It was my great pleasure to attend my second ever AZEVN conference this year and to make it even better I was lucky enough to be selected as a golden ticket winner! So huge thanks to my sponsor ACE veterinary supplies and all the amazing sponsors that contribute so much to these events. 

As I travel down from the Northeast of England, I drove down on Friday to Wharton Park golf club which was to be my accommodation for the next couple of days (a hidden gem as the room was lovely as was the breakfast!) 

The morning of the first day dawned bright and sunny and I headed to the West Midland’s Safari Park our hosts for the conference this year’s conference was to be held in the treetops pavilion and WOW what an amazing space!! Light and airy with screens positioned so nobody missed anything, the sponsor stalls were nicely space around the outside edge which made it wonderful as everyone was together in one room. 

The talks this year were amazing, interesting, informative and delivered with passion highly enjoyable! I Especially enjoyed learning about the special way giraffes walk and the autopsy quiz was really good fun too! All of the speakers were excellent and one of the best things about the conference is the wealth of knowledge available from the members. 

The tea and coffee were, as always, readily available along with pastries and biscuits and the spacing of the talks and refreshment breaks were perfect. The buffet style lunch had lots of variety and catered for most although for gluten intolerance and vegan the choice was quite limited. 

The BBQ was great, and the Saturday night social was brilliant as it gave everyone a chance to network with likeminded people. 

The second day of the conference was just as riveting as the first and an all-round incredible event can’t wait for next year! 

From start to finish the conference was planned well and highly enjoyable, I am already keeping an eye out for next years dates! I was contacted on how to book my ticket which made the whole process easy and stress-free. Since the conference was a few hours drive, we were looking for somewhere to stay and came across the handy list on the website which showed us local and affordable places to stay which had been recommended which was reassuring. Arriving at West Midland Safari Park was exciting, and the location of the conference was beautiful. There was food and drink provided with opportunities to visit the zoo in lunch breaks or to stay and mingle with other professionals. The days were filled with all kinds of different lectures, from training rhinos to e.cuniculi in rabbits, and most importantly all the lectures where given by highly enthusiastic people. In the breaks I enjoyed visiting the different sponsors, and speaking to reps and learning more about products and tests that were available and how they can be utilised in practice. The evening social events were enjoyable and a key time to talk to others to open up opportunities. I felt I came home from the conference with encouragement to pursue work with exotic species, and a bagful of goodies too! You can see how much love, care and thought goes into arranging these events and I would highly recommend to anyone who is thinking of going.  

This year I was one of the amazingly lucky winners of the AZEVN golden tickets and am forever grateful to be chosen. Thanks to so many wonderful sponsors this year we cannot thank you all enough for your support and generosity, a special thank you to Supreme who sponsored my golden ticket this year!

Travelling from Scotland by myself made me initially nervous but the atmosphere on arrival was welcoming and the treetops pavilion was buzzing with excitement (and coffee!) this only grew as more people arrived. The community of likeminded people that AZEVN has encouraged over the years is inspiring.

Every single speaker there provided us with knowledgeable and thrilling lectures covering a vast range of topics which kept it refreshing and captivating. The lectures provided me with more ideas and information which I am already using back in practice, as well as doing my best to share my newfound information to other staff members.

AZEVN catered for all walks of life and made this year’s conference everything I could have wished for. The committee is a welcoming, experienced, knowledgeable, and well-rounded group not only have done amazing work individually but together are building a like-minded community that are always looking to develop themselves to better care for exotic and zoo animals. They made the weekend fun, sociable and such a great laugh that brought more people together. Thank you all so much and I hope to see you again next year!

I was lucky enough to apply and get a golden ticket to AZEVN conference 2023, and it was amazing! Everyone was really friendly, welcoming and I learnt a huge amount. I was there on my own and I didn’t know anyone so I was quite nervous. However the AZEVN team were really supportive and helped introduce me to others which made me feel a lot more comfortable, and I settled in quickly. 

 It took place  in West Midlands safari park ,so there are animals literally just outside for you to visit in the breaks, which is brilliant! I’m a recently registered veterinary nurse and I had worked for a short while with exotics but I had very minimal knowledge. Therefore the conference really helped me understand and expand my knowledge on Exotics, wildlife and zoo animals. The speakers were very knowledgeable and  there was a great range of talks ,so the conference provided for those new to exotic nursing, as well as those very experienced in it. The days were filled with different talks, as well as breaks with biscuits, cake and drinks as a well as delicious lunch ! On Saturday evening there was an evening social BBQ and quiz, which was also great fun.  In between the conference talks ,there were multiple sponsor stalls  such as Burton, Safe4 and Pet remedy which were all very informative and useful and many happily gave samples for us to take back to our practices to try ,which was very handy.  A brilliant weekend , really fun and a great way to keep up to date with the latest veterinary nursing news as well as getting to know other people interested in nursing exotics, wildlife and zoo animals. 100% recommend!