1999 AAEP CONVENTION Report by J.M. MacLeay, DVM

The 45 th annual convention for the American Association for Equine practitioners was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from December 5-8, 1999. The meeting was attended by more than 4,700 veterinary professionals and guests and most participants were very happy with the venue. Some attendees had trouble getting hotel rooms in close proximity to the convention center but agreed the convention center was very comfortable and provided good service. The scientific program included 90 presentations and a sold-out trade show with nearly 350 exhibition booths. Scientific sessions included practice based topics such as lameness, pre-purchase examinations and pediatrics, "Back-to- Basics" sessions, "How-to" sessions and professional development.

Among the convention highlights was the installation of new officers and board of directors. Members of the 2000 Executive Committee are:

Benjamin Franklin, Jr., DVM, President; C. Wayne Mcllwraith, BVSc, PhD, FRCVS, DipACVS, President elect; Jerry B. Black, DVM, Vice President; Robert D. Lewis, DVM, Immediate Past President; and Harry Werner, VMD, Treasurer. New members of the board of directors include: Richard D. Mitchell, DVM, District I; R. Reynolds Cowles, Jr., DVM, District II; Philip M. Matthews, DVM, District III; Christine M. Dainis, DVM, District 1V; and R. Dean Scoggins, DVM, District V. Nathaniel A. White, II, DVM, MS,

DipACVS, will serve as a Director- at-Large, and Mr. Duncan Alexander will serve as Equine Industry Board Member.

The AAEP honored its 1999 award winners at the President's Luncheon on December 7. Those receiving awards were: John T. Vaughan, DVM, MS, DipACVS, Distinguished Life Member Award; G. Marvin Beeman, DVM, the Sage Kester "Beyond the Call" Award; Tom Dorrance, the AAEP Equine Welfare Award; and former California state senator

14 JOURNAL OF EQUINE VETERINARY SCIENCE

Kenneth L. Maddy, the George Stubbs Award.

Wet labs on upper respiratory tract surgery and limb ultrasound,j oint injection, nerve blocks and surgery were held on Friday andSaturday. Committeemeetings were also held on Saturday. The opening session on Sunday was very well attended. Bayer Corporation sponsored the keynote speaker Dr. Lowell Cailett, who spoke on "Empty Nests- Full Nest Eggs: Prospering in the 21 st Century." Dr. Catlett is a Futurist and New Mexico State University economist who has spoken to national and international audiences and has received numerous faculty and teaching awards. His talk was energetic and entertaining as he discussed why the baby boomer generation is so prosperous and will only get more so in the century.

According to Dr. Catlett the baby

boomer generation owes its prosperity to falling food prices, falling prices for household appliances and technology and a substantial inheritance windfall. He describes the baby boomers as an eccentric generation who will only become more so as they begin to retire. The combination of wealth and eccentricity makes them a prime market for services, including high tech veterinary medicine.

He also addressed the generation

gap between generation X and the baby boomers and how generation X values time above all else. This creates some conflict in the workplace between boomers, who work long hours, and the Xers who like to leave at 5. Nevertheless Xers have grown up with few wants and also appreciate services. Together the two generations are eager to spend more money on services that provide great convenience, on entertainment and on

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their pets. He finished by talking about modem

technology and how it will benefit us. He spoke of smart highways that drive your car for you, huge leaps in computer technology and smart markets that learn what you like and serve it up on a silver platter. Overall his view of the future was bright and promising and was enjoyed by all attendees.

Dr. Catlett was followed by a tribute to General Wayne "Sage" Kester who was a founder and steadfast supporter of the AAEP. His legacy, among many,

to the AAEP is the Kester News Hour which highlights timely short subjects about professional and business topics that are too brief, too new or too abstract to be presented as a stand alone topic in a scientific session. The News Hour was hosted by Drs. John Madigan and Larry Bramlage. The session was informational and lighthearted and included the usual medicine vs. surgeon banter along with brief abstracts of newer research studies. A highlight was video tape of helicopter airlift horse rescues from the floods earlier this year. Dr. Bramlage discussed an alliance between the AAEP and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), the national marketing arm of the Thoroughbred industry. The NTRA is willing to provide discounted memberships to AAEP members. In return members are privileged to numerous discounts from many different corporations that are allies of the NTRA. For more information AAEP members can contact the NTRA at 1-888-238-7360.

"Fable Topics" were held over the lunch hour and were extremely popular. These forums allowed question and answer periods with top specialists and researchers in a variety of fieMs. The topics were so popular that the small group feel for many was almost lost. The AAEPis looking into ways to maintain the ability for practitioners to ask questions comfortably while allowing as many attendees as possible to participate in each topic at future conventions.

Numerous receptions were held during the convention including an open- ing reception sponsored by Boehringer- Ingelheim, Vetmedica Inc. and Milbum Distributions, 22 Veterinary College Alumni receptions and an International reception. On Tuesday evening the Southwest Celebration including dinner and dancing was well attended. As part

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