point along the way I started going every-other-year, and then skipped two years at a time, only coming back to freshen up the GP broad knowledge.

I still find the QED tape recordings of lectures in the 90s and 00s, but don't have a tape player set up to play them (not that I would actually do that - they are 45minutes(?) long). It hurt to throw away a set that I found, but realistically I'm never going to listen to them again!

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

David Scarff — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 08:30:22 GMT

I remember congress with great fondness - changing into tattier clothes to go and see Jethro Tull in the Hammersmith Odeon next door; leaving a dry and dull lecture because I heard laughter in the next room - turned out to be Danny Scott's first BSAVA lecture ("you have to get down to zit level"), which turned out for me to be the start of a 40 year career in dermatology!

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Arlo Guthrie — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 06:42:12 GMT

Malcolm Ness yeah, I think only three posts may even beat Godwins law, although to be fair, I don't count forum postings as journalism.

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Malcolm Ness — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 14:41:08 GMT

From ...

[quote userid="2100" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31191/end-of-the-road-for-bsava-congress-what-now"]Really sad to get the news about BSAVA Congress today[/quote]

... to ...

[quote userid="2100" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31191/end-of-the-road-for-bsava-congress-what-now/247282#247282"]'swipe left, swipe right, shag'[/quote]

... in only three posts: not even the standard 'six degrees of separation'. Veterinary journalism at its very best!!

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Davina Anderson — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 09:21:31 GMT

I am also sad to see the BSAVA congress come to an end. It was iconic for students too who used to get free tickets if you went and worked there during the congress and I loved meeting ex-students, ex-colleagues, ex-vet school mates, it felt like you were really part of a community across the UK. LVS seems commercial and high octane without the personality and for some reason, it does not feel like a place where you can weep over how hard the job is and be instantly understood.

On another note. Having given alot of CPD lectures over the years, I am glad to hear complaints about dry or uninspiring CPD. I always felt that I wanted to give CPD that was practical and coloured by my experience in first opinion before I specialised and got stuck in 'ivory towers' with 30 years of experience in referral practice added in. But then I wondered if I was being patronising and too basic - am I providing practical advice to people without a CT and US scanner, or am I talking to people who want to play with their fancy toys? You never quite know where to pitch and I always thought it would be more useful to learn from my experience of how to make practical decisions without a full ICU and fancy machines. This comes in the programme titles and the speakers understanding what their role is - it is not about your ego it is about what the people listening to you can benefit from. I think some lecturers don't quite get that, they are still thinking in the academic mode and not trying to imagine how they would manage a case without all the toys and expertise they have access to. CPD for GP vets is not about 'when to refer' or 'when are you out of your depth'. It should be about 'how to deal with this safely and reasonably in general practice and do a really good job'. This is why I like asking people to ask about their failures and mistakes. Everyone learns so much more from failures rather than blandly reporting the literature on success rates. You will be pleased to hear that alot of the American Specialists who come over to ECVS to lecture to us Specialists churn out the same old GP/student CPD and are very disappointing for us too. Drives me nuts.

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 08:41:12 GMT

[quote userid="2145" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31191/end-of-the-road-for-bsava-congress-what-now/247281#247281"]but I think that our generations were more enthusiastic about the benefits of in person cpd, social interaction[/quote]

Carl Gorman Interesting point, but I think it will prove to be cyclical.

I think people have got all excited about webinars, zoom calls etc etc, and the fact that they save travel etc., but we are all starting to realise how one dimensional they are compared to meeting up in real life, and I think people will be crying out for more face-to-face events.

And I also think people will prefer smaller, more intimate events, than the anonymity of being just one of thousands.

We see this pattern in so many other areas of life. People returning to small boutique shops and valuing the heart and soul that goes into their offerings.

I was hearing the other day on a tech podcast about 'dating app burnout' and how the young are starting to look again for a richer experience than 'swipe left, swipe right, shag'

To my mind, the question is how one could make those smaller kinds of events cost effective.

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Carl Gorman — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 15:48:28 GMT

It was Freda who had that pleasure Arlo! I'm very sad to see Congress retire, but I think that our generations were more enthusiastic about the benefits of in person cpd, social interaction and of course BSAVA was always THE place to launch a new product. It was always a CPD event with an exhibition as opposed to a trade show with some CPD tacked on and very much given second rate attention. The model now seems to be give away tickets and make money from stands, but that does tend to compromise the CPD element. However, BSAVA recognises the need for innovation and there is plenty in the pipeline.

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

David Mills — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 14:24:16 GMT

Been in dceline since the move to Manchester sadly.

This year was particularly poor I felt - most of the clinical lectures were outsourced to companies (IDEXX, VetPlus etc) and many were just like final year lectures, dry and uninspiring. They were sparse otherwise - apart from the neuro ones there were no real recognisable clinical lecturers where you thought ah, they'll have something interesting to say, and the interactive ones seem to have whittled down to nothing.

In recent years they have also pushed these "Big Ideas" panel discussions which unfortunately didn't work well - there was a lot of "I agree with Nick" type answers, and the same people coming back year on year quickly became stale. Who really wants to hear from ivory tower vets about what to do about brachies?

I believe they were losing quite a bit of money since the move and it was quiet this year even amongst the exhibitors - yet reamained very expesnisve compared to the LVS. I think ultimately they lost sight of what people wanted - decent lectures from recognisable experts on relevant topics and free booze, not talking shops of the great and the good about nothing. There is still a place for these things (espeically in the north) - you only have to look at how horrendously busy and sensory overloaded the LVS is to see that if you build it, price it punchily, don't try and re-invent the wheel, and they will come.

A shame - Birmingham I feel worked a lot better and was a lot busier.

RE: End of the road for BSAVA Congress ... what now?

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 13:50:23 GMT

So sad to read this and so many happy memories over the years. The alcohol certainly flowed. Our CPD reflection in those days after lectures was in the bar until the small hours.

I remember a lecture where a vet fell off his seat into the aisle and we all thought he’d had a cardiac arrest but he had actually fallen asleep.

it was often the place where we heard of new surgical techniques, drugs were launched and the profession met old friends and colleagues. The drug reps became friends too , good times.

I suppose there are just too many other means to share knowledge now which is all to the good. The amount of stuff online is just incredible , a far cry from an old hardback book from the practice library of old. I still love a proper book but it was a dry and dusty way to learn.

The main benefit in my view was socially , meeting my fellow vets and nurses. Having a deep conversation face to face with fellow vets and nurses who understood the challenges and occasional loneliness of being in practice was invaluable. You realised you were not alone, you heard of new ideas freely shared and a camaraderie that is difficult on social media. It’s still at the London Vet Show but that is now huge.

It was always quite a challenge to get away for a conference with work and childcare considerations. Worth the effort though in my opinion , always lifted your enthusiasm even if you returned to the practice and drove everybody mad with your new ideas from Congress.