The British Pest Control Association has announced that its digital pest management event, PestExtra 2021, saw huge numbers of visitors when it took place this week.
Over the three days, the BPCA said that 1,780 visitors attended from around the world. It also pointed out that visitor numbers do not include staff from 168 exhibitors.
Ian Andrew, BPCA’s chief executive said: “We’ve all missed getting together to catch up, but hopefully, PestExtra has helped fill that hole. It’s been fantastic to catch up with people during the event and learn something new.
“Digital events will never replace physical events, like PestEx, but I’m very proud of what our team, speakers and exhibitors managed to achieve.”
With the event not confined to a physical space, visitors were able to ‘attend’ five theatres instead of the usual two.
With so much to see in three days, BPCA has decided to make all the sessions available to access, for free on its website. The seminars are located HERE.
BPCA said that seminars from the PestExtra Killgerm Theatre are not currently available; seminars were attended live by an average of 165 visitors.
The top two attended seminars – each was attended by 362 people – were:
- Bird Mites: environmentally tricky, socially misunderstood, technically still challenging by Professor Olivier Sparagano, Professor of Veterinary Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health
- Introducing Selontra – Our latest innovation, Cholecalciferol rodent bait by Sharon Hughes and Helen Ainsworth.
Many more people watched the seminars back at their leisure using the on-demand area, which saw recordings being watched 3,422 times across the three days.
Lauren Day, BPCA’s events manager, said: “It’s been such a unique and brilliant event, and we are thrilled that so many people joined us in this new format.
“We should have been getting together in person this month, but COVID-19 meant that wasn’t possible.
“2020 saw many aspects of daily life moving online and we knew we needed to provide the sector with an alternative way of catching up, networking and sharing knowledge, until we can be face-to-face again.”
Ms Day added: “Additionally, the incredible people in this industry have worked flat out during this pandemic to continue protecting public health. PestExtra was the perfect chance to let them take a breath and reflect on the amazing work they’ve all done this last 12 months.
“Thank you to all the amazing exhibitors and sponsors that made the day possible – we look forward to finally seeing everyone in person again at PestEx in 2022.”