This year’s Pittcon was held in Chicago, Illinois from March 3-6.

The overwhelming theme of this meeting was COLD. Winter was still very present in Chicago that week with temperatures dropping well below freezing.

But despite the cold, there was a good turnout and it was a successful show. As usual, we had on hand our Pinnacle PCX and our post-column applications. We also had our FREESTYLE Sample Cleanup system. This is always a great show for meeting distributors, suppliers, customers. Nowadays Pittcon is as much (if not more) about networking and meetings as it is about finding new equipment.

We usually try to find some adventure or other on the Sunday before the show starts, and this year was no exception. This year, we braved the cold and the snow to venture out to Gary, Indiana!  Before Pittcon, this editor had visited 45 of the 50 US States. Indiana was one of 5 remaining.

The requirements for the day were: 1) easy to get to without a car 2) be located outside the city limits of Chicago and 3) have a restaurant/bar close to the train station.  After some internet research, the 18th Street Brewery in Gary, IN seemed to fit the bill perfectly!

We took the South Shore Line from McCormick Place  out to Gary, where we trudged through a foot of snow to the 18th Street Brewery.  It turns out this is a wonderful brewery with good beer and friendly folks. And they even had a grill out back which was cooking up kielbasa sausage with kimchi. If you’re ever in Chicago and need a change of pace, or are in northern Indiana, it’s worth a stop.

All in all it was a good trip and a successful meeting. But I’m glad Pittcon 2015 will be in New Orleans…