This October 8-11, Minneapolis will kick off an exciting, annually recurring event that will project Medical Alley and Minnesota’s vibrant health technology, health and wellness sectors on the global stage. MANOVA: A Global Summit on the Future of Health in Medical Alley has been described as a “New Health-Care Summit (that) Aims to Join the Ranks of CES and SXSW” by the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), an industry organization Meet Minneapolis partners with in securing medical and related conferences for our community.

Meet Minneapolis has been engaged in discussions, for many years, with a variety of community leaders regarding the creation of a signature annual event that will garner the level of publicity and notoriety of stalwarts like the CES (formerly The International Consumer Electronics Show), South by Southwest® (SXSW®), the Mobile World Congress, and the World Economic Forum. MANOVA clearly has that potential.

Focusing on our region’s prowess in the medical technology and device industries is a no-brainer. Our regional economic development organization, Greater MSP, lists health and life sciences as one of the five key industries it promotes to the world. In fact, according to Greater MSP, “the Greater MSP region is the global epicenter of life science innovation and commercialization.” With more than 750 companies in the health and life sciences sector, MANOVA is a natural extension of that prowess.

2023 Partners, LLC, is the driving force behind MANOVA. Founding partner Mark Addicks is a former marketing executive at General Mills who was initially part of Minnesota’s bid to host the 2023 World Expo. Kathy Tunheim, founder and CEO of Tunheim Partners, a global marketing communications firm based in the metro area, is another partner in 2023 Partners, LLC. Kathy is also a former Meet Minneapolis board member. The third 2023 partner is Arick Wierson. Arick is a six time Emmy Award-winning television executive and is an innovator in multiple media platforms.

The MANOVA Global Summit will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Confirmed keynote speakers include: best-selling author and co-founder of Huffington Post, Ariana Huffington; Sam Kass, former Senior Policy Advisor on Nutrition for President Obama; National Geographic Fellow and New York Times best-selling author Dan Buettner; leading health thought leader Andy Slavitt who led the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under President Obama and is now head of Town Hall Ventures; and Aneesh Chopra, current President of Care Journey and former Chief Technology Officer of the United States, along with Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, who is the new CEO of Mayo Clinic.

For Meet Minneapolis, it’s important to develop infrastructure such as large scale sustainable events that are consistent with the community’s strengths. This type of collaboration helps us to increase the number of workers in the tourism/hospitality sector as well as raise the national and global profile of our city and region.

As a Meet Minneapolis partner, we would like to offer you a special discount of $100 off the ticket price of $850. Go to www.manovasummit.com and use the promo code MeetMinneapolis to receive this discount on your MANOVA registration. We encourage you to be a part of this inaugural event and help us take full advantage of the strengths our community has in its health and life sciences industries.