ESBB Inaugural Conference 2011
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Written by Andrew Miles of LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc.
Matt Rogers and I were very proud to attend the first annual meeting of ESBB (European, Middle Eastern & African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking) held in Marseille, France from November 16th to 19th 2011. LABVANTAGE has supported this European chapter of ISBER since its inception in 2010 and is delighted to have 2 representatives on the ESBB Vendor Committee.
The organizing committee couldn’t have chosen a better venue to host this inaugural meeting. It opened in warm autumn sunshine and clear blue skies at the Pullman Palm Beach Hotel, off the shores of the Mediterranean. I have known the ESBB President, Pasquale De Blasio, for two years now, through our work with Biorep in Italy. It was great to meet him again as he personally welcomed us to the conference.
Approximately 350 delegates, from all around the world, registered for the event and enjoyed a challenging and varied agenda of lectures and presentations following the conference theme of “Identifying the challenges and opportunities for biorepositories today and in the next 5 years.” Focused sessions highlighting ethical issues, funding, biobank networks, and novel technologies, amongst other subjects, were well attended and generated much interest and lively debate amongst the audience. Having the opportunity to attend some of the lectures in person is a valuable opportunity to broaden and update our domain knowledge within the company, therefore allowing us to provide better solutions for our customers. An informal evening reception provided the ideal opportunity for delegates to catch up with old friends and colleagues and relax over a glass (or two) of wine. Matt and I took the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely dinner with one of our partners from France who was attending the meeting.
An extensive exhibition area was open to delegates throughout the 3 days of the conference, 36 vendors and sponsors representing a broad range of hardware and software solutions from across the Biobanking sector were present. LABVANTAGE was delighted to welcome both new prospects and existing customers to its exhibition stand during the event. As always, there was a significant amount of interest in our market-leading Bio-Bank solution. An existing customer came over to say hello and mentioned a couple of issues that needed attention. A short discussion and a phone call later, the issues were resolved. You never know what will come up during these meetings, but we are always happy to help.
For more information on ESBB and to view the full conference agenda visit www.esbb.org.
About LABVANTAGE
LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. is headquartered in Somerset, NJ, with offices around the world. We offer a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions for the laboratory, including Laboratory Information Management Solutions (LIMS), quality electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) and business intelligence. www.labvantage.com.
