Schedule

UVSA Board of Directors Meeting (invitation only)

Registration

Next Gen Session: Raise It High and Lift: Champion People to Be Their Best

Zach Arend
Resonance Coach, Create Purpose

What’s most important for you as a leader is holding your vision high, and helping people be their BEST.  

In this interactive breakout seminar, Zach will help leaders to see the truth of who they’re being and begin to shift their approach to leading their team from empowerment to being “in” power.  Attendees can expect to learn practical approaches to increase their team’s engagement, personal impact and tangible business results.
 
NextGen participation is open to all qualified applicants of UVSA member companies. There is no additional fee for the NextGen Session. However, an application is required and subject to approval. 
 
NextGen participants must be registered to attend the conference. Sponsors contributing at the Bronze level or higher will receive one complimentary registration (company pays their travel expenses) to send an emerging leader from their company to participate in this session and the full UVSA annual conference. 
 
Attendee requirements:

• Candidate must be an employee with a UVSA member company.
• Candidate must have at least 5 years of experience in animal health industry.
• Preferred candidates are those 45 years of age or younger.
• Candidate aspires to executive leadership within animal health industry, such as Manager, Sr. Manager, Director, or Vice President.
• Candidate has the support of their employer to participate and if selected must submit a letter of recommendation from their supervisor. Please send the letter to Amy Kulp, Executive Director.

This is a hands-on experiential workshop where each attendee will receive a workbook and will have opportunities to practice each coaching tool. Zach will also facilitate a discussion among the attendees, coaching them around their current challenges and goals so that they can leave with clarity on how they can create transformation within their team. 

View the full session description.

Register Today

Welcome Reception
Sponsored by:

Breakfast

Registration

Opening Remarks and Annual Business Meeting

General Session: The Wild Ride: Developing Resonant Creative Leaders

Zach Arend
Resonance Coach, Create Purpose

In his signature keynote, Zach reveals the three critical approaches to become a Resonant Creative Leader™.

Zach will share his journey from small town kid to 2x Saddle Bronc Champion and how that has shaped the leadership philosophy he now teaches to his clients.  Be prepared to change the way you think about your role as leader.  It’s time you put yourself back into a position of influence and impact.  It’s going to be a wild ride!

Networking Break

General Session: Sustainability: A Farmer-Driven Approach

Matt Musselman
Chief Operating Officer, Farm Services, Dairy Farmers of America

Change is ever-present across the landscape of agriculture, perhaps more so in dairy farming than in other livestock sectors.  We will discuss several mega-trends facing U.S. dairy farmers and potential impacts these may have on our industry.  With the increasing focus on sustainability taken by many food brands, we will discuss how this may impact dairy farmers and various production practices on-farm.  And, we will share how our cooperative is helping tell our farmer’s stories to consumers.  It’s a great message as farmers are the original inventors of sustainability, creating successful family farms to be passed down to the next generation while helping feed humans around the world.

Lunch

General Session: Industry Challenges—Perspective from those Seeking and on the Front Lines of Veterinary Care

Brad Seipel
Executive Vice President and Group Director of Account Management, MM/A/R/C® 

There are a wide variety of forces effecting veterinary medicine:

• With inflation running rampant, pet owner spending is being squeezed while costs for pet goods and those used by vet clinics have risen.  
• This is happening during an uncertain time with the economy either being in or teetering on recession.
• Despite this, the labor market remains strong—particularly the market for veterinary professionals—causing competition among clinics and an increase in labor costs for practices.
• The competitive labor market in veterinary medicine is being exacerbated by a shortage of veterinarians and techs—stressing vet clinic staff and threatening pet owners’ ability to have their animals seen in a timely manner. 
• While technologies (like telemedicine and wearables) have shown promise in changing the dynamic of care, adoption of these technologies and platforms have been slow and gripped with challenges.

This session will explore these forces and provide perspective on them (and their affect) from pet owners and the veterinarians who serve them.

Brad Seipel is Executive Vice President and Group Director of Account Management at M/A/R/C® Research, which is a consulting firm focused on providing insights and strategies that enable clients to make informed decisions to move their business forward. In his role Brad serves as executive leader of M/A/R/C’s Animal Health Practice—a practice area he has been serving for 20 years.

Brad will share data from recent research to shed light on how current industry challenges are being viewed and managed by those seeking and managing veterinary care.    

General Session: AVMA Advocacy: Challenges and Opportunities for the Profession
Kent McClure
DVM

The landscape for veterinary medicine continues to change.  This increased interest in the profession presents both opportunities and challenges.  We will discuss the AVMA’s advocacy on behalf of the profession and some of areas receiving regulatory and legislative attention.

The Great Escape Networking Event

Join your colleagues to create the most tempting Margarita and guacamole recipe. With game show style trivia, teams will be given the opportunity to win secret ingredients.

Cost: $120 per person

No Tie Lounge Reception
Sponsored By:

Breakfast

General Session: Gauging the Risks Going Forward 2023–2024
Sponsored by:

Alan Beaulieu
President, ITR Economics

The US and global economies are going through turbulent times, with inflation, interest rates, consumer activity, labor shortage, market gyrations, COVID-Echoes, war, and simplistic and often contradictory headlines potentially making it difficult to discern what the future will look like. It may seem impossible to effectively plan for a prosperous future given all the noise and misdirection. That is where ITR Economics comes in. 
 ITR Economics provides a data-driven analysis of the trends. No emotions or histrionics or political agenda. The trends will combine to show what to expect for key industries and areas of interest to the attendees.  

1. Big Picture: ITR’s forecast of the general economy (and specific markets if applicable) through the second half of 2023 and 2024 with analysis of risks to the forecast.
2. What to expect for commodity prices and inflation in general.
3. How interest rate trends may change and what that means for businesses.
4. The consumer’s financial health and why it matters.
5. What is going on with shortening supply chain trends?
6. Why industrial demand is likely to outperform in key areas.
7. What is happening in labor?
8. How to create wealth in these market conditions.
9. How to protect profits in these market conditions.

General Session: The Veterinary Medical Association Executives: An Introduction and Update

Adrian Hochstadt, JD, CAE
CEO, The Veterinary Medical Association Executives (VMAE)

The Veterinary Medical Association Executives (VMAE) exists to help VMA executives create thriving organizations and provide effective leadership in the veterinary profession. We will learn more about this organization, comprised of 140 executives who lead 90 veterinary associations around the globe. Adrian Hochstadt, CEO of VMAE, will provide us with an update on their key initiatives, programs, and services to support VMA executives and their veterinary members. He will also share the strategic priorities of VMAE and explore how industry and professional changes and trends impact organized veterinary medicine today and in the future.

Networking Break

General Session: Ruthless Consistency: How Committed Leaders Execute and Win

Michael Canic, Ph.D.
President, Making Strategy Happen

When all is said and done, a lot more gets said than done. A Harvard Business Review article noted, “… most studies still show a 60-70% failure rate for organizational change projects, a statistic that has stayed constant from the 1970s to the present.” After you leave this year’s UVSA conference, will you be one of the successful few or the failed many?
 
Drawing on his experience as a corporate leader, a consultant to CEOs across North America, and a national championship-winning coach, Michael Canic will close our conference by outlining the three things you must consistently get “right” to execute and win.
 
Do you have the right commitment to make it happen?

Lunch