If you work in health IT, you know that the annual HIMSS conference is the biggest industry event each year whether you are headed to Orlando in three weeks or not. The number of emails, blog posts, social media posts, and articles providing guidance and recommendations on HIMSS20 grows with each passing day.

In the next two weeks I’m wrapping up my current interim CTO engagement at University of Vermont Health Network and handing off to the new CTO. If like me you are super busy at work, making your game plan for HIMSS20 is probably low on your priority list. With so much info out there, I decided to pull together some resources that might help in your preparation.

Whether you are attending in person or following the happenings from a distance, the Official HIMSS20 Hashtag Guide will help you focus in on your areas of interest. My top picks this year are #WomenInHIT, #HealthcareStartup, #HealthcareInnovation, and #PatientEngagement. And of course, you’ll want to follow all the HIMSS digital influencers. You can follow and engage with them using hashtag #BeTheChange. If you’re looking for who the 2020 social media ambassadors are, the digital influencers have replaced them with a new and more expansive program.

Several recent blog posts are worth checking out for more previews and tips:

• The StarBridge Advisors blog post from principal, David Muntz – “HIMSS20 – My Annual Exercise in HIT Sensory Overload“ covers the big trends he sees in health IT.
• David Chou’s recent post does a quick wrap up on the J.P. Morgan’s 38^th annual Healthcare Conference and tees up what CIOs should focus on at HIMSS20 – “#JPM20 is over. Now it is time for #HIMSS20”.
• John Lynn’s recent post “Connect, Learn, and Meet Up with People at #HIMSS20” highlights a number of meetups you might want to consider. After all, HIMSS conferences are about learning and networking.
• Lygeia Ricciardi’s “Tips for Navigating HIMSS20” is a great compilation of sage advice from many veterans of previous conferences. Love the FOMO comment – HIMSS conferences are definitely overload so plan carefully.

With my focus on developing women leaders in health IT, I’m looking forward to the Women in Healthcare and Tech: Closing the Gap to Strategic Leadership session on March 10 from 10:30AM-11:30AM. A panel of trailblazers with backgrounds in healthcare and technology will discuss empowering women and closing the gap to strategic leadership.

I will be one of the facilitators at the Diversity Mentor Meetup on March 11 from 2:30PM-3:30PM hosted by the Global Health Equity Network. Topics at the different roundtables will include: Breaking the Glass Ceiling to Enter the C-suite, Building Thought Leadership, How to have challenging conversations, Navigating negotiating skills, Promoting diversity and inclusion at work, and Work/life balance. Should be some great discussions!

Just before HIMSS19 last year, we launched a new service at StarBridge Advisors focused on developing women leaders in health IT – C-change. While online courses for individual women are still an option, in 2020, we are focusing more on bringing programs to IT organizations. If you are committed to developing your IT leaders and are interested in learning more about how we can work with your current and future women leaders, I’d love to talk with you at HIMSS20.

StarBridge Advisors principals David Muntz, Russ Rudish and I will all be at HIMSS20 along with several of our advisors. Please let me know if you are interested in meeting with us while there.

I’m looking forward to a great conference with plenty to learn, new people to meet, and colleagues to catch up with. And as I say every year, bring comfy shoes! You will get 1000s of steps in every day.