
AdvaMed is looking for a few good ideas.
With its annual conference just 7 months away, the med-tech trade group is reaching out to the medical device community to find out what stories, best practices and ideas device makers want to share, learn about and explore.
"We want to make sure we’re talking about topics people are looking to hear about," AdvaMed 2012 conference producer Ray Briscuso told MassDevice. "We don’t want to tell people what they want to hear."
AdvaMed is asking players from across the industry to propose ideas for panels at this year’s conference, slated for Oct. 1-3, by submitting topics and nominating speakers via an online form at the conference website.
Past proposals have come from attendees who wanted to learn more about best practices, policy challenges or other industry elements, or from speakers who have had valuable experiences they hoped to share with others.
"That’s really the 2 ways we get most proposals," Briscuso said. "Either it’s ‘This is critical, can you please help explain this to us,’ or ‘This is critical and we’ve figured it out and we’re willing to share.’ And we look at those as a committee and figure out which ones makes the most sense."
This year, the 6th for the conference, is a special one for AdvaMed as it marks a departure from its home base in Washington, D.C., to the med-tech hotbed of Boston – a move also intended to tap into the Bay State’s rich academic and financial well.
Well-known device makers like Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), Philips (NYSE:PHG) and Covidien (NYSE:COV) have headquarters in Massachusetts, but the region also boasts facilities for C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR), Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN), Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) DePuy division, Stryker (NYSE:SYK), Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) among others.
"I don’t know of any other region that has as many strategic, leading medical device and diagnostic companies as Boston," Briscuso said. "Put that together with the money, put that together with the academic institutions, put that together with partners in health care and it’s just the perfect place for us to come to."
The deadline for panel proposals is close of business March 16. AdvaMed will call for corporate presentations further down the line, Briscuso said.