The upcoming Microscopy & Microanalysis 2011 meeting in Nashville will include the world's largest annual exhibition of microscope equipment, supplies, and services. For most attendees, the exhibition is one of the highlights of the M&M meeting.
This extraordinary exhibition has a long history. The Microscopy Society of America was founded in 1942 at a meeting of about 60 electron microscopists in Chicago. At this meeting RCA set up a TEM in the hotel, but they didn't manage to get it working. Since then, there has been an exhibition of microscopes at nearly every annual meeting. By contrast to that first exhibition, at the 2005 Honolulu meeting FEI set up the first production model of an aberration-corrected TEM—and it worked! The M&M exhibition has grown over the years and attracts exhibiting companies from all over the world. In 1984 there were 45 companies exhibiting. In 2010, 108 companies exhibited.
Each year companies use the M&M exhibition to launch new products, give demonstrations, and provide tutorials about microscopy methods. The exhibition allows buyers of microscopes to compare instruments at the largest microscope marketplace. The exhibition hall is also the location of the afternoon poster events and a great place to meet friends from all disciplines.
Our exhibitors are more important to MSA and the M&M meeting than just commercial participants. Many of our exhibitors are also MSA Sustaining Members or MAS Sustaining Members, who support our societies throughout the year. At the annual Sustaining Members Breakfast, company representatives have offered advice to help improve the operation of the M&M meeting. The comments, suggestions, and support of our exhibitors and Sustaining Members have materially improved our exhibition year-by-year. On behalf of MSA and MAS, I thank these companies and institutions for their support.
So come to the exhibition: have lunch, meet vendors, view posters, and renew friendships from across the microscopy community. My thanks to Mike Marko and Doreen Bonnnema, who supplied data for this editorial.
