Editors' Column Free Chromatography Catalog
ALLTECH CHROMATOGRAPHY PRODUCTS ASSOCIATES CATALOG NO. 35
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Meetings, Meetings, and More Meetings At this writing ANALYTICAL C H E M I S T R Y is preparing to release to
the printer its largest issue ever—to date—February 1981. Its size is enhanced by our coverage of the 1981 Pittsburgh Conference, which meets March 9-13 in Atlantic City, N.J. The Pittsburgh Conference attracts participants from a large variety of fields. This meeting is a must for those workers who have special analytical problems and/or need to update their instrumentation. In a survey conducted for Centcom, Ltd., advertising management for the American Chemical Society Publications, Exhibit Surveys of Middletown, N.J., found the primary fields of work of respondents as indicated in Table I. This survey also showed that nearly 75% of the respondents were involved in industrial research and development or industrial process or quality control. What brings all this to mind is the
Table I. Primary Fields of Work of Pittsburgh Conference Attendees Field
ALLTECH ASSOCIATES
ALLTECH CHROMATOGRAPHY PRODUCTS ASSOCIATES
CATALOG NO. 3 5
Environmental (air, water, waste) Organic chemical Inorganic chemical Metals/metal products Plastics/polymer/rubber Instrument design/development Energy (oil, coal, nuclear, solar, etc.) Pharmaceutical/cosmetic Agricultural and food Medical/biological Electrical/electronic Paint/coatings/ink Forensic/narcotics Soaps/cleaners Textile/fiber/fabric Pulp/paper/wood Other fields Undefined
Total Respondents,* %
15 14 11 7 10 7 7 12 10 5 4 2 1 1 1 1 7 2
" Percentages total more than 100 % because some respondents checked more than one primary field of work.
necessity in the early months of the year of determining staff attendance at important meetings throughout the year. Each year this becomes more difficult as the number of meetings increases, and very few series of meetings are given up, although their emphasis may change. Professor Morrison, in a talk given at a symposium in tribute to H. A. Laitinen (Las Vegas, August 1980), pointed out the large number of analytical meetings held each year. He said that one could easily attend analytical meetings from January through December and in the process traverse the globe. Two years ago we inserted in an issue a questionnaire seeking the opinions of our readers on meetings (Anal. Chem. 1979, 51, 560 A). We found that three-quarters of our respondents had limits on the number of meetings they could attend and that nearly half attended two or three meetings; about one-third attended only one meeting. Readers were about evenly divided when asked if they believed there were too many meetings. Readers did indicate a preference for meetings sponsored by cooperating societies, such as the Pittsburgh Conference and the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS). With the exception of the Pittsburgh Conference these meetings are concentrated in the fall. This fall we will have the National ACS meeting with the Analytical Division Program (Aug. 23-28, N.Y.C.); Euroanalysis IV (Aug. 24-28, Helsinki, Finland); Expochem '81 (Sept. 1-3, Houston, Tex.); 8th FACSS (Sept. 20-25, Philadelphia, Pa.), and the Eastern Analytical Symposium (Nov. 18-20, N.Y.C.). Only large general analytical meetings are listed above Not taken into account are meetings in more specialized fields or subdisciplines. This year travel fares have skyrocketed. The new president has reduced government travel funds by 15%, and we suspect that other institutions are looking long and hard at their travel budgets. We hope meeting organizers will take these realities into account in future planning. Josephine M. Petruzzi
CIRCLE 3 ON READER SERVICE CARD 388 A · ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL.53,
NO. 3, MARCH 1981
