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Out on a LIMSThe Blog for People Who Risk Life and LIMS on a Daily Basis

No Pittcon For Me

Volume IIEntry 4 of 39 in 20142 min read2 comments ↓

Written by Gloria Metrick on . Published as written. It may not reflect how these systems work today.

Once in a while, I mention that I am attending Pittcon 2014r, as I attend it every year it is held in Chicago. But that has changed.

Unfortunately, events have suddenly come up that keep me from attending, after all. While I have contacted each person with whom I had specific plans, I know there were quite a number of people to whom I casually said things like, "Hey, maybe we can get together at Pittcon?," and similar suggestions that would lead them to think that I'm interested in getting together with them at Pittcon 2014.

While I would definitely like to be getting together with these people, and I regret that I won't get to see them and spend time with them and, in some cases, their products, I have to admit that I'm not going to miss Pittcon, itself. In the past, I think I've openly admitted that I attend Pittcon more for the social aspects of seeing people I rarely see than I do to gather any information. In fact, this year, I didn't even bother signing up for a presentation nor did I volunteer to do a networking session. It just isn't a good fit for my business and I'm not sure if I'll attend the next time it's in Chicago, either.

Thinking about possibly never again attending Pittcon makes me feel wistful. It seems like the end of some kind of era for my business, but I don't know that it's going to have any real effect on my business. I'm just feeling a bit disappointed that I won't see the people I'd been looking forward to seeing, is all that it is for me.

Gloria Metrick
GeoMetrick Enterprises
http://www.GeoMetrick.com/

The conversation

2 comments from 1 person on February 25, 2014. Gloria replied once.

  1. LiMS Journal (@LIMSjournal)

    I have felt the same way about Pittcon since 2003. That year was our last year at Pittcon as LabLynx, Inc. We are a LIMS vendor and you would think we would need to be there but the fact is we have been there, done that and we see no business advantage. The internet outways a tradeshow or pretty much any venue for promoting our product.

    In fact we added nearly 60 new clients last year and no one in our company physically met any of the clients save one. We do goto meetings regularly and since we host the LIMS for all of the clients we don't even need to go there for on-site installations. I love this new world and the ways of doing business.

    Now on a different note about good shows... I have yet to go to HIMSS but that is THE show I think we will attend in the future. It is huge (it dwarfs Pittcon) and has much more relevance to us as a company than Pittcon. It is growing and it is vibrant. There are tons of new innovations and the market opportunities and career opportunities abound. If you want to look at something refreshing in the lab informatics place, look at healthcare and go to the HIMSS show.

  2. Gloria MetrickAuthor

    I have heard good recommendations about SLAS, (https://www.slas.org/). I have not attended it, myself, so I cannot comment on it.

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