Today my friend Peter Holthe would have been 56 years old.  If you have ever read the “About FOCM” section, you’ll know how instrumental Peter was in this fun hobby of mine called FOCM Networking.  It was Peter’s idea – the name, the logo and what it could be and do.

One of the things Peter loved to do was to play practical jokes on people, especially people who he felt were too uptight or pretentious.  I wish I could remember some of the things he would do at his office.  Actually I think we wrote some of them up and I will find them and post them.

He would have loved this picture of some friends and I documenting our support of the 1st and 2nd amendments to the US Constitution, as well as the repeal of Prohibition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Potential new FOCM Member Mia Ella Jordan is competing for an acting slot requiring the most votes.  The key is, you can vote every 12 hours.  So please consider keeping a browser tab open and remain logged in.  You can either create an account at Indi.com or sign in with your facebook credentials.

http://indi.com/88737F01

Well there I was in San Francisco at Arena International’s Outsourcing in Clinical Trials West Coast meeting in February of this year.  The first recipient in 2015 of a FOCM Membership card was Frank Di Stefano, at the time he was with Fisher Clinical and now he is with YourWay Transport.  Also receiving their cards were: Lauren Jones with Barrington James; from Fibrogen: Beth Johnson (who it turns out went to summer camp at Friendly Pines Camp in Prescott, AZ in the late 1960’s when I was there), Mairead Carney and a colleague of theirs whose name I am tracking down, FOCM members Carole Gabos and Brian Langin (we’d worked together at Quintiles), Joanne Burns (who worked at Quintiles after I had, but we knew a lot of people in common), Jim Mitchell with Bioclinica and there are 2 people whose names I need.  Any help is appreciated.

 

 

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.