This article was written by Mike Schneider, EVP and Principal, Greystone.Net.

The 23^rd Annual Healthcare Internet Conference, or HCIC, is just around the corner. During the first week of November, we’ll be back together again for another couple of days for education, networking, meeting new friends, catching up with old friends, eating, drinking, and recharging. 

Anyone who has ever been to HCIC knows it can be exhilarating, educational and exhausting. There is just so much to see and do and the days are full. Between the keynote sessions, the concurrent sessions, the exhibit hall, the receptions, the vendor parties, and all the activities on site, HCIC is almost 3 or 4 full days of a 24/7 event. If you haven’t been to HCIC, or if you are still contemplating joining us this year, here are just a few of the many reasons you absolutely do not want to miss HCIC 2019!

1. Professional Development. If you attend a webinar on a digital healthcare topic, you might get one topic served up in one hour. At HCIC, in a one-hour concurrent session you will find 8 tracks on 9 different topics. One of those tracks, called Sprints, includes 2 different short presentations in the same period of time as one regular concurrent session. In total, there are 5 Pre-Conference sessions, 72 concurrent sessions, 4 keynote presentations, and a Sunday Pre-Conference event called Let’s Talk. How many webinars would you have to participate in to get that much information? Attendees walk out of HCIC with an entirely new level of knowledge about healthcare and digital. The amount of information and networking is unmatched and efficiently compressed into only a few days.
2. Deep Dives and Answers to your Burning Questions. Chances are, with your digital healthcare responsibilities, you are dealing with crisis. You are trying to put out multiple fires and looking for answers. You might like to know how your peers have solved these kinds of problems:
   1. What vendors do they use?
   2. How big is their budget?
   3. How did they get the resources they have?
   4. Is there a creative way to solve the problem you haven’t thought of? 

   HCIC sessions deliver these answers. You will participate in sessions conducted by your peers and they will share their solutions. They might even trade email with you and stay connected after HCIC. At this conference, you have the opportunity to go really deep on a wide variety of topics with your peers around the country and learn from their experiences. You also get to interact with vendors who often deal with dozens, if not hundreds, of clients and are happy to share their expertise and network with you. 

3. Exposure to New Products and Services. How big is your universe of vendor knowledge? HCIC offers the largest exhibit hall of vendors focused in the digital healthcare space. If you are looking at a specific kind of digital technology or if you are generally just trying to expand your awareness of the vendors and tools in our space, the exhibit hall at HCIC is the place to explore. And you can come and go as you please, so you can spend as much time with the vendors as you like. Just walking through the exhibit hall and learning about the various vendors and their products and services is educational in itself. It also happens to be the place where we hold our evening receptions and offer breaks during the day. So, if you are hungry or thirsty, anyone who has ever been to HCIC will tell you that the exhibit hall is the place to be. We keep our conference attendees well fed and hydrated. 😉 
4. Awards and Recognition. At HCIC, we take time to honor those in our industry who are exceptional. The John Eudes Vision & Excellence Award is given to someone who has made an exceptionally significant, lasting impression in our industry. The Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame Inductions honor those individuals or organizations who have had a major impact in digital healthcare over the years. And the 2019 eHealthcare Leadership Awards Ceremony will recognize the best current healthcare websites and digital communications. These ceremonies provide an opportunity for well-deserved recognition amongst peers and also offer some educational and aspirational value.
5. Networking and Rebooting. By far, the most common comment we get about HCIC is related to networking. When you are locked in your office, you are stuck in a cave by yourself, or maybe a den with your colleagues, day after day. But at HCIC, you can meet new like-minded peers - an entirely new group of people you can socialize with at the conference and afterwards. For many, this becomes a group of peers they can reach out to throughout the year to share, learn, commiserate, and connect with. We offer an atmosphere conducive to relaxing, unwinding, and networking. This year we have a New Attendee Meet & Greet reception especially designed to connect those new to HCIC with some of our regular attendees. On Monday and Tuesday nights, we host a reception in the exhibit hall. Nearly every evening vendors host various events. And the Omni ChampionsGate is the perfect place to unwind alone if you need quiet time or with your colleagues. If you find yourself with a few extra minutes, the pool and the lazy river are exceptional!

HCIC 2019 will be held in Orlando at the Omni ChampionsGate November 4-6. You can register now on the HCIC website at https://www.hcic.net/registration/register-to-attend. If you have any questions about the conference, feel free to reach out to anyone of us here at Greystone. You can reach us via email at info@greystone.net. I hope to see you in Orlando in a few weeks!