The Value of Bumping Into People in the Hall: A Lesson from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference

Met outside my hotel on Mason St.

Steve Gillis. Managing director of Arch Venture Partners. Met at the clock, lobby of St. Francis.

Monique Greer. Vice president of communications, Allos Therapeutics, formerly at Dendreon. Met at the clock, lobby of St. Francis.

John Harris. CEO of NeuroVista. Met at elevator bank, JW Marriott.

Rob Hershberg. Chief Scientific Officer of VentiRx. Met at elevator bank, JW Marriott.

Jim Johnson, Chief financial officer of ZymoGenetics. Met walking down Geary St.

Stefan Kraemer. Founder of Endogastric Solutions. Met at BioCentury reception.

David Miller. President of Biotech Stock Research. Met at airport on the way to the conference.

Peggy Pinkston. Director of communications, Seattle Genetics. Met before company presentation at St. Francis.

Julie Rathbun. Independent public relations consultant. Met at BioCentury reception.

Steve Reed. CEO of Immune Design. Didn’t actually meet, but saw him blitz through the lobby of the Clift.

Tom Reynolds. Chief medical officer of Seattle Genetics. Met after company presentation at St. Francis.

Chris Rivera. President of WBBA. Met at the BioCentury reception.

Alex Rives. Associate, Arch Venture Partners. Met at Sea-Tac while waiting for flight to conference.

Ben Shapiro. Senior partner, PureTech Ventures. Met in the hallway at St. Francis.

Clay Siegall. CEO of Seattle Genetics. Met after company presentation at St. Francis.

Martin Simonetti. CEO of VLST. Met on Powell St. outside the St. Francis

Todd Simpson. Chief financial officer of Seattle Genetics. Met at the company presentation at St. Francis.

Rick Stewart. CEO of Cardiac Dimensions. Met on the flight to the conference.

Cliff Stocks. Chief business officer of Calistoga Pharmaceuticals. Met after Canaan Partners reception, on the corner of Powell and Geary.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.