Analytical Division To Meet At Pittcon In 2007

For more than two decades, analytical chemists have had a choice of two big spring meetings in two cities approximately two weeks apart. In 2007, however, analytical chemists will meet once in Chicago. The ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry (ANYL) has decided to present its spring programming jointly with the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical & Applied Spectroscopy (Feb. 25-March 1) and not formally participate in the ACS national meeting.

The idea to coprogram has been on the table for years, but meetings planned for the same city precipitated some action, says Laurie E. Locascio of the National Institute of Standards & Technology and ANYL programming chair for 2007. With more than 10,000 members, ANYL is the one of the largest ACS technical divisions. She says many members already attend Pittcon regularly, and often the two conferences compete for the same speakers.

Analytical chemistry is a broad field, and the division is trying to reach out to members where they are, she says. For several years, ANYL's Chromatography Subdivision has given its Young Investigator Award at Pittcon. "So the division, as a whole, is actually following them," Locascio says. "We did a lot of polling of our members before we made this decision," she says. "In general, people are excited, and we're looking forward to it."

Although Pittcon has given ANYL full control over its part of the programming, being at Pittcon is an experiment, and no decisions have been made for 2008 yet, she says. "But we are looking forward to using the money that we have saved by coprogramming in the spring to beef up our presence at the fall ACS national meeting in Boston in 2007."