Test Labs MEDICA 2024 Story
Medica 2024 was set to be our biggest event of the year and our second time exhibiting at what’s arguably the largest healthcare conference in the world – or at least in Europe! Preparations began in the summer with the creation of our second edition of Outlook, our annual journal, which we officially launched at the event. Representing Test Labs this year were Tautvydas, Enrico, Marianne, Sophie, and Chris, bringing a wealth of expertise in biocompatibility, IFU validations, microbiology, and mechanical engineering to share with our visitors.
It was a 4am wake up call for the team and a flight to Düsseldorf, which we joked took less time than getting through Heathrow. We were full of excitement and anticipation of what the event would bring and excitement was high as we built our stand. Tatuvydas and Enrico took the lead in building our large screen showcasing our fantastic team in action – a perfect solution for a service-based business like ours with no physical product to display. For a behind-the-scenes look, check out our timelapse on LinkedIn! Finally it was time to wrap up and head back to Cologne for some well-deserved schnitzel—well, most of us. (Yes, one person opted for carbonara instead!)
Day one at Medica saw us suited and booted in our Test Labs tracksuits ready to greet our delegates! It has to be said it started slowly, as seasoned exhibitors warned us it often does, as Monday is often a ‘travel day’. With fewer delegates in attendance early on, we made the most of conversations with both exhibitors and delegates who were navigating MDR submissions and looking for biocompatibility and cleaning validation support. By lunchtime, foot fall picked up, and we finished the day optimistic about what day 2 would bring. Back in Cologne, Carnival fever was already in full swing, with the streets buzzing, people in costumes everywhere, and with such an amazing atmosphere we all agreed we’d love to return in March to experience it properly.
Days two and three were busier, with the team splitting their time between manning the stand and exploring the halls – of which there is a lot of them!. Our location in Hall 11, surrounded by medical device manufacturers, was ideal. The delegate numbers had picked up somewhat from day one but speaking with exhibitors there was a general feeling of disappointment in relation to delegate numbers. Despite this we were determined to make the event and success and threw ourselves into exploring the halls and creating our own conversations away from the stand. This allowed us to engage with many more people and expand our conversations beyond those that were actively looking for testing but also talking to clients who maybe were not focused on solving their testing challenges at Medica but were certainly in need of some support and were grateful that we had taken the time to find them and explain their options for navigating the complexities of getting their devices registered on both the EU and International market.
The final day was our busiest yet, with steady traffic and strong engagement. Many exhibitors began packing up early, a reflection of the lighter turnout, but we stayed until the very end, welcoming the last delegates on the floor.
As we come home and reflect on our experience we take away some great conversations that are continuing with meetings in the diary and quotations going out the door. One of the great things about an event like Medica is the value of face-to-face interactions and the diversity of conversations you can have when people from so many sectors and countries come together.
And yes, we also walked away with some incredible step counts of over 450,000 combined!
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