Even though summer is always over too soon here in the Northeast, there's something magical for me in every season and September holds the anticipation of fall, alive with color and the crisp, cooler air. There's vitality anew as we reconnect with one another after having parted ways to vacation.
In fact, here at LMT, we're filled with vitality because of our plans for 2011: The LAB DAY Chicago Exhibit Hall will now open for four additional hours: on Friday afternoon, from 2pm-6pm. There will be clinics on Friday as well. (Our Saturday hours remain the same.)
This is an extension you asked for. For the last several years, the number of attendees has consistently been above 3,000--sometimes reaching close to 3,300--that's a lot of important decision makers who need more time and elbow room for listening and learning.
We're very pleased with this decision. Hopefully it will give you much more of an opportunity to take the clinics you want and still have ample time to see what you need to see in the exhibit hall. We've posted this news on our Facebook page. If you are happy with these extended hours, please become a fan of our page and click the "Like" button to let us know. Feedback--as you well know--is always appreciated!
And there's another project underway that makes working here a lot of fun: we're asking you to help us name names.
We're calling it The LMT 100. As a magazine representing everyone, we've always been very careful not to play favorites but YOU can! We're asking you to help us compile 100 of the most interesting, best, favorite and/or most helpful people, products, places, things, memories, etc., about or within our community. If your entry is selected for our February issue, we'll include your name, title and lab name next to your submission. This is going to be a lot of fun to put together and a lot of fun to read. Please put your two cents in!
And oh, you may be wondering about my photo. I had a milestone birthday this summer and LMT staff members penned a song to the tune of The Beatles' Penny Lane. They made T-shirts to depict the name of their a cappella group, calling themselves the CMYKs (the acronym for full color) and our art director, Tarol Samuelson, made a couple of plaques. One has the words to the song; the other has photos of me as a young girl holding--via Tarol's amazing PhotoShop skills--a copy of LMT. I had to share.
Work for us is often fun. We think it's contagious; we like to think it is, anyway. The Wage Report in this issue paints a picture of a rough couple of years since our last report. The market has been tight; health care costs have skyrocketed. None of us is immune. That makes it even more important that what we do is fun. We hope you, too, find ways to make your workweeks fun. It keeps all of us vibrant and growing.
