FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | July 26, 2011

News media registration for American Chemical Society National Meeting: Denver, Aug. 28-Sept. 1, 2011

DENVER, July 26, 2011 — The world’s largest scientific society picked the perfect venue to match the theme of its next national meeting, and the American Chemical Society (ACS) Office of Public Affairs invites your coverage — onsite or remotely from your home base.

The venue for the theme — The Chemistry of Air, Space and Water — is the Mile-High City, with pre-and post-meeting attractions in and near Denver ranging from hot air balloon rides, to one of the country’s highest operating space observatories, to white water rafting.

The main event, of course, is one of 2011’s largest and most significant scientific conferences. The ACS’ 242nd National Meeting & Exposition, Aug 28-Sept. 1, 2011, will bring an estimated 12,000 scientists and others to Denver for more than 7,500 reports on new discoveries in medicine and health, food and nutrition, energy, the environment, and other fields where chemistry plays a central role. The meeting will be held during the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) and will take place at the Colorado Convention Center and downtown hotels.

If you can attend in person, registration is open, and we will welcome you in the ACS News Media Center in the convention center starting at 9 a.m. Central Time on Aug. 27. There will be a full schedule of press conferences, a staff eager to assist in arranging interviews, wireless Internet access, telephones, computers, photocopy and fax services and refreshments.

Of particular interest to science journalists: A special Presidential Symposium, “Communicating Chemistry to the Public,” will be held Tuesday, Aug. 30, 1-4:30 pm, in Room 108 of the convention center. Moderator will be ACS President-Elect Bassam Shakhashiri, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, noted for communicating science through live demonstrations, a website, and other activities. Speakers will include Theodore W. Gray, best-selling author, software developer and eclectic science writer who won the ACS 2011 Grady-Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public. Other participants will include journalists from print, online and broadcast outlets; a chemist-cookbook author; a science toys expert; and the author of the 2012 National Science Board’s Science Indicators public opinion chapter. A reception honoring Gray will follow the symposium from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Room 6505 of the convention center.

Embargoed copies of press releases, non-technical summaries of newsworthy presentations, and a press conference schedule will be available in August. Watch the embargoed site on Eurekalert! or drop us a note and we will make sure you are on the direct distribution list. Reporters planning to cover the meeting from their home bases will have access to the press conferences over the Internet in ACS’ popular “Live Chat” format.

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Media Contact

Michael Bernstein
202-872-6042
m_bernstein@acs.org

Michael Woods
202-872-6293
m_woods@acs.org