The 43rd Meeting
of the Central Region of the American Chemical Society took place in Dearborn
Michigan at the Henry Hotel June 5-9, 2012.
However, how does someone way out east get to such a place to enjoy all
that the rest of the country has to offer?
Of course, there are planes. But
it is so expensive to travel by plane these days. Trains go throughout the country, but do they
go everywhere?
And of course the
almighty automobile, the cars and trucks which take people to and from work
each day.
Scratching the
plane, and with it the hefty price tag, and skipping over the automobiles until
later, we shall focus on the marvel that fueled our countries' early expansion
out west, the train. Do trains go beyond
the lucrative Northeast Corridor and to points unknown? Well, it turns out they do. Mighty Amtrak does in fact make many stops
along the way from NYC to Chicago. One
such stop takes us to Toledo Ohio, a mere hour from Detroit. There is bus service from Toledo to Detroit,
and nearby towns including Dearborn, MI.
The train did not go all the way to Detroit, but it got pretty
close. Fortunately for me, I was able to
spend that last hour of the trip in one of the wonderful vehicles produced in
nearby Detroit thanks to the hospitality of the Detroit section officers.
So, it seems
that the journey is possible, although it does take about 12 hours each way
from just north of NYC. It is quite a
journey, through western NY and into Ohio.
The tracks are a bit bumpy in spots, and after a while one town or
stretch of open land looks like all the others.
Plus, the need for sleep keeps creeping in during the multi hour
journey. I'm so glad I left my car at
home. It is hard to do much else on the
long journey than to occasionally look out and see the sights and then try to
rest. Internet access is not available
on my train. Here I am traveling the way
people did for generations before planes took over as the favorite mode of transportation
for many and my biggest complaint was I cannot get online. Followed by the long time it takes to get to
my destination. Still, the countryside
is scenic in spots. The people along the
way are an interesting group, including a number of them who I would guess are
Amish.
On to the reason for my journey, CERM 12. Here, on the edge of Detroit, in the town of
Dearborn is the ACS Regional Meeting hosted by the Detroit local section. Several hundred people gathered to explore the Chemistry inspired wonders and celebrate Detroit's 100th anniversary as an ACS section. In addition, there were celebrations of the almighty automobile- it is Detroit after all, the headquarters of the big auto companies. Several presentations focused on the connection between the auto industry and the chemical industry.
The WCC Luncheon featured Dr. Shulamith Schlick on the topic of clean energy and fuel cells. Thursday's Plenary lecture featured Alan Taub, a former VP at GM. His talk focused on how vehicles will have to be designed better and more efficiently in the future. The auto industry has come a long way in the last few decades, but still has a long way to go through improvements in the materials used to design the vehicles and the methods to power the vehicles. Some time was spent on different types of energy sources including improved fuel cells and hydrogen powered vehicles.
Numerous
sessions took place during the meeting.
I was able to see some programming of the SCHB Division discussing
different types of businesses and resources available through ACS to help
individuals start their own businesses.
The ACS sent some career services personnel who led sessions on planning
your job search, nontraditional careers, new technologies including social
media, and a very important topic- networking.
The topic was so important that there were two sessions, an overview of
what networking was and then a chance to practice those new skills in the Speed
Networking session, where the participants had five minutes to strike up a
conversation before moving on to the next person as the participants went
around the room. As is the case at any
meeting, so many events at the same time and we have to pick out one session
per time block.
One of the
wednesday highlights for me was the evening social media / mixer event attended
by several Detroit locals and various members of ACS Governance. The event was
unofficial (not listed in the official program) and only lightly publicized
during the meeting plus a little bit on twitter. Making these things up as you go along limits
marketing opportunities but allows events to spontaneously form. I was hoping for a few more non-ACS officers
to attend, but it was late and people have other ideas for how to entertain
themselves after the normal programming ends.
The event was quite enjoyable. Many ideas floated around about the meeting as well as other
topics. The event was so successful that
it was repeated thursday night with a few more people. As far as the social media aspect of the
event, there was not too much activity on the #CERM12 hashtag on twitter. However, the Detroit section has an active
Facebook page and numerous pictures and information is available there.
A more official
networking event was the ACS Governance ice cream social on thursday
afternoon. The event featured several
ACS District Directors and the Chair of the ACS Board of Directors. There were some comments about how great the
meeting was going and some basic information for the numerous people in
attendance. During the question and answer session, the biggest question was on
pending ACS litigation, with the best answer being that the courts are pending
the case and have not given a response yet but that could come at any
time. After a few questions and answers,
the ice cream came out. This was not
just any ice cream- you picked your flavor and the toppings that you wanted,
and the staff used their tools to chop up the mixture into a delicious
treat. Generic ice cream stand quality
this was not. The line did not move very
fast, but the wait was worth it- this was some good stuff!
The Thursday
night CERM awards ceremony featured numerous winners, some of whom are
highlighted *here* Quite a lot of the
winners came from one local section.
That must be an active and productive section! One of the winners could not get enough praise during the
meeting. One attendee had this
statement, "Meghann Murray's
"Brewing Chemistry" is the best science cafe program anyone in the
nation is running through ACS." In
addition to the Science Cafe program, Meghann has been involved in numerous
other activities listed in the awards profile as well as being an active local
section officer.
There were many
great activities and awards and presentations given during the meeting. Sadly my journey home began thursday night
before the event was finished. Even
while I was there I could only see a small portion of the events. Regional meetings highlight many great things
that National meetings can't cover due to the large number of attendees and
events required to take place. Local
sections don't always have the ability to showcase the wonders of their
territory all on their own. There is a
reason why the ACS is broken down into parts- Divisions, and Regions, and Local
Sections. More ability to focus on
things of interest to that particular group. One of the benefits of Regional Meetings is
the ability to put several of those groups' accomplishments on the center stage
(or perhaps CENtral stage?)
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