Abstract
“I am one of the fortunate few who have attended every conference since the inception of the LabAutomation conference.”
As I sit down to write this letter, I find myself reflecting on ALA and its history of outstanding conferences. I am one of the fortunate few who have attended every conference since the inception of the LabAutomation conference. It has been, and continues to be one of the highlights of my career.
For the past several years I have had the pleasure of serving on the Scientific Committee as either Associate Poster Chair or Poster Chair. I've also been involved in judging the posters for the ALA Student Poster Awards Program during this time. I can honestly say this experience has been one of the most rewarding I have had. It is through interactions with the young students that one appreciates the talent and enthusiasm that ALA attracts. This talent is illustrated here in the LabAutomation issue of JALA with selected manuscripts from the Poster Sessions, including the first and second place student poster winners.
The turning of each New Year brings us joyously back to Palm Springs for the annual LabAutomation conference. As I look forward to continuing my involvement with the ALA I want to take the time here to thank the many people who have been a part of making this issue come together. First of all, thank you to the ALA members who agreed to serve as poster judges and manuscript reviewers. Without your efforts none of this would be possible! I'd also like to extend a thank you to Erik Rubin for allowing me to serve as Poster Chair and Guest Editor and to Dave Nirschl for serving as Associate Poster Chair. Lastly I'd like to thank Nan Hallock and Doug Gurevitch for their continued support and persistence during the development of this issue.
See you soon in Palm Springs!
Sincerely,
