Welcome to Pittcon 2009

Good morning and welcome to this, the first day of LCGC’s daily coverage of Pittcon 2009 from the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. This is a crucial Pittcon, and perhaps the most anticipated in a long time, as many people are looking to see how much the economy has affected business and the conference industry in general. This may make our yearly coverage even more critical, as our staff brings readers our one-of-a-kind reporting on all things Pittcon. Daily reports on sessions and awards ceremonies, as well as our popular “Recommended Sessions” in the fields of LC and GC, brought to you by well-known LCGC columnists John Hinshaw and John Dolan, will provide a good indication of how the conference is going.

And like last year, LCGC will again be an active participant in the proceedings this week, hosting our second annual “LCGC Awards.” Held in conjunction with Pittcon, we will be awarding an Emerging Leader Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award this afternoon at 2 pm in Room S105A of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Speakers will include Ron Majors of Agilent Technologies and Robert Classon of Shimadzu, so we invite you to join us and find out who the winners are. Last year’s awards went to industry veteran Walt Jennings of J&W Scientific and relative newcomer Gert Desmet of the Free University of Brussels, so you know this year’s winners will be prestigious names in the field of separation science.

As usual, LCGC’s coverage will focus on the science and technology, the “nuts and bolts” of chromatography and separation science in general, in order to bring readers an unfiltered perspective on the field. This is what has made our publication what it is today, and we know that our readers expect nothing less. On behalf of all of us at LCGC, enjoy the show and enjoy your week at Pittcon — and by all means, stop by our booth (#2257) and say hello any time.