The C.H.I.E.F.S. Story – Conferences & Trade Shows

We are about a month away from the two largest omnibus events for health innovators.

The JP Morgan Healthcare ConferenceMorgan Healthcare Conference runs from January 8-11, 2025 in San Francisco, CA while the CES goes from January 7-10, 2025 in Las Vegas, NV. It is too bad these overlap so completely!

I haven’t attended JPM, but participated in the CES going back to when it was the “Consumer Electronic Show.” However, health technologies started to appear about ten years ago and have grown to become a significant part of the exhibition.

Over the years I have attended, spoke, led panels, and even judged at a broad range of these events. In fact, I walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival where I was a “celebrity business guest.” This included a full page article in Variety, a series of film premiers and screenings, pavilion ?openings, plus press interviews. Yes it was glamorous, but it was also a lot of work.

This brings me to C.H.I.E.F.S. and the fact that events like these can catapult a small company well beyond their current position. That is, properly exploited before, during, and afterwards can have a leapfrogging effect on the company and its innovation.

C.H.I.E.F.S. Tool? is a great primer for knowing what is necessary to be perceived at a level appropriate to be participating at an international event. However, for those who graduate to the C.H.I.EF.S. Outcomes? that is where they learn how to really benefit from the expense of attending.

In this sector there are a number of targeted events like BIO, HIMSS, HLTH, MedTech, RSNA, SWSX, etc. Many of their course tracks are often approved for continuing medical education (CME) credits. However, for all conferences the floor is often where most of the new ideas are first seen and business can be conducted.

I’ve leveraged events like these for wide open competitive intelligence, direct sales or even leads to significant reductions on business purchases (I once had to make a one-time buy of ?100,000 professional grade videotapes – definitely made that rep’s annual bonus), repatriated millions of dollars in lost IP revenue for AT&T, which led to my billion dollarplus Lucent-Sun Microsystem strategic relationship that resulted in Java?.

How you prepare can make all the difference. For the big deals, they were started six months in advance. Major speaking engagements and planning for offshore events were often a year or more in the planning. And, that didn’t include the time and effort in any floor displays and necessary swag.

In C.H.I.E.F.S. these are all part of Business Development as both a Function and Priority. In my experience, SMEs don’t realize what is at stake and how much can be gained.

Just being willing to stick your hand out and introduce yourself and who/what you represent can open up a world of opportunity. How well I know it!