Medtrade West, running July 12-14 at the Phoenix Convention Center, and the event is feeling simultaneously familiar and new.
Last year, Medtrade West was the beginning bookend of the COVID-19 pandemic, running March 3-5, 2020, at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay. By the time many attendees and exhibitors were flying home, counties on the coasts were announcing stay-at-home orders.
Now the show returns, this time in what has to the most appropriately named city the Grand Canyon State could possibly offer, and York Schwab, associate show director for Medtrade, says he is “excited and hosting” to host the industry’s first major in-person event in the post-pandemic.
“This will likely be the first industry event that attendees will be coming to since the March 2020 Medtrade in Las Vegas, and we’re looking forward to connecting providers and vendors once again,” he said. “We had a virtual conference in November 2020 to present important, timely content to the industry, but the in-person connection component can’t be replicated via virtual events, and we’re glad to provide an environment for those face-to-face conversations.
“We’re hopeful that this first show back for our industry means that we’re coming out of this absence of events and that it paves the way for more events to take place, with more attendees and exhibitors participating over time,” Schwab added.
Now the event returns but to a new home. Sure, the event is trading one desert locale for another, but perhaps Phoenix might offer a little more attention to the task at hand. For starters, the Phoenix Convention Center isn’t as huge a hike as Mandalay represented, and not having the “diversions” native to Sin City will help keep everyone dialed in on why they came: improving their businesses.
“The capital city of Arizona has fewer distractions, but it still has a great combination of fun with plenty of room to focus on the details of the HME business. The workshops are just across the street, but they are actually closer than anything at Mandalay Bay,” Schwab said. “… People used to joke that getting up early for an educational session was difficult in Las Vegas, but Phoenix is an early-morning town that means business, with plenty of fun — but not too much.”
And that regained focus is underscored by Medtrade West’s new scheduling. Schwab notes that for the first time “in a very long time” the educational sessions and expo hours no longer overlap with one another.
Monday, July 12 is devoted to workshops and educational sessions. July 13 hosts educational sessions during the day, with a Preview Night of the expo running from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Finally, on July 14, after the American Association for Homecare Update from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., the day is devoted to the expo hall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“The beauty of a trade show is that it is purposeful time out of the office. We know that everyone will be making considerable effort to get to Phoenix, and we are all here for the same reason,” Schwab says. “It’s a cliché, but your success is truly our success. Take advantage of everything the show has to offer because the main features of the show are knowledge, products, and advice.”
