As we all gear up for the AUTM Annual Meeting, I wanted to reach out to those who are attending the Annual Meeting for the first time. Some of you might be new to the exciting field of Technology Commercialization. To you I say “Congratulations and enjoy the ride!” Others might be veterans who might not have had a chance to attend the Annual Meetings for a while, to you I say “Welcome back! We have been waiting for you”.
Regardless of whether you are a novice or an old hat, there will be something for everone at this year's Annual Meeting: a fantastic forum for networking, excellent training events, high impact special events such as a Fireside Chat, the AUTM Debate, the Industry/Academia Parterning Forum, the Venture Forum featuring the first-ever AUTM Venture Ptich competition, our informative and entertaining Plenary Sessions and even a Texas Hold 'em Tournament.
To help guide first time attendees through the wealth of offerings at the Annual Meeting, we will be hosting our first-ever Freshman Orientation session at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, February 27 at 6 PM sponsored by the Schwegman Lundberg and Woessner Law Firm. During the Freshman Orientation, we will provide an overview of the conference program and underscore specific educational and networking opportunities, forums, receptions and other meeting highlights and special events. AUTM’s partnering software, Collaborate, will be demoed, and the benefits of AUTM membership will be discussed. The session will conclude with a business card exchange and networking opportunity to meet your colleagues. Though tailored for first-time attendees or those who are new to the Annual Meeting, this session is open to anyone who would like to learn more about the many AUTM events and networking opportunities.
To further tailor the Annual Meeting for first-time attendees, we are generating an internal email list of first time attendees that will be used to send nightly reminders about the next day’s events at the Annual Meeting. Please email me at: naqvih@ccf.org if you would like your email included in this list. Finally, we will also be sending out a quick overview of the Collaborate partnering software in advance of the Annual Meeting so you can set up some meetings with your counterparts before even setting foot in Vegas.
Those preparing to attend the Annual Meeting for the first time might be interested in reading accounts by other AUTM members about attending their first Annual Meeting here and here.
We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!