Partnering Launches for the International Convention

Posted under 2012 BIO International Convention, 2012 Business Forum, BIO Events, Blog, Boston, Business and Investments, business development, Companies, Diagnostics, Events, exhibitor partnering, Funding, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, One-on-One's, Partnering, Pharmaceuticals, profile, search, Startups, Universities, Videos, What would George do? by biotechnow@bio.org (Biotechnology Industry Organization)

It’s here folks! The One-on-One Partnering™ System for this year’s BIO Business Forum® and Exhibitor Partnering has officially launched! What does that mean? If you’re registered for the event, you’ll be receiving your login credentials shortly. If you’re not registered, you should do that now, so you can get in to the system. From there, you can start building your company’s profile, search for companies, and send your targeted meeting requests.

This year, we’re pleased to debut a variety of new and exciting features. The biggest of all being the addition of Exhibitors in the Partnering System. We’ll go into more detail about some key differences between the Business Forum and Exhibitor Partnering in a future post, but for now, take a look at some other new features.

• The new and improved Company Profile! There was a point in time when you had to complete 10 steps in order to add information about your company. How many are there now? Four! The change is not just about making it easier to complete and update your profile – it’s meant to consolidate the most important things about your company and allow your visitors to get the true breadth of what you do. At the end of the day, it’s not only about licensing projects, it’s about being able to list all the products and services, current and future, and the brand of your company’s work.

 

• The Delegate Profile becomes more relevant. For the first time ever, the information you add to your delegate profile can be carried over to a future One-on-One Partnering event. Plus, it’s been simplified, and you can add the networks you care about most.

 

• Search arrives in the Message Center. Sometimes, you need to find an email pretty quickly, especially when you’re onsite at the event. Voila! You can now search for companies in your messages. We think this will prove to be one of the handiest upgrades for our attendees.

 

 

We’ll be going into more detail about these new features in future posts, so please stay tuned! You can also reach us at biopartnering@bio.org with any questions or comments about the system.

Happy Partnering!

April 11th Webinar: Expanded Partnering

Posted under 2012 BIO International Convention, 2012 Business Forum, BIO Events, Blog, business development, Companies, Diagnostics, Events, exhibitor partnering, Funding, how-to's & tutorials, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, One-on-One's, Partnering, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos, webinar, What would George do? by biotechnow@bio.org (Biotechnology Industry Organization)

Join us for Part 3 of the 4 webinar series outlining NEW exhibitor booth partnering, One-on-One System enhancements, and how to get more ROI using partnering at the 2012 BIO International Convention.

Unlock the Power of Partnering:

Webinar & Discussion on Expanded Partnering and Tips for Partnering Success at BIO

Wednesday, April 11th

11:00 am – 12:00 pm ET

RSVP Here

This partnering webinar will cover the following:

• New in 2012: Expanded Opportunities with Exhibitor Booth Partnering – What to Expect
• One-on-One Partnering System Enhancements
• Tips For a Better Branded Online Company Profile
• The Power of Search to Find Potential Partners
• Customer Service and Partnering Support
• Discussion and FAQs

Mark your calendar and RSVP! Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email with details on how to join the webinar.

Missed the first two webinars? Here are some additional resources.

• Part 1: Succeed in Exhibitor Booth Partnering
• Part 2: Exhibitor Booth Partnering – Planning, Booth Tips & Registration
• Exhibitor Partnering Toolkit
• Tips from a partnering pro, Abbott Laboratories

Looking forward to speaking with you! Your Partnering Team,

Joe, Rena’e & Kirsten

Follow us on twitter and use #bio2012 to connect with other attendees.

Meet 2011′s Buzz of BIO Winner, Amrita Therapeutics

Posted under 2012 BIO International Convention, 2012 Business Forum, BIO Business Forum, BIO International Convention, Blog, Boston, Business and Investments, business development, Buzz of BIO, Cancer, Companies, Diagnostics, Discovery, Events, Funding, india, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, oncology, One-on-One's, Partnering, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos, What would George do? by biotechnow@bio.org (Biotechnology Industry Organization)

2011 Buzz of BIO Health Winner

Amrita Therapeutics is a bio-pharma discovery company based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, pursuing the development of novel, multiple disease targeting therapies for cancer. Last year, they won the Buzz of BIO Contest for the 2011 BIO International Convention, where industry executives and leaders voted on their favorite biotech companies. BIO recently spoke with Susan Finston, the CEO of Amrita Therapeutics, to get their thoughts on the contest, last year’s BIO event, and what their company is up to now.

