ANZSMS20 Convenor's Report

25th August 2005


The 20th meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry was held between 30th January and 3rd February 2005 at the Stamford Grand hotel in Glenelg - a beachside suburb of Adelaide.

In total 150 delegates attended with a high proportion of students.

There were five plenaries from different areas of mass spectrometry - including the Morrison Lecture which was given by Murray McEwan from New Zealand. Two keynote lectures were given. In addition there were 42 other oral presentations and 30 posters. All sessions were well attended.

Several new ideas were tried:-

1. Instead of spreading the student presentations throughout the conference (when some students would only be talking to people in their own area) all the students (who identified themselves as such) presented in two Special Sessions dedicated to students. It was hoped that this would
   1. ensure maximum exposure for the students work
   2. enable them to present in an unintimidating and encouraging environment
   3. showcase the strength of research in Australia

   As an introduction to the student sessions two relevant keynote lectures were presented by 'young' A/Prof Buntine (recipient of an RACI award for teaching) on Monday and Prof Jim Shannon gave an historical perspective on Tuesday.

   The sessions went well and there were positive comments, especially from the plenaries who had the difficult task of judging the presentations.

2. Instead of giving one prize for best student paper and poster, three prizes were given in each category. Actually due to the number of students and high quality of presentations eight awards were given out. This means that eight students have a reward for their efforts and can put an ANZSMS award on their CV.

3. A joint Royal Australian Chemical Institute South Australia Branch, Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society SA Branch and ANZSMS 20 evening was held on the Tuesday when A/Prof Jose Almirall entertained ~130 people from these societies and from the public.

A special issue of the European Journal of Mass Spectrometry is underway that will put the spotlight on mass spectrometry research in Australia and New Zealand.

Support from manufacturers and retailers was essential to the successful running of the conference and again we thank those who contributed. It is felt that with the increased number of mergers between companies there are fewer companies to target. Sponsorship for the dinner was part of the Gold Sponsor's package but no sponsors were found for the lunches or the Welcome Reception or the Poster Sessions. This was a pity as these were well catered and sponsorship would have left a good impression on the delegates.

Details of the audited accounts form part of the Treasurer's Report. Basically the ANZSMS20 conference was cost neutral. This was a compromise due to the higher number of attendees than expected, but reduced by the high number of students at heavily subsidised rates and due to the efforts and contributions of the members of the committee who sacrificed their time, effort and money to see that the event went ahead and went well.

For the record, the following members of a small but dedicated committee should be acknowledged:

Kerryn Mason, Adelaide University/Mothers' and Childrens' Hospital - Treasurer
Noel Sims, Forensic Science South Australia - Secretary
Daniel Jardine, Flinders Advanced Analytical Laboratory - Abstracts
Ian Milne, IMVS - Sponsorship and Web
David Blackwood - Mothers' and Childrens' Hospital -involved in early stages

Hartley Conference Planners were initially involved and assisted with processing of registrations and payments, and free advice.

The staff of Stamford Grand were incredibly helpful and professional.

As I said at the opening, we have provided the hotel and the infrastructure but the conference is made by the delegates. I hope that everybody got a lot out of it.

Stewart Walker
ANZSMS-20 Convenor



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