Yes, that’s what I said “artistic networking”.  I was working from Yuma, AZ for a couple weeks in January and had some meetings in San Diego.  And as I like to do, “not dine alone while traveling”, I arranged to meet my friend Kevin Boos for drinks and dinner.  When we came out of the restaurant, we spotted our reflections in a motorcycle mirror and created the “art” shown below:

I spotted this FOCM Sticker on a truck across the street from the house I grew up in. It was parked at the Avery’s house. The person, along with his brother, in the truck was visiting Aaron Avery.

Turns out that it is my brother’s truck and I was with him. But that’s not important. What is important is that the FOCM logo can be seen all across this land. 

 

On January 8, 2015, FOCM member Kevin Collier was in Wilmington, NC on business.  He and I met for lunch at The Basics on Front St. The Basics is a perpetually good restaurant for breakfast, weekend brunch, lunch and dinner. It is a local favorite

Kevin and i have known each other for 14 years, having first met while we were working for the Interactive Technologies Group of ICON Clinical Research.  Kevin was a project manager based in Sugarland, TX and I was based in Durham, NC. 

 

On December 9, 2014 after a nearly 14 month probationary period, FOCM welcomed Justin Jaeschke into the registry of card-carrying members.  This took place at San Jose Tacos & Tequila 7961 Skyland Ridge Pkwy, Raleigh, NC.  Justin’s continued patience is one of the reasons he received his membership card.  He knows that “patience” is one of the cornerstones of FOCM’s guiding principles.

The afternoon of November 20, 2014 found me at The Fish House or maybe it was Dockside on Airlie Road in Wilmington, NC.  There in a back corner of the restaurant sat Pete Nieto and Erich McGilvreay. Okay, okay, I knew they were there, we’d planned to get together.  They’d had a meeting in town and so we caught up over a beer before they headed back to Raleigh.

Erich mentioned that for as long as he’s known me, he still hadn’t received his FOCM card.  There was a good reason for that – his background check was taking a long time to complete.  There were several items which required further investigation.  I’m happy to report that everything checked out and Erich received his card in the traditional ceremony.  While the picture is blurry (Pete Nieto, photographer), Erich’s standing in FOCM has never been clearer.

While attending a Clinical Trial Supply East Coast conference, this past October, I managed to capture this rare photo of two of our industry’s heavyweights – a couple of guys with true gravitas.  They managed to pull off a friendly, congenial appearance, while knocking down some Corona at the reception in the exhibit hall.  On left is Joe Clifford with Catalent and on the right is Mike Miller with PCI.

 

Yes, I am playing catch up. Jeez, but I have gotten behind on these. But as I tell people all the time, patience is a cornerstone upon which FOCM was built. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

October 2, 2014 is a day which my co-workers Steve Begley and Jon Hunter will likely remember for a long time. After a customer meeting, they received their cards. Cindy Howry took the photographs.

On October 20, 2014 at a conference, Phil Woodson, a co-worker at the time and I wish was still working with me received his card. Vincent Puglia, also received his card but his employment contract does not allow for his photo or even an artist’s rendering of his image to be displayed.

And, fortune smiled on me when I ran into long-time FOCM member, Vicky Martin.

 

 

So I’m facilitating a workshop on Networking at the DIA annual convention in Washington, D.C. on June 16.  The DIA is an organization dedicated to supporting the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device clinical research industries.  This year, they gave the speakers the opportunity to record video to promote the sessions.

I gotta say, this is not the best video performance – you can see me reading my cue cards and close to a monotone delivery – but hey, it’s a first.  Click in the playlist below and Networking is the last of the videos.  I tried to post directly to it, but I can’t figure that out.

 

On August 18, an FOCM happy hour (er, I meant to say, “networking) event was held at San Jose’s Tacos & Tequila at 7961 Skyland Ridge Parkway in Raleigh, NC.  The reason: my friend Joanna Williams was in town on business.  Also present at this event were: Gail Fowler, Vince Hoefling and Bill Newcomb.

Gail and I first met in the late 1980’s – we were working at Burroughs Wellcome Co.  I believe we met at a business team meeting for the life-saving medication Digibind.  We later worked together again at Quintiles and then again at ICON.   Here’s the photo of the magic moment frozen in time.

On August 2, while I was up in the Cary, NC area (a place I’d lived for about 23 years), I stopped by Ashworth Drugs at 105 W Chatham St, Cary.  This pharmacy has been in downtown Cary, probably since the 1960’s.  Started by Ralph Ashworth and now run by his son Paul.

So why is this post in here?  I first met Paul in Los Angeles in the mid-1980’s.  I was working as a pharmaceutical salesman for Burroughs Wellcome Co.  Paul was hired in North Carolina where he’d been working as a pharmacist in his father’s store.  He requested a territory out west.  We were in the same sales district, district 79.

When I moved to Burroughs Wellcome’s HQ in RTP, NC in 1987, I went to meet his father at the pharmacy.  Several years later, Paul moved back to his hometown.  This is a photo from that day.  When in Cary, this is a place to stop in to see what used to be commonplace in pharmacies – a food counter, with about 8 stools and two booths, serving hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ sandwiches, sodas.