Anticipating future regulatory interest in new gene-chip microarray technologies, the Bay Area Bioscience Center co-sponsored a two-day symposium for Food and Drug Administration and industry professionals in May 2000. Critical elements of this successful training program included (1) extensive planning with both FDA and company participants involved; (2) holding the presentations on neutral ground, i.e. Stanford University campus; (3) framing the sessions as technical/scientific, not regulatory; (4) involving a number of manufacturers and users; (5) scheduling enough time for questions; and (6) bringing the first days facts and figures together as individuals toured representative manufacturing facilities on the second and third days.