ITM begins on March 9, 2006, then called Magapor Technical Meeting. Magapor organizes this first meeting with the aim of creating a meeting point for professionals and technicians linked to the field of swine reproduction.
This first meeting brought together 48 participants from Spanish companies and institutions under the slogan “Because something is changing”. The sector was initiating a great revolution and technification, and Magapor had the clear objective of being with its customers in this change. Three lectures and a round table would be the starting point of what is now one of the most internationally recognized swine reproduction congresses.
After the success of the first edition, Magapor schedules a second meeting, under the same structure, for March 1, 2007. This block will be repeated in 2008 and 2009, changing the location, and progressively increasing the number of attendees, among which we are beginning to be accompanied by some internationals.
From 2010 the congress began to consolidate, increasing the number of attendees and internationalization. In the 2010 edition, held in Ejea de los Caballeros, 157 people from 10 different countries attended. 6 lectures gave shape to this congress that brought together speakers of the importance of Gary Althouse or Fernando Fariñas, with other renowned field technicians such as Quim Segalés or Xavier Barrera.
In this edition, another element that is now a fundamental part of ITM also begins to take on importance, “The other part of the congress”: The coffees, the lunches and all the networking opportunities.
In 2011 the 6th edition of the congress was held with a growing attendance, with attendees from 17 countries. This edition is again held in Zaragoza, to facilitate the arrival of attendees. Due to the demand for more content from the attendees, in this edition an afternoon session and a dinner were added. During this 6th edition we had speakers of the importance of Darwin Reicks, Marcello Marchesi, Manuel Toledo and José Antonio Esteban.
The seventh edition arrived in 2012 with a greater international presence, a larger number of attendees and a progressive increase in the international relevance of the speakers, including Chris Kuster, Sylviane Boulot, or the recently deceased Hanneke Feitsma. This edition also consolidated the expansion of the international agenda, including visits to Magapor or practical sessions at the Faculty of Veterinary of the University of Zaragoza.
2013 was the first edition celebrated in the auditorium of WTC Zaragoza, bringing togheter 186 participants from 25 countries. This time the number of Spanish participants is equal to those coming from other countries around the world. Once again, the prestige of our speakers increased with the participation of Jimmy Hargrove, Andrey Pavlov and George Foxcroft.
The 9th edition in 2014 is the first step towards the congress as we know it today. It appears for the first time in double day and strengthens the relationship between Magapor and the University of Zaragoza, through its chair, celebrating this edition in the historic building paraninfo of the University. In this edition, for the first time, more than 200 attendees from almost 30 countries will be present. In addition, the media coverage increased considerably with publications in more than 30 national and international media, which shows the repercussion that the meeting is acquiring.
In 2015 comes the 10th edition including for the first time the term ITM (International Technical Meeting). During this edition, held again at the WTC Zaragoza, 272 people from 28 different countries were present. In addition, 18 speakers participated.
With the eleventh edition of the ITM, we have consolidated the growth of the meeting, overcoming the barrier of 300 participants from 29 different countries. In this edition we once again had important speakers such as Robert Knox, Darwin Reicks or Julie Menard.
The 12th edition, held in 2017, had 346 attendees from 32 different countries. We continue to increase the internationalization and the increase of interest towards our event. This edition followed the format of previous editions with two days of presentations, complemented with other activities to increase interaction among attendees.
In 2018, during our 13th edition, we once again beat ourselves reaching the figure of 408 participants. These attendees came from as many as 38 different countries from all 5 continents. Of all the attendees 170 were national, compared to 238 international. This represents the total internationalization of our ITM. During this edition there were 21 presentations and 2 round tables.
The 14th edition of the ITM in 2019 was the last one we were able to celebrate. This edition continued with the internationalization, touching the number of 400 attendees again. During this edition we continued to hold conferences at the veterinary faculty and the activities that allow interaction between attendees.
After 14 editions the 2019 edition was the last one we could celebrate due to the current epidemiological situation. This congress was created as a meeting point for professionals in the sector and throughout all editions we have increased the agenda and activities to allow greater interaction between attendees, forging new synergies and opportunities for professional growth.
We look forward to seeing you at the 15th edition of ITM, we are waiting for you!