HIMSS is near . . .aren't you excited?

The other day I was trying to get my arms around my calendar. February 3, the Patriots march toward perfection. The week of February 11, on the road to visit clients. The week of February 18, school vacation week in the northeast.  Then it hit me.  February 24 through the 28, the Grand Daddy of them all . . . HIMSS!

I have been in the healthcare industry for 23 years. This year will mark my seventeenth trip to HIMSS.  The fact is that I look forward to this event every year. It is a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, clients, competitors, et al.  So you can see that I really enjoy the event.  However, there are some things that I would like to see changed.

1. I realize that healthcare is a national agenda.  I also realize that HIMSS wants to be the national (although it is trying to be global as well) voice for healthcare information technology. The issue I have is that too much of HIMSS focus is now on "advocacy".  To me, this initiative creates too much noise.  It gets too much press.  What percentage of all HIMSS members really care about what HIMSS is doing for advocacy?  I bet not a high percentage.
2. Stale topics. How many HIMSS educational sessions have new topics? Don't worry, if you miss a presentation at HIMSS National, it will show up at a chapter meeting sometime.
3. "Vendor on Vendor crime".  HIMSS should mandate that no vendor can visit another vendor's booth until Wednesday at the earliest.  The partnership opportunities and launches of foreign companies in the US can and should be set aside from the normal exhibiting times. In fact a special time should be arranged in the exhibit hall for those companies that want to discuss partnerships, venture capital, acquisitions and other "win/win" opportunities.
4. Use of union labor.  For those of you who have set up a booth and supervised breakdown, is it really fair that we have to stand around and wait for delivery of the booth crates, deal with "breaks every 15 minutes", and labor that is no better equipped to assemble or dismantle your booth than you are?
5. CPHIMS certification, great way to study/learn topics of importance, but does the certification really mean something?  (I'm an alumna of the first class of certifications in 2002).

I know this is coming off sounding like an Andy Rooney classic.  Truth be told, I really enjoy HIMSS.  Aside from the static I have highlighted, where else can you go and accomplish months' worth of sales calls, networking and education in a three-day span?

With that said, please come by our booth (#6853) and say "Hello".  I will be there with Red Bull flowing through my veins and "gellin like a felon" with my Dr. Scholl's inserts.