This is my last President’s message and I want to begin by expressing my heart felt appreciation for the opportunity to serve. It truly has been an honor! I want to thank the AASV staff for all their assistance. Their efforts far exceeded expectations as we made the journey through preparing and presenting the first (and hopefully last) virtual AASV Annual Meeting in 2021. I appreciated their patience as I navigated the ins and outs of parliamentary procedure, and we should all be delighted that I did not drive Sue Schulteis into retirement! I look forward to the future. I know the AASV is in excellent hands as Drs Mike Senn, Bill Hollis, and Angela Baysinger assume the role of president in the years to come.
AASV Foundation
Please take a moment to express appreciation to those members, both past and present, involved in the AASV Foundation. The Foundation is a giving organization established in 1989. Their mission is to empower swine veterinarians to achieve a higher level of personal and professional effectiveness by:
- enhancing the image of the swine veterinary profession,
- supporting the development and scholarship of students and veterinarians interested in the swine industry,
- addressing long-range issues of the profession,
- supporting faculty and promoting excellence in the teaching of swine health and production, and
- funding research with direct application to the profession.
Virtual vs in-person meetings
The 2021 Annual Meeting was virtual out of necessity, and I am delighted that it went as well as it did. It was nice to be able to view more of the presentations offered or rewatch a presentation of interest to gain clarity. Several members have expressed interest in a hybrid meeting that offers both a virtual and in-person component. While a hybrid meeting sounds like a good idea, there are several reasons the AASV has elected to not pursue that option. When we commit to holding our Annual Meeting at a hotel, the meeting rooms are often offered free of charge. The hotel makes their money on room rentals, food, and beverages. Harry Snelson looks at attendance from past meetings and estimates the number of members that will attend and the length of their stay. We then commit to filling a set number of room nights. Likewise, the contract stipulates that AASV will meet a minimum food and beverage expense. If we fail to achieve the contracted number of room nights or the minimum food and beverage expense, AASV is responsible for making up the difference. If we had a hybrid meeting and enough people chose to stay home and enjoy the virtual option, we might not meet our contract obligations thus making AASV liable for thousands of dollars in penalties. Similarly, if we elected to not hold the in-person meeting, AASV would be liable for penalties covering all the room and food and beverage obligations which could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars ($675,000 in the case of Indianapolis). That’s a pretty big risk to take. In addition, offering a virtual experience means that every session would have to be professionally recorded and livestreamed. This adds significant costs to conducting the Annual Meeting. Lastly, running a hybrid meeting basically means managing two meetings at the same time. We simply do not have the staff to make that happen. Things may look very different in the future as hotels come up with innovative ways to satisfy customers and remain profitable, but a hybrid meeting in today’s environment would be very costly to our association. Do not misunderstand, the AASV is financially sound thanks to excellent leadership, a wise investment team, and good decisions made by the past and present Board of Directors. Unfortunately, it is a lot like farming. It would only take a couple bad years for all of that to change.
The past couple years have been filled with one obstacle after the next, yet we have managed to navigate around them or plow right through them. The strength of the AASV lies in its members and I have every confidence that we will do what is best for the pigs in our care, our clients, and this association. Thank you all for your steadfast determination and innovative ideas.
Mary Battrell, DVM
AASV President