BSHAA Congress a hit with delegates and exhibitors

Congress 2016 – the annual conference of the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists – was a hit according to both the delegates and exhibitors.  The two day event on May 13th and 14th was held at the East Midlands Conference Centre, in the grounds of Nottingham University, the fourth time delegates have made the journey to this venue.

Almost 180 delegates enjoyed a programme of lectures presented by sixteen speakers, the biggest trade exhibition for indepenent hearing aid dispensers and a gala dinner in Nottingham City Centre.

The event was officially opened by President Peter Sydserff who welcomed delegates, urging them to take the opportunity away from their day jobs to learn from the lecture theatre sessions, to network with their peers, take the opportunity to find out about the latest technology from the exhibitors and to enjoy the social programme the event was offering.

Chief Executive, David Welbourn described the education programme as a “glittering array of leaders in their field”.  They included stakeholders interested in the world of caring for hearing – the local MP who sits on the all party parliamentary group for hearing, as well as CEOs of both Action on Hearing Loss and Hearing Link.

David Welbourn said: “I’m delighted with the way everything came together – every one of our guest speakers rose magnificently to the challenge we gave them, so despite the breadth of material and viewpoint covered, the whole programme had both a coherence and quality that truly lived up to our aim of celebrating excellence.  The buzz amongst the delegates reinforced this.”

Although delegate numbers were down on previous years – there have been a number of audiology conferences in recent weeks – the exhibitors were not unhappy saying that what they lacked in numbers they made up for in quality!   “We had more time to spend with individual delegates and were able to engage more fully with them,” said one.

The event is known for the quality of entries in a fancy dress competition at the gala dinner at the end of day one, and as ever the exhibitors failed to disappoint with commended team entries from GN ReSound and Phonak.  The winners of the team award was Widex for their Cheerleaders, pictured here with BSHAA President (Peter Sydserff and Vice-President, Sarah Vokes on the back row). 

Also announced was the winner of the Congress Poster Competition which attracted over 20 entries.  Kathryn Woodside was presented with her prize, a cheque for £100 at the gala dinner. She also won a free delegate pass for the event.

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