National Veterinary Associates

National Veterinary Associates (NVA) is a community of animal hospitals and pet resorts. In 1996, company founder, Stan Creighton realized that fewer veterinarians were able to come out of veterinary school and purchase a practice from a retiring veterinarian. Stan saw an opportunity and began buying practices from retiring veterinarians, allowing them to transition to retirement and for new veterinarians to step into a practice seamlessly. What started with 15 practices has grown to hundreds across the US, Canada and Australia.In 2018.

National Veterinary Associates (NVA) is a community of animal hospitals and pet resorts. In 1996, company founder, Stan Creighton realized that fewer veterinarians were able to come out of veterinary school and purchase a practice from a retiring veterinarian. Stan saw an opportunity and began buying practices from retiring veterinarians, allowing them to transition to retirement and for new veterinarians to step into a practice seamlessly. What started with 15 practices has grown to hundreds across the US, Canada and Australia.In 2018.

NVA decided to host their first ever Community Gathering, bringing together nearly 1,000 hospital managers, veterinarians and administrators. NVA decided on the Sheraton Downtown Dallas for the location and next had to develop the plan. Given that 2018 would be the first such event, NVA turned to TRG as their meeting partner.

TRG worked with NVA to manage an event that featured many aspects from General Session, Opening Reception, Divisional Dinners, Breakouts, Community Service Project, and an Exhibitor area. Here is a bit more on each aspect of the event:

General Session – NVA kicked off the event with a ceremony marking the tenure of each group as they entered the General Session and placed a flag representing the year they joined NVA on the main stage. General Session continued throughout the program featuring videos to establish and reinforce the culture, mission and values of the organization. Featured presenters shared updates on the company as well as future direction.

Opening Reception – Following the opening ceremony in the General Session, attendees had a chance to network while they mixed and mingled with fellow teammates. Dancing, games and fun activities rounded out the evening.

Community Service – Giving back is an important value to NVA and a company wide community service project emphasized that value during the Community Gathering. All 1,000 attendees participated in building pet beds, cat scratch posts, bird perches and dog houses. All finished projects were donated to local Dallas area animal organizations.

Divisional Dinners – The Community Gathering offered a great opportunity to allow each division to have their own meeting and celebration. Following the Community Service activity, Divisions had special dinners with their group to provide updates, hand out awards and network.

Breakouts – On the second full day of the event, attendees were able to choose from six different breakout offerings. Breakouts were offered in four rotations giving each attendee many learning opportunities.

Exhibitors – Attendees were able to meet with 16 different sponsors in an exhibit area open during breaks. TRG installed displays around the meal room advertising the sponsors.

TRG worked with NVA to develop and execute the entire program: from video production, to full General Session staging, program management and all A/V production. For breakouts, TRG managed all the Audio-Visual needs and supported the presenters during their sessions. TRG also provided onsite photography and candid videography to capture special moments from the event.

NVA’s 2018 Community Gathering was a great success for all attendees! TRG and NVA are now in the process of planning their next event.