Thanks Linda for starting this post. It is interesting to look back ten years and see how much has changed.
From the photo of me posted by Heather, from the 2009 Convergence, I can see my hair was just starting to go gray! In the photo I was busy checking email using my iPhone 2 (how many iPhones do we go through in ten years??). 2009 was also a big year for me personally as I became a US citizen on the day in summer 2009 that sadly Michael Jackson died. I was also serving my second year on the RAPS board of directors.
In 2009 on the regulatory front I was following closely the hotly debated European review on the adequacy of the EU medical device directives, little did we know at the time that a huge scandal that was brewing in France with the regulatory compliance of a medical device implant manufacture called PIP and that scandal was about to public. Once it revealed itself the scandal would cause a firestorm of concern around the of the adequacy of EU medical device regulatory oversight and would result in a radical reshaping of thinking around the EU medical devices directives that led to the issuing of the EU Medical Device Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation both transitioning today towards full implementation.
So much has changed in ten years, so many new friends, new challenges and new opportunities. Again, thank you for starting this post and causing us to pause to think back. I think we can all look forward to the constant change so difficult to anticipate or imagine that will reshape our profession and daily work over the next ten years!
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Paul Brooks
Executive Director
Rockville MD
United States
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Original Message:
Sent: 31-Jan-2019 16:48
From: Heather Wakefield
Subject: 10 Year Challenge: RAPS Convergence Philadelphia
Hi Everyone!
This is great! Thank you, @Linda Bowen, for starting this thread, and thank you all for sharing your pictures and stories. It's amazing that Convergence will be held in the same location 10 years later. Check out these throwback pictures from 2009's Convergence. Do you see any familiar faces?
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Heather Wakefield
Senior Manager, Education & Events
Rockville MD
United States
Original Message:
Sent: 30-Jan-2019 07:30
From: Linda Bowen
Subject: 10 Year Challenge: RAPS Convergence Philadelphia
Hi Everyone,
Have you seen the 10 Year Challenge that has taken over social media and the internet? It's funny, I just realized that RAPS Convergence was held in Philadelphia in 2009, and here we are in 2019, 10 years later, and back again! It amazes me how fast 10 years <g class="gr_ gr_38 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="38" data-gr-id="38">goes</g> by, and how much the regulatory profession and Convergence has changed. Check out these old Convergence brochures! What are your favorite convergence memories? Feel free to share your stories and photographs below.
Can't wait to reminisce!
P.S. 2019 Convergence Registration is now open, and don't forget, your Convergence proposals are due tomorrow 31 January 2019.
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Linda Bowen RAC, FRAPS
Program Chair, RAPS Convergence 2019
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