The Pierre braces itself for NECA

Chemical folk who were worrying that the NECA Winter Meeting at the Pierre in New York just wasn't glamorous enough, will be relieved to read that the hotel has just undergone a $100 million renovation of its rooms and public areas, under its new owners the Taj hotel group, according to a snippet which the Blog came across in the British Airways in-flight magazine on the flight home from EPCA.

Built in the 1930s, the refined Pierre is so under-stated that newcomers may have difficulty finding the entrance or even the lobby, let alone the ballroom set aside for the NECA lunch.

The Blog was very taken with this photo of another chemical reception in the Pierre for the Jackson Laboratory National Gala in September 2008. That centrepiece of chemical flasks would be just the thing to brighten up the NECA meeting.

(photo Rex)