By John Wallace
Twenty years ago, MD Publishing Founder John Krieg decided to go for a swim workout. As the laps ticked by, inspiration struck. Before we examine the ripple effects, let’s look at the preparation that led up to Krieg’s dive into the medical device industry and, eventually, healthcare technology management (HTM).
STARTING BLOCKS
The 1990s witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union, ending the decades-long Cold War, and the rise of the Internet. It was also the decade that a new trade magazine called Medical Dealer was first published. MD Publishing printed the first issue in 1996. Krieg, who had a newborn at home, was a one-man shop in the beginning. He sold ads, wrote articles and designed the pages while working from a desk within arm’s reach of a baby crib. His home office was in his first child’s nursery.
The magazine enjoyed early success as readership grew. It was a magazine about medical device sales, service and repairs. The advertisements in the magazine told readers about the companies that could help them provide quality patient care via the latest devices. It shared how to service the vital equipment hospitals used daily.
DEEP DIVE
Krieg’s swim workout six years later in June of 2002 provided a moment of clarity. He was in “the zone” as a thought began to swim around in his mind.
“How can I bring the readers of Medical Dealer together with its advertisers?” Krieg asked himself.
The answer was a trade show. Not just any trade show, but the first-ever MD Expo (which its inaugural year was called the Medical Dealer Expo) was held in October of 2002 with education offered by DITEC. MD Publishing did not dip its toe into the water. Krieg and company dove in headfirst making a splash heard and felt throughout the industry.
SPRINGBOARD
As the expo and magazine grew, they fed off each other spring boarding both to new heights. MD Publishing grew and continues to grow to this day. The magazine lineup now includes three monthly magazines — TechNation, OR Today, Imaging Community Exchange (ICE) — as well as websites, webinars, the HTM Jobs career site and sister-company, MedWrench.
MD Expo is now held twice a year with a conference each spring and fall. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the U.S. the company shifted gears and held regional HTM Mixers that were smaller and safer than large gatherings. MD Expo now includes additional features including a leadership summit, reverse expo and launched its Young Professionals at MD Expo (aka YP@MD) in 2019.
THE EARLY YEARS
DITEC founder and longtime MD Expo supporter Manny Roman recalls the early conferences were held in the Atlanta area, including the very first conference held at Callaway Resort & Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
Roman and Krieg first met at a North Carolina Biomedical Association conference. When Krieg decided to launch the inaugural MD Expo, he contacted Roman to see if DITEC could help coordinate educational sessions.
“There really was a need for somebody to put something together that encompassed the whole industry and John was in a position to do that,” Roman recalled. “We tried to help any way we could. We initially started helping with putting together the presenters. I think it was two or three years down the line and MD Publishing was ready to take on that task on their own. They had established enough relationships with the whole industry that they were ready to make it what it is today.”
The Georgia Biomedical and Instrumentation Society (GBIS) also played a role in MD Expo’s origins.
GBIS Executive Director Horace Hunter and Board of Trustee member Mike O’Rear recalled their first interactions with MD Expo.
Hunter said that GBIS supported MD Expo very early on in connection with its annual conference.
O’Rear taught a CBET Review class at one of the first MD Expos. He talked about how MD Expo has changed over the years and said he encourages HTM professionals to attend.
“It is a place where you have a chance to meet other people in the field, expand your base, and also you get to look at some new medical devices and innovations,” O’Rear said. “It’s always been a very good conference for me. I always learn a lot and meet people.”
Dave Scott, CBET, works in Colorado and is a key member of CABMET. He almost had to pull out a calculator when asked about MD Expo.
“I was trying to add these up. I’ve been to every MD Expo from 2015 to present plus a few more,” Scott said. “I think it’s 19 total. This one coming up in Atlanta will be 20 for me! Not counting HTM Mixers.”
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Maull Biomedical Training LLC President Steve Maull said the MD Expo is a “can’t miss!” event.
“The educational opportunities and the networking are top notch. Other shows also have training and networking, but the folks that put on MD Expo twice a year do a remarkable job of making the social aspect of the show top notch; the contacts and personal relationships you create here are the most valuable part of the MD Expo,” Maull explained.
When asked how MD Expo has changed since the early years, Roman said the conference has grown to be one of the largest for HTM professionals.
“I don’t know that the focus has changed. I think the focus has always been to provide an opportunity for people – industry professionals and suppliers – that work with products and services to get together and establish relationships which is the main focus,” Roman said. “We are in a relationship business, whether people realize it or not, and the main focus is to help people establish relationships that enhance the industry and in their businesses. I think that has always been the goal. At MD Expo there is a lot more participation, a lot more varied venues where people get the opportunity to attend as if it were regional but it’s national. I think that it has been accepted as THE place to be and one thing that’s always been part of it is that with the education and with the whole package comes the ability to actually get together and have some fun.”
Steve Kelley, regional director of biomedical engineering at Piedmont Healthcare, said every MD Expo he has attended was a home run.
“They have all been fantastic. The thing I like about MD Expo’s training sessions is they are more focused for me … most of the ones at MD Expo are real life guys who have been through it and are sharing good information,” Kelley said.
Scott, who has taught a CBET review class at previous MD Expos, said he and his wife usually arrive early or stay late and turn the trip into a mini vacation. It is fitting considering he described MD Expo as “fun mixed with learning and networking.”
“I don’t know if it’s a goal of the MD Expo staff for everyone to have fun, but I always do! It’s something I look forward to and I feel it energizes me for my job when I get back to work,” Scott said. “Sharing what I learned with others I work with and passing out all the goodies I gather from the trade show. It’s refreshing to meet so many people that are as excited about biomed as I am. I like listening to others and hearing them share their stories and experiences.”
