ATLANTA – Powered by Medtrade Radio and sponsored by Emerge Sales, HME Voice made its return last week with hosts Mike Sperduti and Kevin Gaffney, group show director, taking a look back at the year. What worked at Medtrade? What needs improvement? And who was rated the best speaker at Medtrade? Click Here to find out.
The half-hour chat affirmed that overall feedback was generally positive, but “probably more mixed than I am used to seeing,” said Gaffney. “We sincerely ask people for their opinion, and you have to have a thick skin to ask your customers what they really think of you.”
While the show always reflects the industry to some extent, Gaffney revealed that survey respondents made some excellent suggestions that will be implemented at Medtrade Spring, scheduled for March 30-April 1, 2015 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
“Looking ahead to Medtrade Spring, we looked at content and format,” explained Gaffney during the show, available by clicking HERE. “Education is high on the list, and we have made changes. People want more panel discussions, and we have created more super sessions. We have more 90-minute sessions, instead of hour-long sessions.”
A majority of sessions have been moved to Monday (day one), which means that arriving on Sunday makes a lot of sense. With most sessions occurring on day one, attendees will have most of the day Tuesday and all day Wednesday to browse the Expo floor at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
“No one can honestly say they are happy where the industry currently is,” said Gaffney. “People like where it could potentially be going, but it’s hard work. We are working with AAHomecare and others to make it a better industry.”
From a financial standpoint, that has added up to $7.5 million contributed by Medtrade to support various HME-related entities. This willingness to give back is not often widely publicized, but Gaffney and Sperduti point out that it’s convincing evidence that Medtrade Spring and Medtrade have always been about the industry as a whole.
As a vendor himself, Sperduti said: “There were fewer people at Medtrade, but less clutter. The decision makers were all there. They are not bringing their staffs like they used to. But at the end of the day, the vendors are in front of the right buyers—the people who are in the business and the people who will be the future of the industry.”
The newest HME Voice show took place last Thursday (Dec 18) at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (continuing the “Third Thursday at Three” tradition). Click Here to listen to a replay of the show.
Here is the full link to the show for those who wish to copy and paste: http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?searchdesc=sperduti