Is BIO International Too Big To Effectively Network?
By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
Follow Me On Twitter @RfwrightLSL
By Rob Wright
When I reflect back on some of the recent articles written for Life Science Leader magazine, it is interesting to note how many of them began with a simple discussion while attending an event. BIO International is one event that has been very fruitful for Life Science Leader — providing us with opportunities to network and interact with industry thought leaders. The result of these engagements often has led to an article containing business best practice editorial with the actionable information. Below, I give you just a few examples of people we have had the opportunity to meet in person at BIO International over the past few years.
Big Names At BIO
When we first created the Life Science Leader editorial advisory board, we asked G. Steven Burrill if he would be willing to help us out. He graciously accepted. People have asked doubtfully, “How really involved is Steven?” The implication being that he is a figurehead and not an active participant. This could not be further from the truth. Whenever I run into him at a show, he makes a point to introduce me to someone of note. For example, he introduced us to J. Craig Venter, 1 of the 100 most influential people in the world. Steven also has participated in our monthly feature, Ask The Board, provided insight for outlook articles, and is the only person to be twice featured on the cover of Life Science Leader, most recently in February 2012.
I first met David Meeker, M.D., CEO of Genzyme, at BIO International. He was giving a talk on the challenges of Orphan Drug discovery. During his presentation, he relayed a recent visit to see his own doctor, painting the picture of how vulnerable patients feel. Afterward, I went up to him, introduced myself, and proposed doing an article on the subject. He agreed.
Roch Doliveux, CEO of UCB and the cover feature for our February 2013 issue, was another individual I met at BIO. Roch (pronounced Rock) was chairing a session on gaining alignment between providers, payors, and pharma to facilitate faster drug discovery. He and I discussed possibly focusing on this as a topic for an article. But when I saw their recent sales results being driven by success in the U.S., I thought an article about this versus the constant attention being given to emerging markets would be a nice change of pace.
All of these people I met attending sessions at BIO. But there are other valuable networking opportunities at BIO.
BIO’s Big Network
Maxine Gowen, CEO of Trevena, was recently named CEO of the Year by PA Bio. I met her in person at a BIO networking function at the Washington Newseum. During our interview for the cover feature article, she walked me through the challenges of taking on the job of CEO for a start-up, providing some candid insight, not all of which made it into the article, but came in handy for conversations with other executives. Another interesting person I met while networking at BIO, Heather Erickson, president and CEO of the Life Sciences Foundation (LSF), was introduced to me by Life Science Leader editorial advisory board member Jeff Evans, cofounder of Rondaxe. Just take a look at the LSF board of directors and board of advisors, and you will understand just how connected Heather is to the life science industry.
My first in-depth conversation with Tom D’Ambra, CEO of AMRI, took place at his company’s exhibit booth at BIO. Tom got me up to speed on SMARTSOURCING™, and also took the time to really listen. For example, I explained to him how Life Science Leader doesn’t write features about vendors or potential advertisers. However, I welcomed his help in connecting to pharma and bio executives within industry for potential future editorial. Tom took me up on this, introducing me to Alan Palkowitz, VP of discovery chemistry research and technologies at Eli Lilly. This led to a feature article in the November 2012 issue. Thanks Tom. That same day, I attended an afterhours networking session hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Cynthia Sweet, who works for the University’s office of corporate relations, introduced me to Philip Haydon, cofounder of GliaCure. After our discussion, he decided to submit an article describing the only path to true innovation in drug discovery.
My point is this: though BIO is BIG, it still provides multiple opportunities to connect and network with big players in industry. Make the time to plan where you want to go at BIO and perhaps you will achieve similar success. Want to learn more about BIO? You can sign up for email updates by clicking here and going the bottom right hand side of the webpage.