If you work in health IT, you know that the annual HIMSS conference is the biggest annual industry event whether you are headed to Orlando in two weeks or not. The number of emails, blog posts, social media posts, and articles providing guidance and recommendations on HIMSS19 grows with each passing day. And to this year’s theme – yes, we are all champions transforming healthcare through technology!

With so much info out there and so many scheduling choices to make, here are a few more resources and recommendations that might help in your final preparation.

Whether you are attending in person or following the happenings from a distance, the Official HIMSS19 Hashtag Guide will help you focus in on your areas of interest. And of course, you’ll want to follow all the social media ambassadors.

Check out the StarBridge Advisors blog post from principal, David Muntz – “Prepare to visit HIMSS2019 – Health IT’s Magic Kingdom”. David gives his advice for optimal prep and shares our principals’ top picks for this year – mine are #WomenInHIT, #HITventure and #Engage4Health.

At the Career Development Seminar on February 11, David will be presenting “Opportunities in the Rapidly Changing HIT Environment” at Session #4 from 1:00PM-2:00PM and hosting a mentor roundtable on “Future of the Industry” at 3:15PM.

The career fair on Wednesday from 8:30AM-3:30PM is something to consider checking out if you are early in your HIT career, looking for a change, or just want to get some tips from the experts. There is no fee, but separate registration is required.

I’m looking forward to hearing the panel at the #WomeninHIT Meetup – Changing the Scales to #BalanceforBetter on February 12 from 3:00PM-3:45PM at the HIMSS Spot. StarBridge Advisors will be launching a new initiative focused on developing women leaders prior to HIMSS19 – more on this in an upcoming blog.

I’m looking forward to a great conference with plenty to learn, new people to meet, and colleagues to catch up with. It will be fun to share some of my experience and insight at the Health Technology Alliance (HTA) session at the HIMSS Spot on February 13 from 9:00AM-9:45AM on the importance of IT having a strong relationship with their Health Technology Management (HTM) department. I will be co-presenting with Pam Arora, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Children’s Health.

I will also be one of the facilitators at the Mentor Meetup on February 14 from 10:00AM-11:00AM hosted by Women in Health Information and Technology Roundtable.  My topic is “Breaking the Glass Ceiling to Enter the C-Suite.” Other table topics include: Confronting Unconscious Bias, Networking for the Future, and Women Entrepreneurs.  Should be some great discussions!

StarBridge Advisors principals David Muntz, Russ Rudish and I will be at HIMSS19 along with several of our advisors. Let me know if you are interested in meeting with us while there.

For you veteran HIMSS attendees who manage to effectively navigate the venue, block out the noise and distractions, while maintaining a laser focus on your conference goals, please share your tips with the rest of us.

As I say every year, my final advice as you prepare for HIMSS19 is bring comfy shoes! You will get thousands of steps in every day.