The InterMed Group CEO and Founder Rick Staab also shared MD Expo memories and what the biannual conference means to the HTM field.
“There’s always an element where you get to mingle with other people in the industry, we always call it “coopertition” (combination of cooperation and competition) because we try to work with the same people who we are competing with,” Staab said. “John did a remarkably good job. It (the first MD Expo) was like a time to go have fun with the people you knew in the industry that you could also do business with, but unlike some other conferences – that are all about business – there’s got to be a fun element to what you do as well. I think that’s what MD Expo has really done is made it fun for everybody to be involved in this business.”
“Everybody always says, ‘Work hard, play hard’ and MD Expo is a time where you could do both. You have to get business done in face-to-face meetings with these people, but it’s in a relaxed atmosphere. It’s like a weekend or a week of playing golf with your potential customers or clients – your coopertition,” he added.
MD Expo brings people together and creates relationships. The conference features specifically designed social events to help people network and expand their professional network. These events are often praised, but more than one longtime attendee said multi-million dollar deals also happen by chance when two individuals from the industry bump into each other in the hotel’s fitness center, bar or one of the common areas.
“Just being there was where business got done because you would be sitting at the bar or something and it was a way to make the connectivity happen,” Staab said. “Otherwise, how are you ever going to find out about that person or their needs if you’re not there face-to-face with them? Sometimes it just happens when you’re not trying to make it happen so hard.”
Kelley agreed.
“There is nothing stuffy about MD Expo. It is very open and very welcoming,” he said. “It is designed to be entertainment as well as learning and a chance to have camaraderie. They do a really good job of creating opportunities to connect with others and enjoy yourself.”
BUSINESS BOOST
Southeastern Biomedical’s Greg Johnson shared how MD Expo helps businesses.
“It has been tremendous. It has provided us such a great opportunity to network with our industry. I think this became really obvious during the last MD Expo in Las Vegas,” Johnson explained. “Since COVID started, attendance at recent MD Expos and state shows have been off. And, of course, AAMI has canceled the last two meetings. From my perspective, this last MD Expo in Vegas really seemed like old times and was almost back to normal.”
“Being able to see so many of our customers and business associates at one time in the same place is really a good thing. This is probably the best aspect of attending,” Johnson added.
When asked how MD Expo has helped Southeastern Biomedical grow, Johnson said, “I have left every Expo feeling like it was a very good use of my time and travel expense to attend.”
Johnson added, “The MD Expo provides world-class education to the biomedical/HTM industry and also enables attendees and vendors the opportunity to network all in one place at the same time.”
Maull is not sure where his business would be without MD Expo.
“To be honest, it has truly enhanced how much I love doing what I do for a living. It’s given me the opportunity to meet and, in many cases, become friends with a great number of people that I do business with in this industry. The MD Expos give us a place to meet face to face, have a drink or go out to dinner and truly become friends with many people in the industry that would otherwise just be faceless names we know of only through email,” Maull said. “Many of the people I have gotten to know through the MD Expos I consider good friends; the personal connections we have made at the shows have truly enhanced our ability to do business in this industry. The great Manny Roman always said, ‘People like doing business with people they like doing business with.’”
When asked to estimate what it has brought to his company, Maull said, “That is almost impossible to answer because it is cumulative. I went to the very first MD Expo way back and over the years I think I’ve only missed three or four. In any one year it may generate $20K to $40K, but then the next year we will still be getting business from those contacts we made last year, but then we will get new business from the shows this year. And then the next year we build upon that even more, and so on, and so on. I hate to miss a show because it feels like I’ve disrupted the flow to new business.”
MEMORIES
Johnson is one of many who counts the “hurricane party” among his favorite MD Expo memories.
“One of the most memorable to me was the year we had the hurricane come through at Stone Mountain. I remember the power being out and the hotel had put glow sticks out on the floors to provide light in the hallways,” Johnson explained. “I also remember having the hurricane party in a large tent outside of the hotel. I remember looking up at the very center of the ceiling in the tent and seeing a chandelier swinging back and forth due to the wind. I stayed away from underneath it because I just knew it was going to come crashing down at any time.”
He found some humor in the situation.
“I remember laughing (and still do from time to time) thinking about how the Atlanta news headlines were going to read about the so-called ‘educated idiots in the medical equipment industry’ being killed at a party in a temporary tent during the hurricane,” Johnson said.
Looking back over two decades of MD Expo conferences is fun. The event has grown and continues to shift as needed to serve the HTM community whether that be a new HTM Mixer, the addition of a reverse expo or something no one has thought of … yet.
USOC Medical’s Amy Hobbs has too many found memories to pick a favorite.
“I don’t think that I can have just one great memory because I have hundreds. Every time I go [to an MD Expo] a new one is created which make this show better every year. The staff and the memories they create have been priceless,” Hobbs said.
Staab shared his thoughts on what MD Expo means to HTM.
“It has made the journey enjoyable. It makes our industry seem like a big family. It’s perfect and nobody else does that,” Staab said. “To me, MD Expo is like a big think tank where you bring in the people from all these different institutions or companies and you allow them to put down their guards so they’re not working in silos. You can take the lessons learned and apply them to our industry and you can’t do that with these other groups. John and MD Expo are all for making our industry better.”
See for yourself what MD Expo is all about. Registration is open online at MDExpoShow.com for the upcoming conference in Atlanta, Georgia April 11-13.