Finally, the summer has arrived and hopefully the weather has been kind and blessed you with some glorious rays of sunshine. Surprisingly, the UK skies have turned off the usual rain tap, allowing us to enjoy the temperatures that many of our European neighbours have been experiencing. How long this good spell will last, however, is anyone's guess.

Anyway, the sense of optimism and enthusiasm that has accompanied this good weather led the 

 team and I to consider setting up a professional networking group. Having discussed the pros and cons of this form of communication, along with our hopes and aspirations for the group, we went for it. The 

 group has now been formed and is housed on LinkedIn (

Now I have to admit, I have always been somewhat cynical of networking groups, opting never to sign up to any social networking sites when Facebook became a worldwide phenomenon and gripped pretty much every internet-savvy person that I know. I must also hold my hands up and admit that, up until recently, any invitations that I would receive from colleagues or peers, inviting me to LinkedIn, would be swiftly deleted from my inbox. Terrible, I know, but then I suppose my poor actions were related to my ignorance — I never really knew what LinkedIn was, or why I would benefit from it. Thankfully, I've been saved by some of my very patient colleagues.

's LinkedIn group. LinkedIn is the world's largest professional networking space, with more than 9 million members in Europe alone, so we thought it would be a good place to meet and communicate with our peers. The aim of 

's group is to provide a forum for professionals involved in the pharmaceutical technology and manufacturing industry to meet and to share knowledge, expertise and potential opportunities. I also see this as a friendly way for us to keep in touch.

As the group grows, we will be posting discussions and updates whilst encouraging our members to post their own discussions and to invite other colleagues or like-minded individuals to join. We will start some debates to help out, but it's your input as an expert in your field that will enable you to reap professional benefits including, we hope, promotion of improvements and innovation in your industry whilst meeting new and interesting people.

Still not convinced? Perhaps this month's article 

 authored by our very own Editorial Director, Peter Houston, and resident LinkedIn expert, will give you some food for thought.

Log in and decide for yourself. Our group can be found at 

p.s. For those of you who prefer to Tweet, you can also follow us on Twitter 

From the Editor

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe-07-01-2009

You are invited to Link In and Twitter with PTE!