@Matthew: Great job selling the dream for 3 years in a row. You are truly great at what you do. Here is an idea – next year invite Donald Trump and have Health 2.0 Apprentice

@John: Thanks for your analysis. Frankly, I no longer have time to follow this crowd and dissect the hype and claims, so greatly appreciate you providing this public service.

@DrVal: I am very impressed with your interest in true success metrics rather than anecdotes. I think this subject feels very personal to both of us, but is lost on most “Health 2.0 peeps”

Keep on keeping on, everyone!

While the sign outside the venue could have used some improvement, it is usually what’s inside that counts. The presence of large player like WebMD and Quicken just showcases that Health 2.0 is real and here to stay. I do not however agree that this conference is pay to play.

There were about 80 presenters of which we were one of them. HealthWorldWeb is a small, self-funded startup that showcased our Social Decision Support platform at the payers panel – there was no price to participate just hard work and lots of practice. We appreciate Indu’s and Matthew’s ability to mix the large corporate players with young and striving startups like us – but both driving innovations for healthcare consumers.

Dan

“ye protest too much, methinks”

G, yes I was “lighter” on the event this year part of the reason being that JD did a good job reflecting some of the same feelings I had at this event. Also, I just grew tired of reporting the same old rant, lots of companies, most with little understanding of what a business plan is or looking beyond ads as their revenue model.

e-Patient Dave and Val,
Thank you both for your comments. There is certainly more going on here at this event in shear networking and that is what I tried to convey. It’s not so much the presentations, its the unstructured discussions that count.

In Health 2.0, there’s a lot more than meets the eye. As time goes on, I think people will begin looking at success metrics rather than anecdotes and testimonials. Time will separate the wheat from the chat.

Having said that, I caution all non-attendees that any summary of an event like this is rather like reading about a dance as opposed to having been there. There were positively electric connections and conversations going on all over the place. This is definitely an event where being there doesn’t just let you see the presentations (which are going up live right now on icyou.com), it lets you be in the buzz in useful ways.

Perhaps one could say it’s the metaconference, not the presentations, that make it worth being there. Hm.

Anyway thanks, John. May your wristy business resolve quickly and well.