Emeritus Rate, why?

Several years ago PPTA organized the annual IPPC meeting in Dublin Ireland. During one of the coffee breaks I saw a colleague who had been active in the industry for many years, especially in the field of ant-D immunoglobulins. His name was Robert (Bob) Suarez. He was born in Cuba and fled to the United States in the early 60’s He was retired and it was a pleasure to see him again. We had a nice conversation and at the end of the break I asked him whether he was going back to the session. He kind of hesitated since he was not registered. I suddenly realized what the issue was. It was just too much money for him. I spontaneously invited him as our guest and got him registered. I will never forget the expression of gratitude on his face. He came to our meetings a few times before he passed away at the age of 76 in 2021. I am so glad that I was able to give him recognition for his contributions,  Thank you Bob, for all you have done to help many mothers in the world!

 
The Emeritus Rate was introduced after the Dublin meeting and was available at a reduced rate for retired individuals who had made contributions to the plasma protein industry. Every year we had between 5 and 10 people who were able to use that rate and able to connect with their former colleagues. Old memories were shared, and friendships remained.
When I retired, new leadership came to the Association and new opinions prevailed. After an initial increase in the registration rate, this Emeritus Rate completely disappeared. I am not going into the details who was behind this, except to say that when I spoke to this individual, it was made crystal clear to me that there was no respect for contributions that were made in the past. It went even so far that questions were raised about the President Emeritus title that I received from the PPTA Board after my retirement. It was quickly confirmed by the Board that this honorary title was in perpetuity.

In the meanwhile, the person who was behind this is no longer working with PPTA. The current CEO, Anita Brikman, has brought the Emeritus Rate back. Cuddo’s to Anita!

There are many ways to thank retired people for their contributions. An Emeritus Rate is one of them.