Interphex
Interphex is a smorgasbord of equipment, manufacturing, IT and packaging in pharmaceutical. I was thinking that this year seemed a little dated despite the addition of pharma-medical device. I am pleased to see that next year's show is merging with a European Biotechnology show and also adding a contract services section. I think that will breathe new life into this show which seemed to have lost a bit of its edge, which is rather ironic considering the industry is at the cusp of innovation. Or perhaps that is a metaphor for the differences between big pharma and the "younger" biotech segments.
They are also moving the show to Philadelphia from New York City which is great news for those who find that you have to walk halfway back to your hotel to find a cab when the show ends each day at 5 PM. The best moment of the week for me was when my colleague chewed out the cab driver for doing shift change right when people need the cabs the most. The second best moment was the day when I had a booth stunt to attract leads. Every year we have a pop icon impersonator for pictures. This year we had "Cher". It amazes me to hear grown men giggle when you ask if they want a picture.
Bio 2007
The BIO show had a completely different feel. This is an international convention with every state, Canadian province and bio focused country represented. It was like a boy scout jamboree for biotech. There was so much excitement and momentum for the innovation that filled the brand new Boston Convention Center. The planners of the BIO event had decided on an interesting juxtaposition of having the high tech brochures and information handed out by Betsy Ross and Paul Revere. "The medicines are coming! The medicines are coming!" Sorry, I guess growing up in Massachusetts has made me a little immune to the whole American Revolution thing since that traumatic experience of reading Johnny Tremain in the 7th grade.
I spent the first day with our CEO (whose blogger finger is apparently broken) and at the end of the day we discussed how great it is to be a part of this industry, especially at a time when many speeches discussed how information technology will play an even greater role. He wants Court Square to help change the industry and I think we can. Walking from pavilion to pavilion, you could see the pride in their role in bringing biotech advances to each region. And in the late afternoon/evening, each region tried to outdo the other on the hospitality side. The whole event was like a series of ground breaking lectures and final exams followed by frat parties.
"Hey, Italy's got hot food in their booth! Quebec has maple sugar candy (much to the chagrin of Vermont)! Belgium has the best beer this afternoon." (This self proclaimed teetotaler didn't even know Belgium was famous for beer, I thought it was just waffles.)
The Future
In the end it was the 15 minute lunchtime key note address by a passionate Michael J. Fox where he was knowledgeable, funny yet obviously coping with his Parkinson's symptoms that gave me an even greater commitment to helping my Court Square colleagues change an industry. Whether it will be helping a start up biotech with a virtual IT environment that will scale as they grow or hosting some applications for an established biopharma or working with a big pharma on their latest acquisition or even working hard to establish more Court Square offices in bio hotspot regions….we're ready to ride the wave. I just hope the CEO signs off on the surfboard that's on my expense report.
The Marketing Maven
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