New Analytical Chemistry Exposition Claims West Coast Niche

Analytical chemists and lab managers based on the West Coast of the United States traditionally have had to travel long distances to attend major trade expositions in their field. The Pittsburgh Conference--commonly known as PittCon--the "grandaddy" of analytical shows, for example, usually is held in New York or New Orleans and has never made it farther west than Chicago. While smaller, regional conferences take place in many areas, they tend to emphasize scientific meetings and presentations

Rebecca Andrews

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But California chemists with money to spend on equipment may find a local alternative this year to PittCon: ALEX '91, a new analytical trade show taking place tomorrow through Thursday at the San Jose Convention Center. And, while many of these scientists may be optimistically looking to ALEX--short for Analytical Laboratory Equipment Exposition and Conference--as a potential "PittCon of the West," will their expectations be fulfilled?

Creators of the new trade show "are certainly pushing the hell out of it," says John Lipsky, president of New Haven, Conn.-based Quadrex Corp., manufacturers of gas chromatography capillary columns and accessories. ALEX--with about 160 exhibitors plus a conference program--is being produced by one of the largest trade show firms in the U.S.: the Interface Group, a Needham, Mass.-based company also responsible for COMDEX, a huge computer show held twice a year in Las Vegas and Chicago.

Those in the industry who expect ALEX ...

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