Lagging economy forces WSU to cancel CE conference

Pullman, Wash.

-- The dismal economy has prompted Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine to cancel its 2009 Conference for Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians slated for next month in Spokane.

"This year, we faced an unusual convergence of factors," said Steve Martinez, a veterinary surgeon and director of WSU veterinary college's Office of Continuing Education. "The economy, the AVMA coming to Seattle, and major sponsors and exhibitors having their meeting budgets markedly reduced, and wise decisions on the part of veterinarians to minimize the expense of their required CE made holding our conference in March in Spokane duplicative and economically impractical."

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Annual Conference will be held in Seattle in July and offers one of the biggest slates of continuing education in the nation As a result, corporate sponsors and exhibitors, already streamlining their meeting budget, were more inclined to go with the AVMA conference.

The college anticipated spending more than $160,000 to put on the conference with most of that amount recouped in sponsorships, exhibitor fees, and registration revenues generated.

"Without sponsorships and with the anticipated low attendance, this was the right thing to do for our college and the university," says Martinez.