Upcoming Events, Courses, and Talks

Conferences and trade shows are some of the most valuable—but most underutilized—tools in the innovation journey. For hardtech founders and product teams, these events are more than networking opportunities; they are a direct path to understanding customer needs, validating ideas, building partnerships, and increasing market visibility.

This workshop helps founders and teams rethink how they approach conferences, whether attending as a participant or exhibiting on the show floor. The workshop explores how to strategically prepare before the event, maximize interactions during the conference, and translate connections into long-term opportunities afterward. The workshop addresses how innovators can use events to better understand users and market dynamics. Since innovation ultimately succeeds or fails based on user adoption, conferences become a critical environment for observing industry trends, gathering feedback, and refining messaging in real time.

Who Should Attend

• Hardtech founders and startup teams

• Entrepreneurs preparing to attend or exhibit at conferences

• Business development and partnership leads

• Product and commercialization teams seeking customer feedback

• Anyone looking to maximize networking and industry event ROI

About the Instructor 

James Kim is the founder and CEO of 551 Consultant LLC, with over 25 years of experience bringing medical devices from concept to global market. He's launched more than 30 devices and specialize in regulatory strategy, clinical adoption, and commercialization. He helps founders de-risk development, align with clinical workflows, and successfully transition from prototype to scalable product.