Hi, I’m Colin.

I am a mechanical engineer who somehow stumbled into healthcare marketing , and I’ve been navigating this space for over 25 years. Along the way, I led marketing for five different Health IT companies that were eventually acquired —which I attribute entirely to being lucky enough to work alongside brilliant teams.

Today, I spend most of my time as the Editor in Chief at Swaay.Health and Editor at Healthcare IT Today. I also advise and mentor health tech startups at Canadian innovation hubs: ventureLAB and Innovation Factory. Each year I find myself wandering the exhibit halls and listening to speakers at over 40 healthcare conferences every single year. Between my past roles and my current ones, I have attended over 750 healthcare events.

I decided to write this book because I have personally committed almost every unforced conference error possible. I’ve burned budget on the wrong things, chased the wrong metrics, and learned the hard way how the healthcare ecosystem actually operates. I wanted to write down the invisible rules of healthcare conferences so you don't have to learn them the expensive way.

If you ever see me standing in a conference hallway, please come say hello - especially if you know where the good snacks are.