Medtrade West: Closing the book on Phoenix, looking ahead to BBQ? Texas? The Aquarium?

If I were the betting kind, I’d say Dallas is the odds-on favorite for the inaugural once-a-year Medtrade launching in 2023 as people on the show floor discussed the Big News. A surprising sleeper suggestion: Kansas City.

“BBQ,” one attendee told me, pointing out the obvious.

No one liked my guess that it would be located in Cincinnati. To clarify: I’m not saying I’m itching to go to Cincinnati, but hey, it’s centrally located is it not?

At any rate, the second, and presumably last, Phoenix show started on a high note (an open bar will do that), set against relatively pleasant temperatures – a good 30 degrees cooler than July’s inferno.

Engagement seemed high during the sessions, certainly during those I attended, including the AAHomecare Update, which attracted a large 10 am crowd.

“I don’t know if people are just motivated or it’s the later start time,” I naively mused to York Schwab.

It was the later start time, and show organizers took note, he told me.

One of the many things I like about the spring show, besides the warmer weather (it was 30 degrees when I left Maine on Sunday: In Phoenix, everything’s all a-bloom), is the chance to just catch up with folks, about the industry, about the show, about their lives.

For instance, I learned that Brad Smith of Vertess has a thing for aquariums, which led to a discussion of a potential college visit trip to Boston this summer for his family. Upon learning that Boston has a Very Cool Aquarium, he’s suddenly a lot more interested in making that trek to the East Coast.

As for me, I’m looking forward to a little R&R here in the southwest before I head home Friday. At home, it will be back to business, running with potential story ideas, potential new partners in all things news and information, and planning out the months ahead.

Safe travels home!