Object of the Week

2012 is National Pathology Year. I have got to confess that this has not been high on my radar this year. It may well have passed the notice of many others too. Throughout the year, The Royal College of Pathologists have been publishing an ‘object of the week’ – something which has some connection to, and made a difference in,  the world of Pathology.

Some of the objects have been fairly central to the work of pathologists. Some others have been a little more subtle. Recently, one of the objects was a pigeon. Pigeons have played their part in evolutionary science – Darwin used them in his studies - and this was deemed worthy of celebration by the College. I would find it hard to disagree with that – Darwin is always worthy of celebration and I am always thrilled when I see his face on UK banknotes.

It did get me thinking though. What would Lorne choose if it was to celebrate the work of transfusion and other blood related sciences in this manner? What would be a suitable object with which to honour those who have worked in this field? What could represent the work of Blundell, Landsteiner, Levine and Stetson?

And what would Lorne choose to represent its own contribution, in bringing high quality, stable wet reagents to blood transfusion services and hospitals across the world? I’m not sure just yet. Perhaps that is for others to decide. Maybe a phone might represent our commitment to communicating with our customers – in delivering great customer service. Perhaps something out there could represent the competitive pricing of our reagents and kits. Or perhaps, quite simply, one of our bone china mugs – for many years a feature of our attendance at exhibitions – could adequately represent the long service that Lorne has provided to the world of diagnostic reagents?

______________________________________________________________________________

Visit to the UN and the Red Cross

It had all the makings of a comedy sketch.
“I hear you are going to Geneva. You’re going to visit who exactly?
“That’s right, WHO.”
“No, seriously, who are you going to visit?”
“Yes, that’s right. WHO.”

Before the ghosts of Abbott & Costello return to claim back their famous comedy sketch, I ought to point out that I did actually go and visit the WHO, the World Health Organisation. A number of U.N. agencies are based in Geneva and I was travelling with a small group of British companies on a mission organised by the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and the UKTI to speak to them.

As well as the WHO, I also managed to speak to the Red Cross. It is on occasions such as these that I realise the nature of the products that Lorne manufacture. Wet reagents can be used in the field in emergency situations – in times of great human suffering, they can provide for safe blood transfusions - even with limited access to blood transfusion equipment. The NGOs that we supply are all impressed with the quality and stability of the reagents and we are truly proud of the service we provide to these humanitarian organisations.

Geneva, as a city, may feel like a million miles from the conditions in the field caused by war and natural disasters. However, the trip was a success and if it results in providing great products for a great cause, it will have been worth the effort.
___________________________________________________________________________

Exhibition Fatigue

---

When you get today three of an exhibition, even one as spectacular as Arab Health, you can start to suffer from exhibition fatigue. You have a nice stand, decorated with screens and posters advertising the products you sell and the benefits they provide. You have been standing here for two and a half days already and you still have one and a half to go. Business cards and conversations all start to blur. And your thoughts start to drift to the evening’s entertainment rather than blood screening kits or blood transfusion equipment.

Not that I am bemoaning anything to do with Blood Screening or blood transfusion. It is the business we are in. Spectacular as the World Trade Centre in Dubai can be, and regardless of the amazing city beyond its walls, the inside of an exhibition here is much the same as it is anywhere. The people drift in, they pick up your marketing materials, they glance at your posters and chat about distribution or buying stuff.

Then, and I don’t why, day four arrives and you get a second wind. You don’t mind chatting blood screening or talking to that same guy again about blood transfusion or whatever. The place takes on a fresh look once again. Maybe it’s because you feel all conscientious again and want to do the very best for the business. Or maybe it’s because you will soon be packing up and going home. I guess I really know which one it is.

---

Is this a camel I see before me? Arab Health 2012

---

I kid you not. Here I am in Dubai, attending the spectacular Arab Health Exhibition at the World Trade Centre and on a piece of scrubby desert land across the road from my hotel is a camel. Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised. I am in the Middle East after all. However, my hotel is just a short walk from the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and the district I am standing in is amongst the most spectacular cityscape of skyscrapers and hotels in the world.
It provides a break from the usual exhibition conversations. So far, it has been the usual diet of blood screening this and blood transfusion that. Lorne is in the business of blood grouping reagents and to be here is to be a player. Try not exhibiting and everyone starts to ask why you have disappeared.
Another exhibitor takes a look over my shoulder. ‘Yes, it is a camel’, he states and returns to reading an article on blood screening. Or blood transfusion. Something blood related anyway. ‘That’s Dubai for you’, he adds. ‘They say a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Look around you. We have the tallest building in the world to our right and the Arabian Desert to our left. The whole place has been designed by a committee.’

I think he may be right.

---