6. Be forewarned. Most HIMSS15 hotels are downtown or in the Chicago Loop. McCormick Place is not. Cab lines can be really long. Shuttle buses are frequent and free. Plan ahead and you can turn that commute into productive time. Schedule trips with people you know. Try networking with your fellow travelers. And think about scheduling a meeting during a scheduled trip. From personal experience I can tell you that it can work. And if you have nothing else planned, pick up a HIIMSS15 Daily Insider newspaper from one of the publication bins. They’re free and will be published Monday thru Wednesday.

7. Go to the keynotes. Significant news is often made by these speakers who are leaders in the industry. The most famous speaker, President Bush, is on Wednesday at 4:30 pm but the other keynotes are involved in some of the major trends affecting healthcare IT, and you’re sure to benefit from their presentations. Alexander Gourlay, President of  Walgreens, will talk about changes in the way consumers obtain healthcare on Monday at 8:00 am. On Tuesday at 8:30 am, Bruce D. Broussard, CEO of Humana, will talk about a healthcare future driven by consumer choice. On Thursday at 8:30, Karen DeSalvo, MD, National Coordinator for Health IT and Acting Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will share her perspective from the highest level of the federal government. And at 1:15 on Thursday, Jeremy Gutsche, author of Exploiting Chaos and the founder of Trendhunter.com will talk about how to organizations need to continue innovating and how to identify opportunities within your own organization to move ahead and avoid stagnation.

8. Recommended equipment. Includes sneakers; ear plugs for bus naps; FitBit or other wearable for Wellness Challenge; bottle of Tylenol, aspirin, etc; Pepto Bismol; cords and extended battery for phones and tablets; and a shipping box for the books, brochures, handouts and tchotchkes you acquire. It’s far better to ship all of those valuable materials than to carry them home on the plane. And don’t leave them behind. They can be valuable tools in your work throughout the year and can be shared with colleagues who didn’t make the trip.

9. Work hard and play hard (within reason). You are in Chicago, one of the greatest cities in the world. Amazing architecture. Top American cuisine. Awesome theater, comedy and shows.  Get dinner in one of the city’s several rooftop restaurants (my favorite is the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center). Spend an extra day in the city and check out either, or both, the Field Museum of Natural History or the Art Institute of Chicago. Visit Comiskey (White Sox are at home on the 11th and 12th) or Wrigley Field (the Cubs are home on April 13-15). If you absolutely can’t get out of McCormick, have fun at the HIMSS15 block party featuring food and drink from famous (and infamous) Chicago neighborhoods such as Wrigleyville, Greektown, Little Italy, and Pilsen. It’s on Wednesday from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm in the Vista Ballroom.

10. Share tips. Before, during and after, plug into the social media activity that surround Annual Conference. Be a tweeter, status poster, pinner or liker and help the conference set another record for social media activity — but more importantly, help others navigate the show successfully. On Twitter, look for the hashtag #HIMSS15.  On LinkedIn, participate in the HIMSS group.

And lastly, don’t forget this: Smile on the plane out of O’Hare. Even if you are exhausted, your colleagues will know that you just dominated HIMSS15.