BioConference Live Show

Guests

Intro:

According to an article in Bloomberg’s Business Week, companies spend nearly $32 billion on conferences annually.  Of that amount, 58% goes to hotels, food, and beverages.  Recently I “attended” BioConference Live 2011, the leading virtual conference devoted to the life sciences.   In the new online age, the concept of “attending” continues to be redefined.   Promotion and registration proceed like with any conference.  I first heard of the online conference back in 2009, though I didn’t attend.  This year’s Spring Show boasted sessions covering topics ranging from genetics, genomics, proteomics, neurobiology, lab automation, social media & life sciences, autism, and more.  The Keynote address, “Biotech 2011 Life Sciences: Looking Back to See Ahead” featured Steven Burrill, writer of the Burrill Report.  Registration to attend the conference was free.

An email arrived in early February promoting the Spring Conference and I immediately signed up.  In late Feb another email came with highlights of  the lectures. Each lecture listed was followed by a link to add the lecture to an electronic calendar.

Technically the show is very well organized and the “lobby” even conveys a sense that you are at  at a convention center with a flash picture of a conference lobby,  folks walking around and doors open to the Exhibit.  Will this be the future?   TheExhibit Hall was a collection of booths with links to the vendors’ websites.  Many vendors did have videos created, it appeared, specifically for the show.

One of the huge plusses for the online conference is that all of the talks are recorded and made available for download after the show.  I watched several talks long after the official dates for the conference.  In fact, the talks will be available until the next conference.

You can read more about my experience as an attendee of the online show in a blog on our site.  Was the show well attended?  Are the vendors in the exhibit hall happy with this format?  What is it like as a presenter not to have a live audience?  We will find out the answers to these questions and more from our guests on today’s show.

First, I interview the founder of the conference, Greg Cruikshank.  Next we talk to Steve Burrill of Burrill and Company.  Steve gave the keynote talk.  Finally I interview two folks from Enzo Life Sciences about their experience as an exhibitor.  Join us today as we explore the online conference space.