The Z Files: Year End, 2025
As everyone winds down for the holiday season with parties and use-it-or-lose-it leave, I would like to extend my best wishes to you and your families. It has been an interesting year for the federal community, including our area of technology transfer. You are very appreciated for all you do and we head into 2026 with high hopes for the future.
After a record government shutdown, we are happy to have everyone back! Of course, the shutdown does not count as leave, so we still expect many people to be off. We were able to extend the due dates for the National Meeting Call for Topics and the Call for Awards until December 12. We would have liked to have extended them further, but the schedule to get everything done does not accommodate a 43-day extension. That is very hard to take into account.
Speaking of the National Meeting, we do fully expect to hold it in person this year. We are hoping to see you May 12-14, 2026, in Seattle! We anticipate opening registration in January after we can review the session submissions and finish the schedule. It is hard to ask people to register when they do not know the sessions. You can expect a normal full and half day training on May 12, followed by sessions May 13 and 14. We are trying to add in some local industry with some of the networking — more to come on that!
I realize the first thing that comes to mind when considering National Meeting attednance is travel restrictions. We will be working to produce some material to make the case for travel. We will also continue to watch for signs of distress. Last year, we had a continuing resolution (CR) through late March followed by an Executive Order that halted the use of government charge cards. There was no way to recover from that in time for people to register. This year, we have a CR through January 30. If that gets extended considerably without either a budget or a full year CR, that will be one indicator. The travel restrictions in a broad sense are lifted, but we are aware that does not mean it is easy (and is near impossible in some pockets). If the situation gets very restrictive, we may need to pivot again. The National Meeting really is about peer learning through our incredible network of tech transfer professionals. Online avenues can provide training, but they are not a substitute for the actual experience.
We have other exciting things in the works as well. The FLC had a very successful set of pilot programs last year. We were able to provide no-cost market analysis tools from several vendors to our lab members, as well as free access to the full set of AUTM trainings and webinars. We are looking to continue these programs in 2026, but have hit a few bumps due to the shutdown. I do anticipate more news on these fronts soon.
We are also exploring other ways to make FLC more valuable to the community. We have several programs that we have started and are looking forward to launching. Our mentorship program continues to grow for new members, we hope to launch a registration/verification program for professionals this year as we continue to progress toward a full certification program, and we have launched an experts database for our more seasoned professionals to share with the community. I always say, the FLC depends on volunteers for all our programs, and we offer opportunities to fit nearly every person and commitment level. If you’re interested, contact us at [email protected].
I wish you the best in this holiday season and look forward to an exciting new year full of opportunities. I hope you will take advantage of all that we offer at the FLC!