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For a young company like Amrita Therapeutics, being chosen as the Buzz of BIO winner was truly an amazing experience akin to that of Cinderella at the ball . . . if the ball had lasted four days! As CEO/MD for Amrita and the Buzz winner, I received complimentary registration for the BIO International Convention with full access to educational/policy sessions, BIO Exhibition, and most important of all – the BIO Business Forum, which also included a Company Presentation for our company.

The sheer size and scope of the Convention can be challenging for a small company to navigate. While I have attended the event for the last several years, the Buzz of BIO contest helped me think strategically about different aspects of the Convention and how they all come together to support Amrita’s business development and fundraising efforts. The BIO Business Forum was important for two reasons, providing both a coveted 15-minute slot to make an extended “elevator pitch” for Amrita to industry leaders, and opportunities for focused partnering meetings.

The prospect of the 15-minute BIO Business Forum presentation was both terrifying and exhilarating. It was hard for me to imagine that those lining up to see presentations from Takeda, Pfizer, and other global companies, would attend Amrita’s briefing as well. The Buzz of BIO team got the word out about the Amrita briefing! It was an incredible experience to step up to the podium of the BIO Business Forum to see a packed room for our presentation. (The Convention was also our first experience with making videos of Amrita presentations, and the BIO Business Forum presentation is available on the Amrita website www.amritatherapeutics.com.)

Also at the BIO Business Forum, Amrita was able to request and accept one-on-one “speed dating” meetings with companies that have led to continuing discussions with potential for longer term R&D partnerships, out-licensing and/or equity investment in Amrita. As noted by Jim Greenwood, President and CEO of BIO, the goal of the Buzz of BIO is to “help lend a voice to companies that may be overshadowed by the larger, more established organizations within the industry.” That was my experience for Amrita last year. Without the greater visibility for a small company like Amrita, it is hard to imagine that we would have garnered the positive attention of major bio-pharmaceutical companies at the Convention.

For companies that are entering the Buzz of BIO competition this year, the process is a concentrated version of the focused networking efforts that every company needs for long-term success. Each year brings a greater wealth of digital and social media outlets to drive attention to companies in the contest, and the same is true this year. Win, lose or draw, the Buzz of BIO competition provides a wonderful opportunity for all competing companies to garner attention at the 2012 BIO International Convention!

Where are we now? Last year we had only provisional patent applications and in vitro data for our lead peptide drug. Now, Amrita has filed our first two full utility/PCT patents and R&D has continued apace with development of additional drug candidates. In particular, we hope to be able to share our initial in vivo results in June. We also will be presenting an international case study on ongoing R&D between Amrita in India and a leading research institute in Portugal, the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST).

The BIO International Convention has become an integral part of our strategy towards meeting our business development and fundraising goals. Amrita co-founder Ananda M. Chakrabarty and I look forward to seeing you in Boston!

Amrita will be returning to the Business Forum to give company presentation at this year’s event. Stay tuned for their presentation time, to be posted in myBIO!

Exhibitor Partnering: A Toolkit

Posted under 2012 BIO International Convention, 2012 Business Forum, BIO Business Forum, Blog, Boston, Business and Investments, business development, Companies, Diagnostics, Events, exhibit hall, exhibitor partnering, Funding, how-to's & tutorials, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, One-on-One's, Partnering, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos, What would George do? by biotechnow@bio.org (Biotechnology Industry Organization)

Traditionally, all private meetings at the BIO International convention have taken place in the BIO Business Forum®. If you were partnering, you would be found in a booth space within the Business Forum, end of story.

This year, however, there’s Exhibitor Partnering, a completely new feature of the BIO International Convention and the BIO Business Forum. The Business Forum will still very much exist, and you can see exactly where in the map below of the BIO 2012 floor plan for the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. (See the green area.) Exhibitor Partnering will allow qualified exhibitors to hold meetings in their traditional exhibitor booths (see purple), and will use the One-on-One Partnering™ System to do so.

What does this mean? Lots. And we’ve put together a toolkit to answer your questions, tell you more, and guide you through this really cool new feature of the event.

Click here to access Part One of the Exhibitor Partnering Toolkit.

What you’ll find:

• Important deadlines and reminders
• Access to past webinars
• Booth design suggestions
• Explanation of common Partnering terminology
  
• The number of potential meetings for your booth space
• And other planning tips

We’ll post the next Toolkit soon, as this is the first in a series we’re designing, and please feel free to tweet us @bio1x1 if you have any questions!

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The BIO Exhibition proves to generate new business with the global industry at your fingertips. It’s where participants create partnerships, showcase new innovations and products, network, and much more.  Of the many important values in attending the BIO Exhibition, global networking was the single greatest in 2011. For more information on who exhibits and attends the BIO International Convention, click here.

Interested in exhibiting?
Give us a call at +1.202.312.9264 or email exhibit@bio.org