Seven Types of HIMSS18 Attendees: An Exhibitor’s Perspective

The following is a guest blog by Monica Stout from MedicaSoft

The HIMSSanity is over and everyone’s departed Las Vegas and headed for home (or SXSW). This year, my company was an exhibitor in Hall G at HIMSS. Our booth was on the main aisle, or “the thoroughfare” as those of us in the booth liked to call it. As such, I noticed some trends in the types of booth visits we encountered this year during HIMSS. These visits can be summed up into seven different types.

Integration on the Brain. “I need something to connect my disparate systems together.” Whether it’s EHR-to-EHR, EHR-to-other systems, PHR-to-EHR, or many Health IT combinations, there was no shortage of requests at HIMSS for a system or platform to make these connections happen more seamlessly. Inquiries about integration and connecting various technologies came up more frequently at our booth than any other topic at the show. These conversations were great for MedicaSoft because we can help them solve integration problems.

Partnership Hustle. “I make APIs, products, or provide services to complement your software offering. I think we’d make great partners.” HIMSS is certainly a place to find synergies and begin conversations for potential win-win situations for companies who want to partner together and go to market. Sometimes these meetings are the start of a perfect “meet cute.” Other times, they fall short. Either way, there are lots of folks out there with a wide variety of products and services making their rounds and searching for perfect business partners.

Swag Gatherer. “I came here for the swag.” You know this person. This person has no desire to interact with you. They’re not sure what your company does and many times they don’t care to ask. This person wants to collect as much free stuff at the conference as possible. Sometimes they are annoyed when you don’t have a giveaway. You know you’ve encountered a swag gatherer by their refusal to make eye contact and how fast they exit your booth once they’ve snatched up whatever swag or tchotchke you have to offer.

IT Spy. “I must find out what the competition is doing right now, let me pretend I’m in the market for IT products and booth hop.” We’ve all seen it. We know when it’s happening. It can be hilarious when the spying company tries to act like they are NOT doing this. It’s pretty obvious. I’m on to you. My only request? Be nice about it. We’ll show you what we have. You don’t have to be obnoxious or play dumb. We are happy to share.

Things You Don’t Need. “You really need our product or service even if you think you don’t need our product or service.” Everyone has this happen at one point or another. Someone comes by and really wants to sell you something you don’t need. Sometimes they politely go on their way. Other times they linger on, refusing to acknowledge that you don’t need their product or service. Sometimes being upfront doesn’t help and they continue to launch into their sales pitch anyway. You have to give these folks credit, they really are trying to sell.

Neighborhood Friendly Booth Staff or First-time HIMSS-goer. “I just thought I’d say hello.” This could be neighboring booth staff coming over to say hello. It could also be an exhibitor or attendee who’s there for the first time. In either case, these are friendly people who want to ask questions. They are getting their bearings for the show and trying to learn as much as possible. Many times they ask for advice or directions.

Match Made in Heaven. “We’re looking to buy or replace our patient portal, PHR, EHR, or integration platform.” The crème de la crème of conference attendees. This person has done their research. They know what they want and what they want is what you offer! These types of meetings leave you jazzed for the rest of the conference and eager for post-conference follow-up. This type of conference attendee actually answers your emails and phone calls when you follow-up because they have a genuine interest in what you do and how you can help them solve their IT problems or challenges.

HIMSS18 exhibitors and attendees, what other types of booth attendees did you see this year at the show?

About Monica Stout
Monica is a HIT teleworker in Grand Rapids, Michigan by way of Washington, D.C., who has consulted at several government agencies, including the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). She’s currently the Marketing Director at MedicaSoft. Monica can be found on Twitter @MI_turnaround or @MedicaSoftLLC.

About MedicaSoft
MedicaSoft  designs, develops, delivers, and maintains EHR, PHR, and UHR software solutions and HISP services for healthcare providers and patients around the world. MedicaSoft is a proud sponsor of Healthcare Scene. For more information, visit www.medicasoft.us or connect with us on Twitter @MedicaSoftLLC, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

   

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