During the recognition portion of the event, Honorees were introduced to the full audience of attendees. Each received a Certificate from the Co-Chairs of the Committee.

Selected from a group of nearly 50 nominees were 12 Honorees, chosen by a 17-member Selection Committee. During the hors d'oeuvres and networking portion of the event, the 2018 Honorees were stationed at the perimeter of the event hall next to poster-sized copies of the first page of their respective patents, ready to answer questions relating to their patents and share their personal stories. This gave a wonderful opportunity for the audience and the honorees to intermingle and discuss the inventions first hand. Attendees who met a requisite number of honorees at the poster boards qualified to win a prize, which increased engagement between attendees and Honorees.

Following the presentation of the Certificates to each of the Honorees, 4 Featured Honorees were asked to return to the stage, and received framed Certificates for their inventions. This was followed by an interview session moderated by BPLA President-Elect, Deirdre Sanders, and Vice-President, Michael Bergman. Responsive to questions from the moderators, each of the Featured Honorees told the story of their respective invention, explaining a unique “Aha moment” of when they realized that they were on to something truly special. The audience also learned of the innovators’ stories and their paths into science or technology, about people who served as each Featured Honorees’ mentors, and what continues to inspire each Featured Honoree’s journey. Attendees were excited to hear these stories and to learn how the inventions could improve, and in some cases, already are improving many people’s lives.

Many thanks go to George Jakobsche for sharing so many of his photographs used in this article!