How organizations use BIO to advance their TBED goals

Many SSTI members will attend the annual BIO International Convention, which will be held this year in Boston from June 16 to 19. There, they join a cohort of organizations with various connections to the life sciences, including contract research and manufacturing companies, academic centers, "big" pharma, "little" pharma, and foreign nations representing their life sciences efforts. 

"The convention provides a valuable opportunity to engage directly with senior leaders, understand their growth challenges, and connect them with (our) resources,” said Jennifer Leinbach, executive director of the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. “BIO offers in-person time with regional partners I typically meet virtually. Booth collaboration fosters deeper conversations that often lead to new initiatives. Last year, I engaged with university tech transfer offices, venture capitalists, and consultants seeking to invest in Pennsylvania." There are also legal firms, accounting firms, and anyone else who is, in the words of Jim Pannucci, vice president of entrepreneurship & ecosystem development at Activation Capital “anywhere on the dartboard of bio. “BIO typically has 20,000 of your closest friends,” said Brian Darmody, chief strategy officer of the Association of University Research Parks(AURP). 

Forming partnerships is a top reason many attendees go to the conference. “Our primary goal is to form partnerships with entities that also support early-stage entrepreneurs,” said Kris Khalil, executive director & BioFund managing director of the New Orleans BioInnovation Center. “So, we're there sourcing partners. We're there sourcing companies that are sourcing investors who will invest alongside us in early-stage companies. And we've used BIO to help make connections with investors into our portfolio companies."

Pannucci hopes that by going to BIO, Activation Capital can “connect with other ecosystem developers around the country to learn some best practices, drum up some collaborations, maybe meet some vendors that are of interest to us.” As someone who represents a state, Steve Thompson, Oregon STEP director and global trade specialist at Business Oregon, seeks to develop relationships with trade associations, life science firms, and organizations interested in expanding or relocating to Oregon. "My focus personally," said Thompson, is to find like-minded organizations that I can collaborate with." It takes a significant amount of networking to generate partnerships, and BIO allows for an intense networking experience. Troy LeMaile-Stovall, CEO of Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), noted, "There is plenty to learn from just walking the floor and seeing how other states promote their bio life sciences ecosystem." Vickie Palmer, CEO of AURP, and Darmody rely on informal networking to stay in touch with their members, who hail from 44 states. "We go around and make sure our members that are there are connected. We try to help our members build their life science communities of innovation.” (AURP also holds the AURP BIO Health Caucus right before Bio gets underway.) 

Khalil relied on informal networking for the first two years he attended BIO. “I went by myself the first couple years to see what it was about and to see if the investment in BIO for our small biotech incubator was worth it,” he said. One memorable informal networking encounter for Leinbach occurred during a lunch break when she met a scientific officer from a U.K.-based company that was at the time in the process of building a 74,000-square-foot facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, creating 75 new jobs. "What were the chances that out of 18,000 people, I'd sit down next to someone coming to my state and creating 75 jobs?" she asked. 

And then, there are the formal one-on-one partnering sessions. Attendees with a partnership-level ticket can register on the partnering platform and schedule meetings directly. These meetings take place throughout the day at an organization’s booth or in cubicles set up on the conference floor. "The real reason for going to this show is to have a meeting," said Thompson. "…You need to have a conversation with somebody and build rapport with them enough that you get either a second meeting, or if it is the second meeting that you can get to a close on a deal, but that that should be the goal of each of those attendees is focus on the meetings.”

Networking is hard work, but things lighten up around 5 p.m. Some international booths host happy hours. SSTI members have encountered Canadian beer at the Canadian booth, Mexican-style food at the Mexican booth, and Philly cheesesteaks and hoagies at the Pennsylvania booth. “It's a huge networking draw; you can make incredible connections just standing in line," said Leinbach. 

Then, there are the evening receptions. “If you are effectively networking, there is a high likelihood that you'll either be invited to or learn about a networking reception by a big pharma company or a big contract research or manufacturing organization,” said Pannucci. LeMaile-Stovall noted, “I am going to the conference not only to learn, but network with individuals in the life sciences spaces. I don't minimize the social part of being able to meet people sitting at the bar or going to the receptions. Those interactions, to me, are far more powerful than those powered by something transactional or informational type of thing. The happenstance opportunities to meet somebody and just chat about whatever are far more powerful."

One of the biggest roadblocks to attending and exhibiting at BIO for some organizations might be the cost. The best way to overcome the cost barrier is to collaborate with other organizations within your ecosystem. TEDCO shares its booth with the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. “Bio gives us a chance to tell our story both as TEDCO and Maryland, as we build relationships with other entities doing like-minded work that are particularly those in the region,” said LeMaile-Stovall. The New Orleans BioInnovation Center began by partnering with its academic research partner, Tulane University, which helped them learn the ropes for maximizing the conference's benefits. Business Oregon, Oregon’s state economic development and commerce department, is the primary underwriter of its booth and is a co-presenting sponsor with Oregon BIO. Oregon BIO manages and organizes the booth, with Thompson actively involved in related decision-making. In addition to funding the booth, Business Oregon, through the U.S. Small Business Administration-funded State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) program, which Thompson manages in Oregon, also underwrites the attendance of seven companies, with the state and Oregon BIO funding their first-ever Startup Challenge for five bio/life science startups.

The return on investment for attending BIO can be significant. For example, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center attributes its partnerships with federal departments, such as the Center for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), to its participation in the conference. "They have funded programs of ours and helped us establish new programs to support entrepreneurs within their particular area of interest, which is infectious disease and health security," said Khalil. "We've also identified companies that applied to our pitch competition and have won money in that pitch competition." Thompson provided an example of return on investment for one startup Business Oregon had brought to BIO. The startup was seeking three partners to take its business to the next level. "They came back from Bio and had found all three partners and an employee. And when I got their follow-up report, (I saw that) they had  … 18 partner opportunities and 56 leads.”

A few of the members we spoke to offered advice to others who were weighing the pros and cons of attending. Khalil noted that any members who "have a material interest in biotech or life sciences" would benefit from attending BIO. "I understand some SSTI members may not have a specialty of bio or life science within their shop," he said. "But even if they have it within their academic partners, to have a member go and at least attend as an academic partner would be very important for them to do so."

Pannucci advises people to "go in with an open mind and be ready to learn. Have your business cards ready. Be politely aggressive about meeting people. Have a one-minute pitch. Have a handout about your company or project that's simple to read but easily deployable. Take advantage of their partnering app.

"The most important thing is, as silly as it sounds," adds Pannucci, is to wear comfortable shoes." "The trade show is measured in fractions of a mile. … (B)e prepared to haul from one end of this convention center to the other."