It would appear that The Pharmaceutical Journal is behind the first ever buddy scheme, in action at the Conference this week. The suggestion for a buddy scheme was made after last year's conference in Eastbourne in a PJ Broad Spectrum article (PJ, October 17, 1998, p615) by Lindsay Taylor, a Boots teacher-practitioner from De Montfort university. It said that a way should be found to make people who do not already know anyone at the Conference to feel less lonely.
Hence the buddy scheme was born, whereby pharmacists registering for the Conference could indicate on their registration form that they would like to find a friend for the duration of the conference. A buddy reception was held on Saturday evening and, according to Conference organiser Debbie Quinn, around 100 people took part in the scheme.
Talking to The Journal about the scheme Roger Odd, the Society's head of professional and scientific support, said that large conferences could often be confusing.
"Since one of the major benefits of attending the Society's events is networking, we were delighted to introduce the buddy scheme. It seems to have been a great success so we will see what happens at Birmingham next year," he said.