Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/552614
Inhalation AUGUST2015 7 Similarly, Boehringer Ingelheim, the sponsors for the fifth meeting in 1994 did not have a large UK base, and so took DDL to the Church House Conference Centre in the heart of Westminster. This venue was an alternative seat of Parliament during air raids in the Second World War and is the venue for meetings of the Church Synod, the governing body of the Church of England. This was an atmospheric venue with easy access to central London and main transportation routes. It was such a success that this became the home of DDL for the next 10 years. Indeed, the next meeting became two days to accommodate the increasing num- bers of speakers and poster presenters, while the number of exhibitors grew into double figures. This was also the first year that David Ganderton did not chair the entire conference. Unfortunately, the very success of the venue became its downfall, as the size of the conference outgrew the facili- ties available, particularly with the increasing need for exhibition space. As a result, in 2005, DDL moved to its present venue in Edinburgh, UK. Progress in technology Technology also moved on during this period. Early presentations were given using overhead projector acetates or 35mm slides (glass mounted, if you wished to preserve them). Invitations to speak were type- written and abstracts were limited to a single typed page, while illustrations were often hand-drawn. Remember that spreadsheets only came into common use at the end of the 1980s, while PowerPoint was not launched until 1990. It was DDL V, in 1994, that introduced multiple-page abstracts, but it was not until 1995 that bound copies of proceedings were produced, with an allocated ISBN identifier. Short abstracts of the presentations at DDL began appear- ing in the Journal of Aerosol Medi- cine in 1998 and continue to be pub- lished there today. It was also recog- nized that the quality of the proceed- ings deserved peer review of the sub- mitted extended abstracts, which became an additional task for the Conference Organizing Committee and colleagues. Supporting young scientists Ever since its inception, one of the guiding principles that Pat Burnell instilled in the organizers was to encourage young scientists, both in presenting work in progress and e n c o u r a g i n g P h D s t u d e n t s t o describe their thesis work. At the outset, the relatively small size of the conference encouraged healthy debate, and there were eminent sci- entists and academics who were unafraid to offer advice to the pre- senter. This could often lead a PhD student into a public cross-examina- tion of their thesis material, but the work was always improved as a con- sequence. This interaction seemed more intense in Church House, where the main auditorium is circu- lar, placing the speakers at the focus of the audience and very close to their inquisitors. Unfortunately, with larger audiences and auditoria, this level of interaction has dimin- ished over time. Pat moved off the Organizing Committee after more than 10 years of service and tragically continued on Cover 3