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It is hard to "compete" with all the attractions of the annual Product Show that engage attendees from noon until late in the late evening: state-of-the-art products, networking, Jonathan Kraft, terrific food and drink and more.  So this year the educational seminars were moved to the morning enabling a larger number of attendees to benefit without impacting their time on the show floor. Nine sessions - one long and eight short presentations - were held in the Gillette Clubhouse lounges and suites.  Those who took advantage of these educational sessions were riveted on the presenters, respected subject matter experts with a wealth of knowledge and experience in their chosen fields.

Morning educational seminars featured respected subject matter experts with a wealth of knowledge and experience.

The long "feature" program was the ELSIE Symposium held from 9:00am to 12noon in the West Clubhouse, Main Club Level. The speakers were Douglas Ball (Pfizer), Lewis Kinter (AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals) and Daniel Norwood (Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals). They covered practical solutions to address safety and quality concerns from extractable and leachable (E&L) compounds that can enter the product during the manufacturing process. The audience was treated to an extended period of knowledge transfer unavailable elsewhere.

Also at 9:00am on the Red Level, "Biotech 101: Trends in Facility Design" with Marc Pelletier of CRB and "Risk Management: Next Steps" with Emma Ramnarine of Roche were offered.  "Biotech 101" is a perennial favorite at the Product Show and attracted 62 attendees this year.  Then "Cold Chain Distribution" with Anthony Rizzo of Cold Chain Technologies was offered in parallel with the panel discussion, "Every Gold Medal Winner has a Coach and Mentors." Dan Gee moderated a terrific panel, which included Dan Button and Kathy Freitas of Draeger Medical, Armando Llorente of HRe-sources LLC, Kerry Harrison of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Tawnya Johnson of the Boston Red Sox and Joseph Maressa, Fitzgerald, Stevens & Ford/OI Partners.

For the next pair of sessions, Jack Campion of Genzyme Corporation presented "Introduction to Validation" to a crowd of over 45 professionals while down the hall Michael Drues of Vascular Sciences engaged his audience with an interactive presentation on "Future Manufacturing & Packaging Challenges" (You can also catch Michael at the upcoming educational program on November 15th at the Genzyme Science Center in Framingham where he will present "Pharmacogenomics - What the Future Holds for Us!"). The last two sessions included Daryl Roll of Astro Pak Corporation on "Rouge: Monitoring, Measuring and Remediating in Water and Steam Systems" and Gwen Acton of Vivo Group on "Thriving at the Intersection of Science and Business."

Discussions with the speakers continued long after the presentations were over, always a good sign that the topics covered were timely and thought-provoking.  The morning of Educational Programs presented a wealth of industry and professional knowledge in an incredible forum for a price that couldn't be beat!