#HIMSS17 Conference and Social Media Resources

HIMSS 2017 is a massive conference. Luckily, there are a lot of tools and resources out there to help you make the most of your HIMSS 2017 experience. Here are a few of them that I’ve found useful. Feel free to add more suggestions in the comments.

The first key to the HIMSS Conference is planning your schedule. I’d be remiss if my first schedule suggestion wasn’t to take a look at this series of HIMSS17 meetups. No doubt you’ll find something that’s of interest to you and your organization. If nothing else, you should join us at the 8th Annual New Media Meetup event on Tuesday evening. It’s a lot of fun and if you can read this blog post, you’re invited.

Of course, HIMSS also offers a HIMSS17 Conference Planning page. This page will show you how you can sign in, build your agenda, add sessions to that agenda, create an exhibitor list and so much more. This feature has come a long way since past HIMSS, so check it out.

Next up, you should download the HIMSS17 mobile app (iOS and Android). The nice part is that it looks like your login and agenda should sync everything between the website and the mobile app. I’ve been using the mobile app and it’s the best experience HIMSS has created on mobile yet. It’s still a little hard to navigate in some cases, but I especially like the feature that lets you search other attendees using the mobile app (Note: The attendees on the mobile app are only those that have downloaded the app). I’m also interested to see if I love or hate the geo-location portions of the mobile app and the beacons. Feels kind of big brothery, but I like my big brother.

Speaking of the HIMSS Schedule, I think the HIMSS Schedule at a Glance is extremely useful as well. It lets you know all the times for the keynotes, parties, special sessions, and exhibit hall hours. All important things.

In case you’re looking for a specific exhibitor, this list of exhibitors and products will come in handy. It’s also available on the mobile app. This interactive map is a great way to get an idea of where booths are located and how the exhibit hall is laid out so you don’t get too lost.

If you’re into social media (and if you’re not you should be), an important trick is to learn about Twitter’s advanced search. The number of tweets sent last year (~200,000 tweets) was so massive that the best way to get value out of social media during HIMSS17 is to use the advanced search to find the most interesting tweets that relate to you. Plus, you can do neat tricks like excluding words that are likely promotional in nature.

Another option to help filter through the social media noise is to check out the #HIMSS17 hashtag guide. This guide essentially represents sub-communities within the larger HIMSS conference. By following these other hashtags, you can find a more concentrated discussion around the topics that interest you most. It can also serve as a guide for your participation in social media at HIMSS17. Plus, if you’re an exhibitor at HIMSS17, HIMSS did a social media webinar that you might find useful.

Another great method to enjoy social media, but not get blown away by the firehose of tweets is to follow this Twitter list of HIMSS17 Social Media Ambassadors. In fact, there’s no reason to wait until the conference. Start following this list now. There’s lots of great content being shared by that group.

Those are some of the resources that I’ve found useful. Let us know if you have others you’d recommend in the comments below. Also, take a minute to read through some suggestions and tips for making the most of your HIMSS17 Experience.

See you in Orlando!

About the author

John Lynn

John Lynn is the Founder of HealthcareScene.com, a network of leading Healthcare IT resources. The flagship blog, Healthcare IT Today, contains over 13,000 articles with over half of the articles written by John. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 20 million times.

John manages Healthcare IT Central, the leading career Health IT job board. He also organizes the first of its kind conference and community focused on healthcare marketing, Healthcare and IT Marketing Conference, and a healthcare IT conference, EXPO.health, focused on practical healthcare IT innovation. John is an advisor to multiple healthcare IT companies. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can be found on Twitter: @techguy.

   

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