JPM24: Succeeding on the Sidelines
Much like San Francisco Pride, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco has evolved into a variety of citywide events.
While the core of the conference was located in Union Square, featuring speakers from former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Tony Blair to JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and presentations from industry incumbents like Mayo Clinic, Walgreens, CVS and Cigna, the real action was at the events hosted across the city.
One such event is the Italian Government’s “Italy on the Move,” where the Italian government showcases its competitive and vibrant life sciences companies, and educates investors on why Italy is Europe’s hub for life sciences innovation.
For the last few years, I have had the privilege of hosting this event on the sidelines of JPM, and this year Bospar was able to welcome over 100 investors, journalists and industry professionals to the Italian government’s innovation outpost several blocks from the conference – a major undertaking when you consider an evening event that is competing for investor attention from the conference itself, 5,700 partner meetings, as well as no doubt countless dinner reservations across San Francisco’s impressive food scene.
I had the opportunity to speak with reporters and investors before and also at the event on the sidelines of JPM24, and a few key takeaways emerged on how to best take advantage of a major conference – without even going:
- Cater to reporters: First, make sure you know what they are already covering before pitching them on the details of your event. For ABC7, the story was about San Francisco’s importance in the biotech scene and the city’s shining moment on the heels of the much criticized APEC Summit. This allowed us to tailor the pitch and the offering to make it easy to showcase Italy on the Move as the place to get great footage of an event attracting global attention and the opportunity to film important people talking about their experience in the city.
- Appeal to investors: First, bring the goods. To attract the right audience, we featured opening remarks by the Ambassador of Italy to the U.S., the Consul General of Italy in San Francisco and the Trade Commissioner of the Italian Trade Agency. With a bit of government star power, we then introduced a panel of industry experts to talk about the opportunities for investment.
- Bring food and cocktails: We provided a relaxing environment with great food and Italian cocktails like Negronis and Aperol Spritzes. That made for a comfortable offramp from the conference itself.
- Light up the socials: To guarantee attendance on a rainy San Francisco day from folks who may have sent RSVPs weeks ago, it was important to stay in front of them on social media. We created 20 LinkedIn and X posts to drive registrations and keep the event top of mind and had over 400 interactions with attendees before the event.
- Employ video: Finally, I recommend a flashy recap video that can be used throughout the year to create buzz for the next big event.
The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is truly a citywide event, and, like SF Pride, that is something to celebrate!