“We are very excited about moving our events into a new direction,” Rhiannon James (pictured), group president, pharma, healthcare & technology for Questex, told SIIA Media Alert in an email today. “We’re bringing together like-minded communities into larger events—these are audiences that are in similar or adjacent functions in their respective life sciences businesses but do not currently have an event dedicated to bringing them together.”
As for the new directions, James listed a number of initiatives. “Our new Fierce Engage Week event will be heavily focused on one-to-one curated meetings alongside compelling conference programming,” she said. “We’ve been implementing multiple conference formats—15-minute lighting talks, startup pitches, hackathons, topic-based roundtables—as well as the more traditional presentations and panels. Scheduling enough networking time and providing space to have meetings, introducing quiet zones and multiple wellness initiatives as well to attract attendees.”
Questex has also embraced the concept of creating a more festivaled feeling for events. “Elevated experiences are now expected by audiences,” James said. “These experiences include:
** Business/career growth such as a headshot lounge and AI-enabled matchmaking for 1:1 meetings in a dedicated space;
** Elevating typical experiences like espresso carts offering fancy, made-to-order drinks, conversation cups at coffee stations, gelato tastings during a session break, elevated, inspirational videos that kick off each day, high-quality food and themed meals;
** Fun, unexpected activities like puppy parks, wellness lounges, claw machines, golf simulators for attendees to enjoy on expo show floors and offsite events like ballgames and wine tastings.
“The success of our events with festival experiences proves that business can be done in a fun atmosphere through immersive content and the ability to make connections,” James said. “Festivals create momentum of community and year-long touch points and opportunities beyond a one-day event.”
The new offerings fit well with the findings of Freeman’s 2024 Event Organizer Trends Report.
Questex seems to be on the money with its 15-minute lightning talks, startup pitches, and hackathons. Rather than “traditional classroom sessions… attendees want collaborative learning experiences like hands-on interactions, demonstrations, and informal meetings with SMEs,” the report says. “Although there’s a time and place for lectures, attendees are telling us that the on-site event isn’t it.” In addition, “discovering new products/solutions has surpassed networking (87% to 67%) as the most important element for attendees.”
Almost in direct response to that, James wrote this. “We’ll have new product planning, marketing, medical affairs and PR teams together for the first time—and we’re looking to bring in new adjacent audiences as the show grows… We think the largest differences will be in unlocking potential of cross collaboration between these teams and with our vendor communities. We’re already seeing our vendors wanting to reach more than one community at the Fierce Pharma Week—and we will be providing new activations and sponsorships designed to help them reach multiple audiences in one event.”
