Pulse - October 2021 - 22

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
WVC - ABBREVIATED
T
Elizabeth Goldstone
he old adage says, there are few things that
are certain in life - death, taxes... and now
Covid. Darn, that word came up again,
just when I had vowed not to include it in my
column anymore! But it has affected so many
of the activities and events we normally take for
granted. Company meetings, customer engagements,
and now and continuing, is the effort to
bring all of us in the veterinary industry together
for large conferences.
I had the privilege to attend Western Vet Conference
in Las Vegas, for I believe the fifth time, in my 16 years
in Animal Health. Of course, we all knew it would be
slightly attended, due to the surging cases in the Delta
variant, but also because you can now do it virtually, saving
the attendees lots of money and time.
When I was told I would be working WVC, I made
sure to reach out to clients to see who was attending. It
was mostly crickets, for all the same reasons I had just
mentioned, as well as the fact that it was beginning on
Labor Day weekend. Even some of our employees who
had the opportunity to work, already had holiday plans
that kept them from being scheduled. In fact, even clients
that said they would attend, pulled out at the last
minute, due to either potential illness, or just a fear that it
would not be safe. I even had some pull out due to religious
holiday occurring the same week. I totally understood
that, as we also had the option to decline attending
if we felt in any way uncomfortable or nervous. I was
wavering for a few weeks when my area in Orange
County was deemed " red " and I was told to work at
home until further notice. Of course, the next week
was green, and I was out again, but I still wondered if I
was making the right decision. Ultimately, I decided to
attend, as I figured the risk was just as high doing everyday
tasks and I had already traveled with no ill effects.
I have already reported on the enormous amount of
people traveling this summer, well Labor Day was no
exception. Both Orange County and Las Vegas airports
were packed to the hilt, and it seemed things were pretty
much back to normal. When my coworker and I arrived
in Las Vegas, and arrived at our hotel, around 1:30 p.m.,
we were hoping to get a room immediately or at least
soon. Unfortunately, with the shortage of housekeeping
help, we were not able to get into our rooms until 9 at
night. While we are very cognizant and empathetic to
the issues that the hospitality industry is going through,
we were a bit peeved, as we had meetings to attend,
22
and would have liked to freshen up. Luckily another
coworker came to our aid.
It was quieter in the hotels and traffic was not as heavy
going into the convention center. Usually, you cannot
even get through the crowds to walk through both areas,
but after the holiday, and because of decreased attendance,
it was much more manageable, and for those of
us not wanting to be in big crowds, a relief. In fact, I
was surprised at how many people were in attendance,
as I was afraid there would be way less people, which
would be unfortunate for those exhibiting in the exhibit
hall. In normal times, it is difficult to have conversation
with clients in the booth, as everyone comes in at once
and you are pulled in all directions. This time, we were
able to talk to people for a bit longer and not seem so
distracted. I really enjoyed the fact that our booth was
interactive with bar code technology, so that they were
able to keep engaged with our products. It wasn't just
a rush for freebies. There were less people in general in
the exhibit hall with far less rushes between sessions, but
we did see a good amount of people in the 3 days there.
Overall, I am glad that we were able to attend, exhibit
and entertain clients at this mid-year WVC. I missed
seeing several clients who I usually see, and industry
people as well. I know a few companies pulled out
at the last minute due to Covid, which was bound to
happen. I also felt very comfortable, as Las Vegas has
an indoor mask mandate, and again, there were not as
many big crowds of people at any location. I stayed at
the property the entire time, so did not venture out to
any crowds on the Strip. I did hear from attendees looking
for CE, that their sessions were very informative and
worthwhile, so being that this was the major goal of
attending, I am happy that was the case. I've heard that
WVC may be back at the usual Feb/March time frame
in 2022. I am hopeful that by that time, conditions with
Covid will have improved. P
Elizabeth Goldstone
Merck Animal Health * 949-379-0201
Elizabeth.goldstone@merck.com
OCTOBER 2021
PULSE
Pulse - October 2021

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