The Society for Intravenous Anaesthesia (SIVA) has been benefitting from the services of Jane Heppenstall and her team at EMD for many years, but my personal interaction with them started in 2014 when I volunteered to be the local host for our Annual Scientific Meeting in Newcastle the following November. Since then I have had the pleasure of working with the team as a SIVA committee member and subsequently as SIVA Honorary Secretary.
Not only do they excel at what it “says on the tin” – managing events, but in addition, their administration support is tremendous.
The role of Honorary Secretary for the Society is made so much more manageable with the input of EMD: organising committee meetings, and AGMs, preparing agendas, and recording and preparing minutes for the President and I to approve are tasks that EMD achieve in a much more timely manner than I would ever manage. Their interactions with our webmaster to collate membership databases and circulate communications keeps our members informed of developments better than ever before.
They have certainly integrated into the SIVA team, with their personal approach combined with open, honest communication and negotiation skills. This year in particular with the COVID-19 pandemic they have been invaluable in re-negotiating contracts with venues and enabling us to change the usual format of our Annual Scientific Meeting into an incredibly successful Virtual Mini-Symposium. My only disappointment is that Jane, Lucy and I haven’t had the chance for our usual face to face catch up as the friends we have become!
Honorary Secretary
Dr Helen May