24th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Veterinary Dermatology

From June 7th to 9th 2024, the German Society for Veterinary Dermatology (DGVD) came together for a beastly good congress at its 24th Annual Meeting in the Fellbach Schwabenlandhalle under the motto "DGVD 2024 goes wild".

With a much higher number of exhibitors and participants, the annual meeting of the German Society for Veterinary Dermatology started a weekend of superlatives on June 7th. The fact that such record numbers were achieved was due on the one hand to the Swabian charm in Stuttgart-Fellbach and on the other hand to the downright dog-friendliness of the Schwabenlandhalle. The veterinary dermatology community also appreciated the excellent accessibility of the location. "The infrastructure and the central location were extremely ideal for our participants. Our animal companions are incredibly important to us veterinarians. Not being able to take them with us often means that participants do not attend the events at all," explains one of the two conference presidents Dr. Teresa Böhm. The ideally located Schwabenlandhalle offered the veterinarians the perfect ambience for effective knowledge transfer and also offered recreational value and space for the furry friends - the ideal venue for such a congress.

You don't come across a topic like veterinary dermatology every day - but even as a niche area, it is characterized by particularly friendly veterinarians, a lot of volunteer work and fun at the events. The practitioners, veterinary assistants and specialists of the industry come together every year. Despite their relatively small number, they cover the second largest area in German veterinary medicine (measured by the number of patients). This close contact and exchange creates good acquaintances and a familiar atmosphere, from which the 24th conference also benefited and made it a very special event.

Backed the right horse

This was also due to the significantly increased number of 512 registered participants and the 20 new members of the society. The conference also set a record for exhibitors: more than the 32 people present would not have been logistically possible. The extensive advertising that the DGVD had been doing long before the conference proved successful on the event weekend. Both traditional and new media were used. The good division of labor among those involved, who all did their best to plan the conference, made it possible to use social media channels and gather many new followers, but also to have personal one-on-one conversations in order to bring about the enormous increase in participants. "It was completely new territory for us to create posts every day, but it was very worthwhile!" says Teresa Böhm. "Social media offered us an ideal platform, especially for bringing many young colleagues to Stuttgart. We wrote a total of 300 posts and had around 1,500 followers on Instagram and 2,500 friends on Facebook."

The two conference presidents Dr. Teresa Böhm and Dr. Christoph Klinger were already appointed for this congress in 2022, on the condition that it should take place in Stuttgart in 2024. They planned the congress weekend for two years, with active support from the expert Stuttgart Convention Bureau and colleagues from Fellbach Event & Location GmbH. Additional help was provided by the collaboration with the congress organization Gerling. The participants were also full of praise: "Fantastic event! The best congress I've ever been to," commented one participant. The entire event was a complete success, as around 15 dogs accompanied their owners and actively supported them.

"When we received the request from the DGVD via the Stuttgart Convention Bureau, we were very happy - a slightly different event with four-legged friends! Since summer 2023, we have been in intensive contact with the organizers about room layout, stand planning and program design. The collaboration ran smoothly and there was an open exchange at all times - the chemistry was just right.

On site, we received very good feedback from the participants, especially about the successful room layout, which perfectly matched the number of participants. The presence of dogs was also very calm and was a welcome change. Overall, it was a very successful congress and the planning and implementation of this event showed how enriching and successful close cooperation is." – Nicole Bauer, project manager events at feel

Sustainability and integration of young talents

The sustainability aspect was not neglected either. Under the new motto "DGVD goes green", only just under two containers of waste were produced, mainly cardboard, and the use of recyclable materials and the greatest possible CO2 neutrality were aimed for.

In addition, the organizers also took to heart the criticism of previous years that the annual meeting was only a meeting place for specialists from the dermatology field. The focus of the 2024 conference was shifted to classical veterinary medicine and veterinary assistants were not forgotten about in the program planning either. The extensive thematic program was not only aimed at the old hands of the industry - students and trainees were also cordially invited to join in the varied program items, which highlighted the latest procedures, tools and tricks from dermatology.

The participants were treated to culinary delights at the social evening "Dinner Dance", which took place in the Amazonica restaurant in the Wilhelma Stuttgart. In addition to culinary highlights, a twilight tour was also offered for interested participants. End the evening with delicious and healthy catering in a unique ambience and then dance to the music of the band N*cognito - this was very well received by the participants and led to a full dance floor. An evening for the DGVD's history books!