International Year of Chemistry (IYC) 2011

International Year of Chemistry Workshop At ACS Boston 2010

"The International Year of Chemistry (IYC) 2011 is a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and it's contributions to the well-being of humankind...The IYC is intended to reach across the globe, with opportunities for public participation at the local, regional and national level"-Source http://www.acs.org/IYC2011

At the ACS National Meeting in Boston on August 24, 2010, the ACS IYC Committee Organized a Workshop to introduce ACS members, ACS Volunteers/Section Leaders and attendees of ACS National Meeting to the year long celebration of chemisty. An overview of the concept was presented at the podium and each table had an ACS Staff member at it to guide the participants through a particular section of the tool-kit. This of course stimulated conversation and brainstorming at each station. The participants were encouraged to ask questions and take the materials with them as they moved from table to table.

The more daring folks opted for an official IYC 2011 T-Shirt and subsequently had to wait in line for a video interview. Of course Ken Grant (pictured on the right above) and I were up to the task. The topic of discussion on video was: "How Do You Plan to Celebrate IYC"? Of course I spoke about how I nominated my father, Dr. John N. Driscoll, for the 365 Days of Chemistry as an important contributor to Chemisty for his commercialization of the photoionization detector (The Father of Photoionization as we refer to him). Additionally, my father and I are huge proponents of education and we plan to initiate an IYC event on Cape Cod and introduce the materials from the tool-kit at the K-12 and college level (at Cape Cod Community College).

Join us now and Celebrate Chemistry in 2011! Click http://www.acs.org/IYC2011

Evening Tweetup at ACS

The second ever Tweetup for the American Chemical Society Community was held in the evening during the ACS National Meeting on Monday August 23, 2010 at 8pm at Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant on Boston Harbor.
Anthony's Pier 4 was the selected venue because it remains one of my favorite places in Boston. I have so many fond memories of the dining experience at Anthony's Pier 4; we would go there for special family events which included birthday celebrations, graduations, receptions and weddings.
I remember the strict dress code back in the early 1980's and watching as men squeezed into the "house" suit coats and ties; grumbling about how they didn't fit properly or didn't match. The implication however, would be perhaps the next time they would come in properly dressed for dinner. My mother would always insist on a table by the window but in actuality every table boasted spectacular views of Boston Harbor.

The Ladies Powder room upstairs was fit for a princess with pink walls and ample mirror space for ease of hair teasing and makeup reapplication. This was a perfect time waster for my sister and I while waiting for our "Glover Salad" after delighting in the chesse and crackers, marinated mushrooms and buttery fresh baked popovers.

I thought about the really popular hot spots in Boston where we could Meet up and Tweetup and instead choose Anthony's Pier 4 because of it's rich Boston history and Boston ambiance. The family owned Anthony's Pier 4 welcomed our Twitter Group when I described it over the phone to them and they agreed to let us use their Lounge (which normally functions as the room where those waiting for their reservations have a refreshment or cocktail while their table is prepared). We relished the opportunity to converse amongst ourselves and get aquainted with the little group that came to Tweet-Up with us. Special thanks goes out to my good friend, Ken Grant of Analtech, who kept the party rolling with his laptop full of social media presentation goodies and to the folks who came out to socialize with a few ACS Tweeters on such a damp and windy August night.

We're looking forward to TweetingUp in Anaheim in 2011 and we'll make sure we don't schedule it during SCI-MIX.