ORLANDO — HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition, the annual event for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), took place March 11-15 at the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC), bringing together approximately 30,000 professionals to learn about the new technology and information that will drive the future of healthcare systems.
This year’s show marks the first edition taking place under Informa Markets’ management, after it acquired the show in August 2023.
“We introduced a new hosted buyers program; that is an investment that Informa has made to take it up to the next level,” said Elli Riley, CEM, Vice President, HIMSS at Informa Markets. “We introduced more digital signage around the convention center because we are a technology show, we wanted it to feel like a technology show, which allowed us to be very flexible with our messaging and decrease our carbon footprint.”
Under the partnership, Informa Markets handles the management of the show while HIMSS creates member-driven content. Informa is responsible for overseeing all content and programming development.
“Education occurs everywhere at a HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. We organize an attendee’s experience across three broad tracks: one is focused on learning where education is key; another centers on solutions, where the exhibition is the focal point. Then we have connections where we concentrate our focus on networking,” said Vice President, Content and Programming for HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition at Informa Markets, JoAnn Klinedinst, M.Ed., CPHIMS, PMP, DES, CPTD, LFHIMSS, FACHE. “You can educate yourself in the Learning Track and on the Show Floor, and you can certainly educate yourself when you’re networking with others and learning what it is they do and how they do it. It’s remarkable that those connection points can be made, and that’s why we’ve created opportunities for attendees to “meet up” organically and provide them with a forum to talk to each other. It’s been well-received this year and they’ve even suggested ways to enhance the experience for next year.”
Also new this year for HIMSS content is a Venture Connect program meant to connect digital health founders and start-ups with investors.
“As we move into planning for HIMSS25 attendees will experience more of a ‘conference within a conference,’ that’s another change you’ll see. It’s about making the show more bite-sized and personalized. If it’s through technology, individual meetups, hosted buyers, connecting buyers and sellers differently than we have, we know this conference will show up very differently next year, and that will be through those connection points that we’re creating,” Riley said.
Digital Transformation of HIMSS
With more resources dedicated to the show due to Informa’s acquisition of the event, Informa Markets worked closely with its general services contractor, Freeman, to digitally transform HIMSS24, bringing it into its next era with technology and thoughtful design.
This year, HIMSS utilized digital signage throughout the OCCC to have more dynamic branding, marketing and information sharing during the event. The increased usage of digital signage also led to the ability to have a sponsorship takeover of the signs, giving the paying sponsor several slots throughout the day to display their advertising and marketing materials on every sign throughout the entire venue.
“It’s things like the sponsorship takeover that help to cover overhead costs, as well as add value to sponsors and HIMSS overall,” said Eric Altbush, Creative Director at Freeman. “There are wraps on escalators, but there are only so many escalators in the facility, and it’s nice to have a print ad where you can say something but that only goes so far. When you put video on the digital signage, not only is your story deeper but so is the opportunity to connect. The impressions that you can make are a lot more substantial because all these digital screens are beautiful; they’re engaging, and people watch.”
HIMSS24 also utilized technology from Zenus to find out what attendee sentiment was at different locations throughout the show to find out what is working and what is not.
“The more information to guide us creatively, the better,” said Anthony Bartolomeo, Senior Vice President, Client Relations at Freeman. “We can dream up graphics and hanging banners all day long but if it doesn’t connect with the audience the way they’re hoping then it doesn’t matter. We’re excited about next year and the possibilities, to find out what we can do better and what’s working to give attendees powerful moments and spaces they’re interested in.”
Informa Markets also built a new website, onboarded a new email marketing automation platform and analytics tool, adopted a new project management software and built new social media accounts specifically dedicated to the event itself.
Informa Markets Brings Expanded Resources to the Show
Being under Informa Markets’ management means that there is new investment into HIMSS, which has led to increased marketing abilities, new technology and tools and more elevated experiences for attendees.
“We’re able to invest in marketing,” Riley said. “We are able to go out and market to the industry differently than we’ve been able to before. We’re using new technologies and tools to market to our audience. Now we have the capability to do this because Informa has those tools, whereas we didn’t before.”
The marketing team behind the HIMSS event at Informa Markets approached enhancing the overall experience from the attendee’s first touch of the event to the last touch.
“We built our marketing communication around this year’s theme of “Creating tomorrow’s health.” We wanted to create an emotional, more personalized connection with our attendees that started with the first social post, email or video they saw” said Scott Sherpe, Vice President of Marketing, HIMSS, Global Health Conference & Exhibition at Informa Markets. “This is an industry that is changing and saving lives. Throughout the convention center you see that idea come to life through the enhanced onsite experience we created with Freeman.”
Importance of the Landmark Deal
HIMSS is a highly decorated show in the trade show industry, winning four Trade Show Executive (TSE) Gold 100 Grand Awards (2023 show: Staying Connected Award; 2021 show: The Stickiest Show Floor; 2014 show: Most Innovative Show; 2010 show: Most Innovative Show). It has also ranked on TSE’s Gold 100 list 15 times, and four times on the Fastest 50 rankings.
Informa Markets already has an expansive reach in the healthcare world, producing 15 global exhibitions and 110 conferences in 11 different countries. The organizer connects more than 570,000 healthcare professionals through its global network. Through the partnership with HIMSS, Informa Markets is able to provide more expertise, resources and scale to the global healthcare event.
“I’m excited about the growth potential of HIMSS and to take it to the next level, by making the connection points for the attendees and exhibitors more elevated, so they walk away saying “my experience will help me improve my organization.” The healthcare industry is always changing, and that’s the power of staying on top of the trends,” Riley said. “The Informa/HIMSS partnership will continue to grow the global conference and provide the content, products and connections the industry is looking for.”
Stay tuned to TSE’s monthly magazine for a deeper dive into the changes Informa Markets is making at HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition. Subscribe to receive your copy here.
Reach Elli Riley at elli.riley@informa.com; Eric Altbush at eric.altbush@freeman.com; Anthony Bartolomeo at anthony.bartolomeo@freeman.com; Scott Sherpe at scott.sherpe@informa.com; JoAnn Klinedinst at joann.klinedinst@informa.com
