Monthly Archives: March 2012

Pittcon 2012 Releases Conference Summary

 

Pittsburgh, PA, March 29, 2012 - The Pittcon 2012 Organizing Committee is pleased to announce that this year’s conference and exposition for laboratory science attracted15,754 attendees (conferees and exhibitor personnel) to the annual event, which was held in Orlando, Florida, March 11-15. Twenty-nine percent of the conferees were from 89 countries outside the United States. A detailed summary of attendance is available at www.pittcon.org.

 

Pittcon 2012 President Jon Peace commented, “In a time where economic changes, increased mergers and acquisitions, and rising travel costs have a substantial impact on conferences, attendees still consider Pittcon to be a most valuable educational and networking resource for the global scientific community.”

 

The Exposition included 948 exhibiting companies occupying 1,854 booths showcasing their latest laboratory instrumentation, equipment and services across a broad range of applications and technologies used in laboratory science. There were 191 exhibiting companies (20%) from 28 countries outside of the United States. This year, Pittcon welcomed 119 (12.5%) first time exhibitors and recognized the following returning companies that participated at Sponsorship Level: ABSCIEX, Jasco, Millipore, Sigma-Aldrich, Shimadzu, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
The comprehensive Technical Program included more than 2,000 individual presentations distributed among Invited Symposia, Organized Contributed Sessions, Achievement Awards, Workshops, and Poster presentations. More than 100 invited speakers addressed topics of global interest, including alternative and sustainable energy, homeland security, food and drug safety, environmental issues, new materials development, and bioanalytical techniques. Approximately 1,400 people attended the Plenary Lecture presented by R. Graham Cooks, and Steven Benner delivered the Capstone Lecture to an audience of 700.

 

The 2012 Short Course program offered 95 courses (16 of which were new) and drew approximately 1,400 registrants which was a 16% increase over 2011 attendance.

 

The Pittcon Employment Bureau registered 143 employers, 512 candidates, 444 positions, and 455 interviews for the week.
For final statistics on Pittcon 2012 and preliminary information on Pittcon 2013, which will be held March 17 to March 21, 2013, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA, visit www.pittcon.org, contact us at 800-825-3221 x 203, or send an email to publicity@pittcon.org.

 

 

 

 

Tricked-Out Lab Coats, Cuddly Pathogens

Chemical & Engineering News
By Jeff Huber

With more than 900 exhibitors competing for the attention of 15,000-plus attendees, giveaways played a notable role in the marketing strategy used by several companies at Pittcon 2012. Take Matheson, for instance.

At last month’s meeting in Orlando, the industrial/specialty gas and equipment provider drew large crowds thanks to a daily raffle featuring lab coats airbrushed by Philadelphia-based artist Freddy Sicoli. In a mini art studio at Matheson’s booth, Sicoli delighted onlookers by airbrushing lab coats with playful caricatures that included some of pop culture’s favorite scientists. Dexter from the Cartoon Network show “Dexter’s Laboratory” and Muppets Dr. Bunsen Honey­dew and Beaker were among them.

“I didn’t know if it was going to go off so well at first,” recalls Sicoli, who was surprised by the number of people who approached him to request their own personalized lab coats. “So many people were asking me for my number that I ran out of cards,” he says.

“What two things could be more different than airbrush art and specialty gas? But they make a great partnership,” says Beth Sullivan, corporate marketing and communications manager at Matheson, which will soon release a limited-edition welding helmet with artwork designed by Sicoli. As for Sicoli himself, he and the rest of his crew at Killer Kreations Art Studio will continue filling airbrush orders that come in through their website for automobiles, surfboards, and, yes, even lab coats.

Elsewhere on the Pittcon floor, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (SSI) made quite the splash by passing along the common cold, mad cow disease, and Salmonella to its customers. Before concerned readers report the company to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, however, Newscripts should probably mention that these harbingers of disease came in the benign form of GIANTmicrobes—those lovable plush dolls designed in the shape of microorganisms. A new microbe emblazoned with the SSI logo was distributed during each day of the convention.

“People were coming constantly to the booth to ask about them,” says Kevin McLaughlin, SSI senior marketing and communications coordinator, of the dolls. “On a day-by-day basis, you’d see some of the same people come back. ‘Oh, I was here on Monday for the common cold. What do you have today?’ ”

For GIANTmicrobes Vice President of Marketing Laura Sullivan, the excitement generated by her company’s dolls at Pittcon makes perfect sense. “In the world of corporate premiums, like mugs and T-shirts and pens,” she says, “this is just a fun, new way to capture customers’ or partners’ attention.”

According to Sullivan, a large part of the stuffed microbes’ appeal comes from their scientific integrity. For instance, GIANTmicrobes’ common cold is actually shaped like a rhinovirus, and mad cow disease is a cuddly prion with black and white bovine spots. “At the heart of it all, it really is about the content and the education,” Sullivan says of the dolls.

For readers hoping to cuddle up next to disease agents such as flesh-eating bacteria or Escherichia coli, GIANTmicrobes are available at specialty gift shops and through the company’s website.