Rough Start
February 26th, 2008Wow!… Not quite the HIMSS I remember.
First off, it took me longer to get from the airport to my hotel than from Durham to Orlando. One might think that a travel destination and frequent convention hoster like Orlando would have ample transportation from the airport to hotel destinations. One would be wrong.
I arrived at the convention hall bright and bushy tailed just before noon on Monday. I was anticipating that a client of mine was going to be able to secure a guest pass… alas, no such luck. I tried reaching out to many acquaintances, but it was difficult to reach them. Most everyone was inside the hall.
I eventually decided that I would buy a day pass for the exhibitor floor, but learned that they are only available on Tuesday and Wednesday. It would have cost $550 to walk the floor.
After several hours of walking the lounge, I became fascinated with the fact that there were no Starbucks anywhere. Apparently the convention center has figured out that it has a very large captured audience and why bother giving most of the margin on a $5 cup of coffee to Starbucks. Instead, they offer coffee reminiscent of a ship’s wardroom at 3am. Worse still, I am a vegan and got nothing but blank and confused stares when asking for soy milk. Soy milk? Wus that?
Finally, a colleague brought me a ‘temporary’ pass so that I could get on the floor. For many, Disney world is just down the road. For me, stepping onto the floor is like walking into the Magic Kingdom for the first time as a wide-eyed and goofy 8 year old.
Definitely worth the wait and the frustration. Since I did not have as much time on the floor as I expected, I can only offer a few observations. First of all, the major middleware and hardware vendors, including Microsoft, Dell, Cisco, HP and a few others, seem to be gobbling up floor space. Just a couple of years ago, these same vendors occupied only token booths to show their support to healthcare. There is no question that healthcare has become mainstream.
Second, while I cannot confirm it with any factual information, there seems to be far more consolidation. The major HIS vendors just seem to be getting bigger and more obnoxious with their booths, while the smallish, newer companies seem to be fewer or just harder to find.
I was able to reconnect with several acquaintances which was fun and educational, but Tuesday promises to be far more productive… Stay tuned.
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