Focus on medical devices, information tech

SIMposium 07, Musculo-skeletal New Ventures Conference meeting next week

The Commercial Appeal
October 5, 2007
By Daniel Connolly

Two separate conferences next week in Memphis will highlight technical fields important to the area's economic future: Information technology and orthopedic medical devices.

On Sunday, the Chicago-based Society for Information Management starts its national meeting at The Peabody. The event, called SIMposium 07, runs through Wednesday and focuses on trends in information technology.

Memphis is an international distribution hub and local firms like shipping company FedEx Corp. rely heavily on electronic systems to track their products and manage far-flung employees. Expected speakers at the SIMposium conference include chief information officers for firms including FedEx, casino chain Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., and auto parts retailer AutoZone Inc.

The event is geared toward senior-level information technology executives, and its price reflects it. The conference fee for those who aren't members of the organization is $1,795.

And on Tuesday and Wednesday, venture capitalists from around the nation are expected at the Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference. New firms will seek funding to develop treatments for diseases and injuries to the human muscular and skeletal systems.

The event is organized by MB Venture Partners, a local venture capital fund specializing in orthopedics.

Memphis is already an orthopedics hub with companies like Medtronic, Smith & Nephew, and Wright Medical making devices for surgeries ranging from spinal fusion to hip and knee replacements.

Expected speakers at the conference include executives from Memphis' "big three" medical device firms and noted orthopedic surgeons like Dr. Hal Mathews, who is affiliated with Medtronic.

The event will be at the FedEx Institute of Technology on the University of Memphis campus. It costs $295 for representatives of academic or nonprofit institutions and $850 for representatives of businesses.

-- Daniel Connolly: 529-5296

Upcoming technology conferences

SIMposium 07, sponsored by the Society for Information Management. Oct. 7-10 at The Peabody Hotel. On-site registration only. For more information, visit simnet.org or call 1-800-387-9746.

Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference. Oct. 9-10 at the FedEx Institute of Technology. For more information, visit mnvc.org or call 322-0330.