The Workshop went well. 120 people had registered (a record) and
95 attended (same as last year). Some of the people came long
distances (west coast and Europe). In the morning the programming
was 10 minutes off-schedule and in the afternoon 30 minutes. There
was a dual session in the morning. The engineering session was
filled to overflowing.
Many thanks to Merck for hosting the 2000 Workshop, to Andy Berks
for all his hard work, and to Elyse Turner for her assistance.
Also my appreciation is extended to the program committee for their
hard work in setting up the program and taking care of details:
Anna Marie McKee, Andy Berks, Barbara Burg, Barbara Ikeler, Marty
Goffman, Don Walter, and Pat Bartling. Also thanks to Hai Mi for
putting up the information on the PIUG web site. And more thanks
to the sponsors: Dialog for breakfast, CorporateIntelligence.com
for midmorning break, Derwent Information for lunch and
Questel*Orbit for the afternoon break. And, of course, to the
speakers: Jonathan Grant, Andy Berks, Bill Adams, David Saari, the
roastees, Tony Trippe, Kerry Stanley, and Ken Allison.
Anna Marie McKee has played a key role in getting some of the most
notable speakers for the NE Workshop since it restarted in 1996.
She will be missed.
An OT thank you: The Edison First Aid & Rescue Squad # 1 told me
to extend their appreciation for the donation of ballpoint pens.
We go through pens quickly.
Please return your surveys. We use the information for future
conferences. I received only 8.
2001: I am in the process of finding a site for the 2001 PIUG NE
Workshop. The process for the programming committee will change a
little bit. In the past, we have had one meeting about a month
before the event. For 2001, there will be a meeting in February or
March.
Comments and opinions: Universal comments--the auditorium was too
hot, the food was very good, and would like someone from the USPTO
to speak next year. People liked the engineering session and would
like more in the future. One person did not like the name "Vendor
Roast"; thought it was too adversarial. This year the vendor roast
was polite and genteel, not rowdy and raucous (almost) as in the
past two years. It focused on the database suppliers and vendors
adapting to the changes in US patent law.
Adrienne Shanler
Senior Research Information Scientist
BASF Agro Research
POB 400
Princeton NJ 08543-0400
tel. 609-716-2662; fax 609-275-3576
shanlea@basf-corp.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Aug 10 2001 - 15:58:58 EDT