From the July 2013 edition of Readers Digest (www.readersdigest.com) comes this excellent example of “networking”, which probably is a fancy way of saying, “just have a conversation with the people you interact with”.

In summary, a cab driver in New York saw a man flag him down as the man came out of the hospital steps.  The man needed to go to LaGuardia Airport.  The passenger started a conversation by asking about the life of driving a cab.  Through the trip, the cab driver learned that the passenger worked in the neurology department at New York Hospital.  The cab driver had a 15 year old son who was doing well in school but needed a summer job, which he mentioned to his passenger.

The passenger said that the medical students had a summer research project and perhaps he could help them out.  He wrote down his name and contact information and gave it to the cab driver.  Under paternal duress, the cab driver’s son wrote to the doctor.  Two weeks later he got an interview and then was given a job for the summer, which led to a job the following summer.  The physician passenger later wrote a recommendation for the cab driver’s son upon his graduation from high school.  The cab driver’s son was accepted at Brown University and continued to work at the hospital during college.  The cab-driver’s son was accepted into medical school with a recommendation from his dad’s cab fare from 7 years earlier. The cab driver and the doctor never saw each other since that day.  The son of a taxi driver went on to become the OB-GYN chief resident at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.  That son’s children went on to become a cardiologist, endocrinologist and attorney; quite possibly all because of a conversation held in a taxi cab many years earlier.

The Philadelphia Metro area chapter of FOCM met on Thursday night, November 21 at Champps on 330 Goddard Blvd in King of Prussia, PA.

Good attendance was seen, probably due to me giving more notice than I typically do.  Some day I may learn this lesson but then again, probably not.  Good representation from my new co-workers, the Y-Primers.  Many new members were received in the traditional and solemn card presentation ceremony that you are all familiar with.

First to arrive was Lynn Fehnel (pre-paid her 2014 membership dues), close on her heels were Ryan Gibson (received card) and Mitch Drucker (received card).

Over the next hour or so the following members or soon to be members arrived:

Erica Hill

Matt Cocking (received card)

Ashley Cocking (received card)

Karen McPoyle

Russ Brierley (received card night before)

Shari Brierley (received card)

Vicky Martin (pre-paid her 2014 membership dues)

Shannon McDonnell

David Gibboni

Susan Ruane (showing her dedication by coming straight to the event from the gym)

Dean Stoios (received card)

Last minute “sorry, unable to make it”s were: Nadine Maag and April Bechta

Don’t forget to check out the FOCM recommended  businesses and those which give discounts to FOCM members.

The RTP, NC Chapter of FOCM met on November 13, 2013 at Trali Irish Pub’s new location in Morrisville, NC.

At this meeting, the first to arrive was the newly employed, Andrew Smith, wearing a tie and a fashionable sweater vest.

The attendees were:

Andrew Smith

Rosina Pavia

Jim Ashby

Nick Macaulay

Renee Brown

Gayle Grandinetti

Terri DeMartino

Natalie Flinchum

Jamey McCarty

Carrie Gallagher

Mike Burrows

Charles Macias

Sherran Brewer

Pete Nieto

Blake Williams

Kelly O’Brien

Jeff Hudak

Vince Hoefling

The companies these people work for include: Pharm-Olam, PPD, Patheon, Aptiv, Cryoport, Stratworks, Almac, Catalent, GSK, Lenovo, Ettain Group and ICON.

There were many first time attendees, it made the formal presentation all the more serious and emotional.  Terri DeMartino, Charles Macias, Natalie Flinchum, Jamey McCarty and Blake Williams received their cards.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the place, I mean, there wasn’t an empty glass to be found.  Much networking was accomplished.

The RTP, NC Chapter of FOCM met on November 12, 2013 at Serena’s Sicilian Gastropub in Durham.  This is a key networking site for the clinical research industry in RTP, NC.

At this meeting, the first to arrive was Pete Nieto and he came all the way from Pennsylvania!

