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Welcome to the 2024 AER Biennial International Conference website!

A special thank you goes out to all AER International Conference 2024 attendees in Charlotte, NC. We hope you returned home from the conference feeling refreshed, revitalized, and ready to go! We were so pleased with the fantastic support from the Conference Planning Committee, led by our former Past-President, Neva Fairchild. This special 40th-anniversary event would not have been the major success it was without the countless hours spent planning every detail that began over a year ago.

We kicked off the conference with Symposium Day (July 24), which consisted of 19 sessions (4 full-day sessions and 14 half-day sessions). Attendees secured an additional six continuing education hours through sessions designed to engage and provide hands-on experience to participants.

We then jumped into the Opening Night General Session with Keynote Speaker Kevin O'Connor. Immediately after that, it was time to celebrate and join forces at the President's Reception. AER's then-president, Olaya Landa-Vialard, hosted this special event, which turned into a big party with a dance floor, photo booth, step-and-repeat (more photo ops!), and a great time for all.

Thursday morning (July 25) opened with 60- and 90-minute breakout sessions, which continued through Saturday. AER offered attendees over 150+ options to choose from. We extend a big THANK YOU to all of our presenters, who did an outstanding job. Many of our presenters uploaded their PowerPoints and/or Handouts onto the website, which you can view by clicking on their sessions here: https://s5.goeshow.com/aerbvi/bic/2024/conference_schedule.cfm.

On Friday night (July 26), we held our 40th Anniversary Celebration/Gala. This special night was a time to reflect on the history of our past 40 years and reunite with long-lost friends and colleagues. We left this celebration feeling excited for the upcoming 40 years!

Sunday morning (July 28) brought us to the Board induction breakfast and to the close of the conference, where the turnout was far better than we could have anticipated. We welcomed the 2024-2026 AER Board of Directors and enjoyed the last few moments of our time together.

This year, we worked with a local company to provide Food Trucks for your convenience. This was our first venture into offering this type of affordable food option, and it turned out to be a huge success. We hope to continue this at our future on-site events.

We were so pleased to see our attendees bring such excitement and love to Charlotte. This is a testament to the passion our community brings daily, and it was a pleasure to witness it first-hand.

Continuing Education Credits
To receive your Continuing Education certificate, log into the Attendee Service Center evaluation and test page. (Your login credentials are at the end of this email.). To complete your evaluation and take the test to receive your CE Certificate, please follow these instructions:

Click the link above to access the Attendee Service Center and log in
Click on the link for Evaluations and Tests
Find a session you attended and click the Start button adjacent to the Session name. This will begin your evaluation.
After completing your evaluation, return to the Evaluations and Tests page and find a button next to your session ( a bit farther to the right) called Start Test. You may need to refresh for this button to appear.
Enter the Start and End codes for the session, being mindful that you only have one chance to pass the test!
Repeat these steps for each session attended

Sponsors
This year, we experienced overwhelming support from our sponsors and advertisers. Please return the favor by supporting these fine companies! https://s5.goeshow.com/aerbvi/bic/2024/sponsors.cfm

Exhibitors
We wish to thank those who exhibited at the conference. Our exhibitors took over the entire Carolina Ballroom and the Symphony Hallway. Please take some time to visit the websites of these special companies: https://s5.goeshow.com/aerbvi/bic/2024/exhibitor_exhibit_map.cfm.

2026 Conference - Save The Date
Speaking of the 2026 conference, we are pleased to inform you that we will host our next biennial conference in Louisville, KY, on July 29 through August 2, 2026! We have secured the Marriott Louisville Downtown Hotel, which provides us with ample conference space that has been beautifully renovated. We are excited to take over Louisville in 2026!