Conventions 101

I went to a convention today. The MVMA convention, to be exact. What does that stand for?? I'm glad you asked. The MVMA is the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association. I've never been to a convention like this before, and I figured I would get a head start on my CE (continuing education) credits. I don't even have my paperwork for my certification yet, but it can't hurt to start early. I had fun, I learned a lot, I even saw a few people that I know. Plus, I got all this cool free stuff!

This is some of the cool stuff I got. Can't beat free!

I also got a leash. I put it on Sprite's collar to see how she would react. Let's just say she didn't really catch on to what it is and how to use it. Currently she is running around the house trying to figure out why this weird red string is chasing her.

I like conventions. Not just because I get free things, or because of the muffins (free muffins!). The whole point of this convention was to learn something. I learned quite a few things. I won't bore you with the details, but the classes I took were about how to handle aggression in dogs, and client education on preventive care. I'm so glad I went, because now I have learned several important things that I can implement in my clinic, and hopefully lead my co-workers to implement those things as well.

I've also decided that I need to be better about brushing my pets' teeth and giving them heartworm prevention every month. You people should do the same. If you want to know why, I'll be glad to start  a conversation with you via facebook or email, because it would take up way too much space if I wrote all my thoughts on the subject on here. 

Me with my name tag, just in case you didn't believe I was actually there. I was.

I had this incredibly good pizza today. Maybe it was so good because it was made by hand and it had all the natural grease that a slice of pepperoni pizza is supposed to have, or maybe the taste was amplified because of the fact that I wandered around for half an hour getting lost in the skyway system to find it. Either way, it was pretty darn good pizza. It was also the size of my face, which definitely helped with the taste factor. I had 2 face-sized slices. They were good.

One thing I learned about conventions: if you're going to one downtown, go on a Friday. Traffic is generally lighter than on any other weekday, especially around rush hour. Also, have an idea of where you are and what street you need to be on BEFORE exiting off 394 and hoping for the best. Downtown metro areas have WAY too many one way streets. And bad drivers.

Anyways, those are my novice convention experiences. Hopefully I'll be going back next year, and not just because I'll need 20 more free pens!