The attendees were:

Pete Nieto

Jim Ashby (also all the way from Pennsylvania)

Jon Tenconi (also from out of state and given his accent, it could be said he came from another country)

John Ohrn (also from out of state)

Nick Macaulay

Renee Brown

The companies these people work for include: Pharm-Olam, PPD, Medidata, Aptiv and Cryoport.

Jon and John were first time attendees and received their FOCM membership cards in the traditional presentation.  Renee is certainly not a first time attendee, but I’d been neglectful in presenting her card, so she too received her card in the formal presentation.

I spent the first week of September 2013 on the island of Rhodes in Greece.  Here is my report:

Well, first I had to adjust to the communication medium.

I was surprised to find out that the Greeks have a different word for almost every English word and their alphabet letters are not the same.  It was like trying to read a foreign language!  I had expected that “globalization” would have meant that every country would use English!  Who forgot to tell the Greeks?  Is it the same in Poland, Italy, Germany?!

Leaving that discussion behind – bottom line: the Island of Rhodes was beautiful.  The vegetation, scenery and weather was very much like southwestern USA.  It was hot, windy and arid.  The ocean was very clear.  The food was excellent, the beer (alfa, fix, mythos) was tasty and refreshing. Drinking Uzo was like drinking liquefied black licorice with a high percent of alcohol; which was quite tasty with morning coffee.  The locals and tourists were friendly and the food was very good.  If you ever get a chance to go to any of the islands of Greece, take it.

On October 20, 2013, the FOCM Metro Philadelphia Chapter met at Restaurant 29 in Malvern, PA.  This place used to be called the Boathouse and is located in a business office area.  It certainly does more business during the work week.

First to arrive (arriving before I did) was Steve Jacobs.  I have known Steve for around 15 years.  Tonight’s attendees were:

Steve Jacobs

Vicky Martin

Deb Carfagno

Tonight’s attendees each drove a minimum of 35 minutes to attend.  They will all receive the FOCM commitment ribbons at the next ceremony.  (the time and location of such ceremonies is always very, very secretive).  All, but Vicky were able to present their membership cards.  It seems Vicky prefers to keep hers in a special location at home rather than carry it with her.

War stories, honest to goodness war stories were told, military insults hurled, whilst Deb and I tried to remind the Army people that we are involved in clinical trials to bring new drugs to market to improve lives.  Soon, the insults of “you were just an Army helicopter pilot” and “oh yeah, you Sargeant Interrogator, just asking people questions” gave way to “lets all just get along and improve patient’s lives”.

We all left at the same time.  We parted as friends, and in the traditional FOCM disembarkment procedure, everyone hugged everyone and not at once, but one at a time.

On October 16, the Cary/Apex/Morrisville Chapter meeting met at Travinia Italian Kitchen in Morrisville, NC.

The weather was nice so we sat outside, initially at a table, then moved to the firepit.

First to arrive was a welcome surprise attendee: Cary Cornette.  Cary and I had worked together at Quintiles in the mid-late 90’s.  We decided it had been probably 15 years since we’d seen each other.  We both complimented each other on the amount of gray hair we have.  Mary Beth Selee had seen the meeting announcement and told Cary about it.  It was great to get reacquainted.

The attendees were:

Cary Cornette

Gayle Grandinetti

Wendy Revenaugh

Carrie Gallagher

Mike Burrows

Mike Markowitz

Tanyss Mason

Nick Macaulay

 

I’d like to say that I complied with the organization’s SOPs and was among the last to leave, but I did not.   Nick, Mike and Mike were still at the bar when I left.

Three new members received their cards: Cary Cornette, Tanyss Mason and Courtney (our waitress). You have heard about Cary above.  Tanyss was e-introduced to me via FOCM member Christine Sears.  Tanyss is in an active job search and Christine thought I may be of service.  Tanyss has a great background and experience set in clinical research data acquisition, warehousing and implementation of standards.  Courtney received her card at the end of the evening for her efforts in identifying candidates for consideration as new members.  The Membership sub-committee consisting of Mike, Mike and Nick were in the process of following up on Courtney’s recommendations when I departed.