Early buzz hints at a huge HIMSS this year

I received my first request for vendor meetings at the upcoming HIMSS conference on Jan. 6. That's nearly nine weeks before the 2010 edition begins on March 1 in Atlanta. Normally, I don't start hearing from vendors until about six weeks out.

The early trickle turned into a flood last week, right around the six-week mark. As usual, I hadn't started planning my schedule yet, but at least that prompted me to make my travel reservations and request media credentials. That part's done. I've got myself a press pass, good flight times and an affordable hotel room with free Wi-Fi--an absolute must for me these days--within half a mile of the Georgia World Congress Center.

From what I've heard, I got lucky. Others have told me in the last few days that hotel rooms are all but sold out in the immediate vicinity of the convention hall--unless you're willing to spring for the Ritz-Carlton. (My secret? I don't automatically go to the "official" hotels listed in the HIMSS brochure. Check the travel search engines if you're still looking for a deal.)

I don't have hard numbers on registration or vendor space from HIMSS yet, but all indications I've seen suggest that this will be a massive conference this year. Despite the dismal economy, I'm fully expecting record attendance at HIMSS10, perhaps approaching 30,000 people. As Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer noted last week, these are boom times in health IT.

More so than for any other HIMSS conference I've covered, a lot of meeting requests have come from people representing multiple exhibitors, in one case nearly a dozen clients. I'm going to be busy the first week of March. I'm always busy during HIMSS. (Hopefully I won't come down with bronchitis the weekend before the thing starts, as I did last year in Chicago.)

If you're attending HIMSS for the first time, I have two pieces of advice: First--and I cannot stress this enough--wear comfortable shoes. I carried a pedometer with me at HIMSS07 in New Orleans, and logged more than 12 miles for the five days I was there. Secondly, do not, under any circumstances, schedule back-to-back meetings unless they are in the same spot. It's been a few years since I've been to the Georgia World Congress Center, but any convention center large enough for HIMSS is going to be huge. It takes 15 minutes minimum to walk from one end of the hall to the other. If you have to go from the show floor to a meeting room or an off-site location such as a hotel or CNN Center, give yourself a minimum of 30 minutes.

Consider yourself warned. - Neil

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