That’s a wrap on Anaesthesia 2024!
What a whirlwind of a trip to Glasgow.
In typical Scottish tradition it poured with rain, but our spirits (both delegates and staff) never dampened. It makes me proud to work for the College.
In short, we had a jam packed three days:
- 707 delegates attending online
- 387 delegates in person
- 69 speakers
- 24 Council members
- 46 poster presenters
- 44 sponsors
- 18 staff.
While these stats are impressive, they’re also a little exhausting (tbh). Events don't 'just' happen. There are hours and hours of meetings, hundreds of emails, long checklists, a few midnight panics and childcare schedules to plan before we even get to the conference. Were some of you the same as well? Anaesthesia 2024 couldn’t have been possible without so many people going above and beyond every step of the way. So many moving parts that all came together to deliver an amazing event. From booklets to badges, invoices, couriers, audiovisual, first aid, and pub-quiz champions, we had it all!
When delegates arrived on the first day to a calm, welcoming registration desk, they had no clue of the cancelled trains that had delayed half the Events team even arriving in Glasgow the day before. When the audiovisual system completely died 10 minutes before go-live, surely they saw that? Nope, none the wiser.
Though thankfully it was all worth it. And that’s down as much to you as to us.
We had such a brilliant, varied programme – with workshops and breakout sessions, even a morning fun-run – and an exciting array of speakers. The engaged audience faces and the atmosphere of colleagues networking and learning was inspiring and makes me love my job. The feedback from the Annual Dinner has been incredible. The atmosphere was the best we’ve ever experienced at one of these events. Guests were in awe of the prize winners. It was a really special evening.
I’d like to give a special mention to the clinical leads for Anaesthesia 2024 who have been an absolute joy and pleasure to work with. Drs Claire Mallinson, Tony Brunning and Angela Jenkins met a number of times over the months before the event to develop the programme. It was important to them to create a flagship programme while keeping a local Scottish feel. Having witnessed the atmosphere across all three days it really felt that they got that balance spot on. Members were at the heart of the programme planning, with careful consideration of hot topics and CPD needs always at the forefront of their minds.
I sincerely thank the clinical leads, all of the speakers, the chairs, and everyone else involved for helping to deliver such a memorable event. Without every person giving up their valuable time, and going above and beyond, we wouldn't be able to deliver our events. There are so many people behind the scenes at the College who also helped to make the event possible – I thank you all. I also want to specifically thank my team. Without them doing what they do, this event would not have been possible at such an incredibly high standard.
Finally, thank you to our members for attending and bringing such a positive energy.
We hope you enjoyed the experience and memories made at Anaesthesia 2024 as much as we did, and we look forward to seeing you next year in Belfast.
