CAOT-BC @ the 93rd AOTA Conference

Wow. Energizing. Pride. Huge. Spirit. Fight On! These are just some of the words I would use to describe my first ever American Occupational Therapy Association Conference experience. Like CAOT, our American counterpart holds an annual conference at a different host city each year. Held in San Diego, from April 24-28, the conference was the 2nd highest attended with just over 6000 registrants! That's right, I said 6000.

From the keynote address by Aaron Ralston (the man portrayed in the movie 127 hours), to Tech forums, to collecting badge ribbons, to poster presentations and speaker sessions and an exhibitor expo almost as large as a football field, the AOTA conference was a fantastic warm-up for our own upcoming conference in Victoria.

Some highlights included:

Meeting the WFOT 16th Congress Secretariat, Masumi Nagakawa.

Discussing professional association issues with board members of the OT Association of California who are currently raising money to host a float for the Rose Parade in 2017 (Centennial year for AOTA) in order to increase awareness about occupational therapy.

I look forward to meeting many of you in Victoria in a few weeks time to create our own wonderful CAOT conference experience!

-Giovanna