As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across Canada, communities and organizations were forced to abruptly change plans and processes to protect the health and wellbeing of Canadians and help flatten the curve. AFAC was no exception. The organization was one of the first in the agriculture industry to quickly pivot and successfully transformed its annual Livestock Care Conference (LCC) into a virtual online conference in just five days.
At the end of the day, AFAC’s efforts proved worthwhile, with 101 registered participants and an average of 88 individuals logged in per session. Moving to a virtual format enabled AFAC to connect with individuals from Canada and the United States who weren’t originally able to attend. Even better, the technology encouraged everyone to have a voice in the conversation with the inclusion of chat functionality, where participants could chat with each other and ask questions of the presenters. Many registrants were curious about topics like shipping across the border with new transport regulations and how to plan for emergencies such as COVID-19.
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