How to Maximize Exposure for Your HIMSS20 Sessions that Never Happened

Apr 1, 2020

In the wake of HIMSS20 being cancelled, many people whose HIMSS presentations were accepted for this year’s conference are lamenting the fact that the sessions that they worked so hard to get accepted won’t be given.

Let’s face it, there is a ton of work that goes into submitting presentations for HIMSS, including the process of preparing those lengthy and detailed applications.
As a colleague described in a previous blog, “the process is not easy and takes anywhere from 12-16 hours per proposal” and “HIMSS has a less than 30%
acceptance rate.”

So, you might be asking, what do we do now? For many it feels like that opportunity is lost, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some different ways to take the content you were going to present and still get it out there.

  • Take advantage of HIMSS’ virtual conference.
  • Plan your own virtual conference: You can conduct a webinar with the information you were going to present at HIMSS, with both a live virtual presentation and on-demand access after the fact.
  • Use information from your HIMSS presentation to draft thought leadership articles and case studies. There are likely a ton of facts and statistics that were a part of the presentation that could be included.
  • Look at other conferences for speaking opportunities later in the year or in 2021 that you can submit these completed presentations to knowing that some of the stats may need to be updated and the submissions will need to be customized for each opportunity.

The cancellation of HIMSS20 doesn’t mean that all the hard work that you put into your presentations must go to waste. The show can still go on, just a bit
differently.

Linda Healan

For more than 20 years, Linda has provided strategic PR and marketing communications services to B2B national and multi-national clients in the technology, healthcare technology, real estate, travel & tourism, and professional service industries. In 1999, she established Healan PR following a successful career as an account and client services manager for several PR agencies. Notable clients included Craneware, ReachHealth, Oneview Healthcare, Flo Healthcare/Metro a division of Emerson and CenTrak, among others. Prior to entering the public relations field, Linda earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism/Public Relations from Georgia State University in 1993. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and active in the PRSA Georgia Chapter. She is also a member of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and served on the public relations committees heading Georgia Technology Forum 1998 and 1999, and Georgia Technology Celebration in 2003.