This year we tried something new and had a full day VBMA Conference, which was co-sponsored with Tuskegee University VBMA and the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association. It was the first Saturday after our Fall Semester classes started.

Things that we could have done better:
- improved our communication with our partner groups and delegating more load to them
- plan even FURTHER in advance so that the date doesn't conflict with other events (Most of the Tusk VBMA'ers were caught up at their VLE stuff and weren't able to make it, which was sad, since we are trying to get the two schools working together a little more).
- the speed-networking lunch didn't work out as planned because there were so many more students then DVM/VMDs/etc - the idea was to have the speakers and DVM/VMD/etc attendees seated and have the students rotate around at set time intervals (like speed-dating) but due to the inequity in representation we had to do it in a more "informal" manner - and just let people roam around and hopefully network.

Things that went better than expected:
- the transition from introducer to speaker throughout the day went pretty much without a hitch. We had introducers from a variety of backgrounds, to represent everyone involved (ie. VBMA officer from Auburn {me}, VBMA officer from Tuskegee, Faculty from Auburn, Faculty from Tuskegee, and a local practice owner.)
- the entire event was budget neutral! We were able to pull it off without using any VBMA funds (local or national) by getting sponsors!

Nick
Auburn University