We Are Seeking Two Members for the WSAVA Congress Advisory Group – Warsaw 2026

Background 

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) is a federation of associations. Its members include 116 national, regional, and special interest companion animal veterinary associations, from around the world. Together, they represent over 200,000 individual veterinarians. The association aims to advance the health and welfare of companion animals around the world and to advocate on behalf of companion animal veterinarians globally. They do this through the provision of Global Guidelines, continuing education and professional development initiatives, and advocacy campaigns.  

Every year the WSAVA holds a congress for the purposes of bringing together the companion animal veterinary community, so that they can learn, share, and grow, personally and professionally. The congress lasts for three days and changes location every year, rotating between the five WSAVA regions. While the WSAVA appoinst a Professional Congress Organizer (PCO) for the purposes of planning, organizing, and delivering the WSAVA Congress, the WSAVA member association who has a WSAVA Congress held in their country, advises WSAVA and the PCO on how to adapt the event to national and regional needs through the Congress Advisory Group – “CAG”. 

The CAG is made up of 5 volunteers, three (3) appointed by the member association hosting the congress, and two (2) appointed via open call from the WSAVA Member Associations in the region in which the congress is being held.  

Description of the committee’s work and goal 

Collectively, the CAG is responsible for the following: 

1. Provide the PCO with advice and guidance on the traditional format of congresses within the region. This can include details on the food and beverage expectations, delegate fees, and start / end times of the programme.  

2. Provide the PCO with introductions to local and regional veterinary organizations who may wish to exhibit and / or sponsor the WSAVA Congress.  

3. Raising awareness of the WSAVA Congress within the region, whether through attendance at regional congresses, agreements with local veterinary media and publications, and cascading of promotional information through local social media channels (such as but not limited to WhatsApp and Facebook Pages).  

4. Providing advice and guidance to the WSAVA Education Committee on the education needs of the local veterinary community so that a scientific programme can be produced that is relevant, impactful, and attractive to delegates. 

5. Assisting the WSAVA and PCO with communication and logistics with local congress and social events suppliers. This can include recommendations for and introductions to venues for congress social events, congress party, entertainment for events such as the opening / closing ceremonies and congress party, etcetera.  

6. Planning and organizing a congress outreach day which will be held before or after the WSAVA Congress.  

7. Supporting the WSAVA and PCO with identifying moderators for lecture streams. 

Detailed description of the desired candidates 

1. All applicants must be members of a WSAVA member association within the region the congress takes place in, which for 2026, is Europe. A list of WSAVA member associations can be found on the WSAVA website.  

2. Veterinary industry experience and regional knowledge, familiarity with the region’s traditional congress formats, including cultural expectations around food and beverage, delegate fees, and congress scheduling. 

3. Strong local and regional network, established connections with local and regional veterinary organizations, potential sponsors, exhibitors, and key stakeholders. 

4. Ability to facilitate introductions between WSAVA’s pco (professional congress organizer) and relevant industry contacts. 

5. Familiarity with local veterinary media outlets and digital marketing strategies relevant to the veterinary field. 

6. Willingness to act as an ambassador for WSAVA congress, increasing awareness and engagement within the region 

7. Willingness to leverage personal and professional networks to support congress sponsorship and exhibition efforts 

8. Educational insight and advisory capabilities, understanding of the region’s veterinary education needs, including knowledge of emerging trends, topics of interest, and gaps in professional development.  Ability to provide guidance to the WSAVA education committee in designing a scientific program that is relevant, impactful, and attractive to delegates. Experience in educational programming, curriculum development, or speaker coordination is an asset.  

9. Outreach and community engagement skills, willingness to contribute to the planning and organization of a congress outreach day in the region. Ability to engage with local veterinary professionals, academia, and industry partners to ensure a successful outreach initiative. Strong organizational skills and experience in coordinating community-driven events. 

10. Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively in a diverse, multicultural environment. Capacity to represent WSAVA professionally and effectively within the region 

11. Fluency in English is desirable but not required; additional proficiency in regional languages is highly advantageous. 

Remuneration for this role 

All WSAVA committee members including the chairperson are volunteers. However, reasonable expenses occurred whilst carrying out WSAVA duties will be reimbursed, in accordance with our travel and expenses policy. 

Time commitment 

The CAG shall commence activities upon the final selection of the committee members. CAG members are expected to attend and actively contribute to committee meetings, whether online or in-person, and respond to offline communication in a timely manner. It is likely a longer meeting(s) will be required in the initial planning stages of the congress program phase. Once a project plan has been agreed by the committee, roles and responsibilities will be delegated to individual group members. In the peak of the project and as the congress launch date approaches, committee members should expect to provide a growing number of hours in preparation for congress, but much of this may be self-guided outside of scheduled meetings. It is expected that the CAG will disband once the congress is finished, and all reports have been submitted. 

Applicant must fill out the application form and provide the documentation detailed below. Please note – Full documentation is required in English. Applications not submitted in English will not be considered.

• Curriculum Vitae
• Letter of Intent
• Letter of support from WSAVA Member Association, stating the association supports the applicants nomination to this group*
• Applications must be submitted via this application form

Applications should be submitted before 2 May 2025 – 22:00 UTC

*All nominees for membership of any WSAVA committee/group are required to provide a letter of Good Standing from the WSAVA member organization of which they are a member. A person of Good Standing is defined as someone who has complied with all explicit obligations of the association and who is not subject to any form of sanction, suspension or disciplinary censure. This letter is not a recommendation from the association that the nominee is the best person for the position. WSAVA committee positions are not chosen by member organizations – the Committee Chair ultimately decides on the best candidate for the position and the choice is ratified by the Membership and Nomination Committee and the Executive Board. This letter indicates only that the WSAVA member association has no objection to the nomination.