Speciality Chemicals Magazine MAY / JUN 2021 | Page 55

EVENTS take place virtually too . As ever , they have been put together by the DCAT Education Committee . The committee has been seeking to highlight key trends in the industry and give “ practical and objective insights into the opportunities and challenges ,” Diver says . “ Our message is that nothing around the quality of the in-person experience is going to be changed , it ’ s just going to be presented in a virtual format . The other traditional element of DCAT Week , the company-tocompany networking in private business spaces , is not so easy to replicate online . The association does not involve itself in planning this , but it is encouraging members to “ take advantage of the time slot ” the educational element will bring and to use the term ‘ DCAT Week ’ to initiate those conversations . DCAT , Diver observes , has already proven that the pharmaceutical industry can thrive in a virtual environment . For instance , the Women ’ s Networking Breakfast that would have been held in DCAT Week in March went ahead virtually , centred around the presentation that would have taken place at the in-person event , and was a “ screaming success ”. On that basis and because the proverbial genie cannot be put back in the bottle , Diver does not think that the virtual element will disappear as and when normality returns . One element where DCAT reaches out to the community rather than viceversa and its approach is already virtual lies in the work of its Science & Scholarship Committee . “ This committee is participating as a special award organisation at the Virtual Regeneron ISEF 2021 event , in which we go out proactively and look at the issues based on what ’ s happening in the community ,” Diver says . “ They will award five scholarships to student finalists working in areas of interest to the membership . It ’ s great that we are able to contribute outwardly in a trying time like this .” Traditionally , DCAT ’ s Golf Outing has been a major fundraising exercise to fund scholarships . This is also not taking place this year , but the association has set aside funds regardless . “ We ’ re here to create networks , to educate and create content . Giving back is a major effort and we want to maintain that line of sight .” DCAT has been active in other ways to help members through the pandemic . Many well-attended webinars have taken place and in late 2020 , the Research & Benchmarking Committee launched a benchmarking survey , ‘ Managing Business Continuity Risks ’. This surveyed member companies and suppliers about what they had done to maintain operations and plan for business continuity in the event of future operational and supply disruptions . The results are now available to member companies . ‣

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