ViVE is one of the most notable healthtech conferences to attend in the U.S. You'll see most of the top thought leaders, startup founders, operators, and more here every year. The reason for its popularity is because it's the same team that hosts HLTH (the actual top U.S. digital health conference hosted annually in Las Vegas) and how they've transformed the typical stuffy conference experience into an interactive, engaging playground where business still happens.
ViVE is smaller than HLTH, so easier to bump into people. However, the big difference between the two conferences is ViVE is cohosted by CHIME (College of Health Information Management Executives), so it's filled with more IS/IT people.
Majority of business development efforts are done at conferences for most organizations, especially startups. But being in another fish in a sea of vendors makes it difficult to stand out. I've outlined all the opportunities that ViVE has to offer to get the startup founder in front of the people they want to meet.
Prior to attending the conference, there's multiple ways that startup founders can prep to distinguish themselves from the herd:
Register for a booth. This is a pricier option, but it does give the highest visibility.
Use the networking app to research and request meetings with attendees. There's a filter to see each attendee's interest areas. Most people probably won't be looking at the app before the event, so send a LinkedIn request or email (some are on the app) them to set time up.
Search for after hours events and happy hours on LinkedIn or ask others in the same industry. Different organizations will host events after the conference (that anyone can go to not just attendees) - this will be another chance to network in a more casual setting.
Meetings with new and existing investors. When registering, you can opt into a program called "Funding Founders," where investors reaches out to startups if they're interested in meeting. Startups are unable to choose who to meet with; they can only accept inbounds.
Meetings with payers and providers. These programs are called "Payer Connect" and "Provider Connect". You can send requests to meet with these organizations (that you can pitch and sell to) during the conference.
While being at the conference, here's some tips on being efficient with your time spent there.
Learn the layout of the floor, so you can quickly manuever to the appropriate location. There's a lot of booths, stages, and activities on the showroom floor. I took a picture of the map with all the booths listed with the corresponding company names.
Review agenda. On the app, there's a way to mark down the talks or events you plan to attend, which will block that calendar time on there and can help with providing a more up-to-date availability for when you're scheduling meetings.
Continue to chat up with other attendees to see what their plans are for the after hours events and happy hours they are going to.
There's non-networking activities there too in case you just need a breather. I got my makeup done by a professional makeup artists, and others even got their hair styled or trimmed. There's even a puppy park that you can pet some nice dogs.
Also, if you want to eat, make sure you make time to go get lunch during the time frame laid out in the schedule because the popular food options run out fast.
After the conference, following up is the key. Make sure to take notes on each interaction or meeting you had. As a startup founder, you generally are doing a lot of asking, so you need to send the follow-up email and remind people those "Next Steps".
I caught up and met incredible people, such as future business opportunities, advisors, mentors, etc. Would highly recommend this conference if you're in the digital health startup founder because you'll be surrounded by the who's who.
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