June 2, 2024 - by Jennifer Ringler, MS

 

It’s Sunday night, June 2, and ReadHealthy Communications’ founder and CEO @Jennifer Ringler is winding down after a long travel day from New Jersey. Even though the BIO International Convention doesn’t technically start until tomorrow, the buzz is already palpable in downtown San Diego.

​

Indeed, the grey skies in San Diego today could not overshadow the enthusiasm in the air. Walking the downtown streets this afternoon, one could hear exuberant shouts and cheers from several blocks away. Not from BIO attendees, but from marathon spectators, as the eve of the biggest biotech conference in the country coincided with the annual Rock n’ Roll Marathon.

​

Jet-lagged biotech executives, investors, founders, service providers, scientists, and innovators wound their way through the streets in cabs an on foot, quite literally dodging marathoners and road closures, as both groups of passionate individuals focused their energy on their respective goals. For the marathoners, it was, “Get to the finish line.” For BIO attendees (at least for this PR firm founder) it was, “Get to the hotel room and get in a quick nap.”

​

After the “marathon” commute (see what I did there?) across the country, it was time to make the 25-minute walk from the hotel to the San Diego Convention Center for badge pickup. Attendees were greeted in the lobby with the vibrant blue branding of BIO and walls littered with inspiring phrases like, “Create, collaborate, converge,” and, “inspire, inform, converge.”

​

I was particularly struck by the “action words” in these slogans, as I realized that what we’ve all come to do here at BIO aligns so well with what we do every day at ReadHealthy Communications – through the power of storytelling, we create, collaborate, inspire, and inform, to bring the incredible stories of medical innovation to life, let the world know about the companies that are changing the game, and help life sciences companies reach their audiences and reach their strategic and business goals.

​

By the time badge pickup was done, I must admit, I was running out of energy.

​

But speaking of “running,” there was one more task to be done. After I picked up my conference badge, it was time to pick up my bib for tomorrow morning’s BIO 5K run (see what I did there?), sponsored by KBI Biopharma. I’m grateful for the opportunity to start the day with an activity focused on healthy movement (and equally grateful for the adorable E-coli plushie provided to 5K registrants by KBI).

 

Tomorrow morning, hundreds of BIO attendees will kick of the first day of the conference with a 3.2-mile run/walk along the San Diego waterfront – soaking up the views and (hopefully) some sun before heading indoors to spend the day in the Convention Center walking the exhibitor floor, listening to panels and talks, and networking in the one-on-one meetings that we’ve all worked so hard to secure and schedule for the past several weeks.

​

ReadHealthy has more than 30 meetings scheduled over the next four days, with pharma and biotech companies from preclinical to commercial stage, from those who are in seed fundraising to those with IPOs. Because we understand that the work of telling the right stories, building brand awareness, and reaching your audiences is never done; good communications and PR evolves and grows with an organization, from seed to exit, from start to IPO, and from bench to bedside.

​

The great thing about our industry is that there’s always something new in medical innovation just around the corner. We will never run out of things to learn, patients to help, and stories to tell.

​

Today is – both literally, in the sense of #BIO2024, and metaphorically, in the broader sense of groundbreaking science – just the beginning.

​

We’ll see you on the show floor!