You know, I keep forgetting how much I like EAS (Eastern Analytical Symposium). This tidy, little conference in the middle of my native state (New Jersey-don't ask which exit, please) is smack in the middle of "Pharmaland." Just about every pharmaceutical company has a branch (or HQ) in the Garden State. [Question: why is this? Answer: The Swiss and German owners found a state where they were allowed to pay white-collar workers once a month.] As a consequence, there is a large population for attendance at EAS and it shows. The day-trippers abound, getting a chance to see the latest hardware without having to hop a plane and be away from work for a week flock to the Exhibition Center. I find it extremely easy to meet and greet friends and salespeople and see new "toys." The reason I mention this is that other conference that caters to Pharma people is AAPS (American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists), who also has a very nice, albeit slightly different, conference. For reasons known only to Heaven and the executive board of AAPS, they decided to hold their conference, usually held in October, the same week as EAS. This serves to split attendance of the analytical chemists that would have attended either/both meetings. Considering that virtually ALL professional meetings are being attended by less and less people, putting two similar conferences on at the same time seems kind of counter-productive to me. Maybe it's just me, but maybe we could talk, people? I might have liked to attend both, but was forced to choose...as were a number of others. Harumph! Refer back to my "Cool Hand Luke Syndrome" article and see what I mean...
