The week before Biotech Showcase has a strange kind of quiet energy to it, the kind that sits just underneath ordinary tasks, and I can feel it as I move through my days getting ready for San Francisco. I am packing clothes, checking travel details, and trying to make sure nothing slips through the cracks, but every now and then I catch myself imagining the moment the week actually begins, when the doors open and the conversations start and the pace shifts all at once. There is something about knowing you are heading into a space where so many ideas and decisions come together that makes even the smallest preparations feel meaningful.
This year, Biotech Showcase is happening right in the middle of JPM Week, and the city turns into a kind of gathering point for the entire industry. People arrive from every direction. Plans that started months ago suddenly feel real. Meetings that began as emails finally turn into face-to-face conversations. For companies coming from Canada, there is a sense that this week is more than just another conference, because being present in these rooms means being closer to opportunities that usually live a little farther away.
I can already picture walking into the venue on the first morning, coffee in hand, trying to get my bearings while the lobby fills and everyone scans the schedule one more time before choosing where to go. The atmosphere is focused but not rushed, almost like the first scene of something that has not fully revealed itself yet, and I find myself paying attention to what it feels like just to arrive and belong in that rhythm.
Getting ready with intention
Most nights, I end up sitting with the agenda spread out in front of me, reading through sessions and circling the ones that connect to the work I care about. I notice panels about partnerships and funding and clinical pathways, and I start to see how they link together, like different chapters of the same story. Instead of trying to fit everything in, I am choosing a few threads to follow, trusting that those threads will lead me to the right rooms and the right conversations.
I also keep a little list of people I hope to cross paths with, not because I want something from them immediately, but because I am genuinely interested in how they think and how they approach their work. I have written a few questions beside each name so that, if we talk, it feels like a real exchange instead of another surface-level introduction. There is something calming about being prepared without trying to over-script the experience.
What I am hoping to understand
There is a reason people talk about JPM Week the way they do. So much of what matters in biotech happens quietly here, inside conversations that will later shape trials, partnerships, strategies, and timelines. I want to witness how those conversations actually take form. I want to understand how people weigh risk, how they stay steady when things do not go exactly as planned, and how momentum is built one discussion at a time rather than in a single dramatic moment.
At the same time, I am curious about my own role in all of this. I want to see how I move through these spaces, how I ask questions, and how I take in information when the stakes feel high but the environment still invites curiosity. Part of this trip is about the industry. Part of it is about paying attention to who I am becoming as I spend more time inside it.
The rhythm of the week ahead
I know the days will be full, with early mornings, quick walks between venues, and conversations that continue long after the sessions end. There will be moments that blend together, but there will also be moments that stand out so clearly that I will remember exactly where I was sitting when they happened. That mix of structure and unpredictability is what makes weeks like this feel alive, and I am trying to leave enough room for both.
Questions I am carrying with me
☐ Which session shifts something in the way I understand the industry, not just in what I know on paper.
☐ Who do I naturally find myself drawn to speak with, and what does that reveal about the directions I want to keep exploring.
☐ Where do I notice opportunities for Canadian companies that could easily be missed by anyone not looking closely enough.
☐ Which moments give me energy to imagine bigger possibilities, and which ones remind me to slow down and think carefully.
☐ What will I want to continue building long after I leave San Francisco and return home.
Looking Ahead
I am bringing my camera with me. There is something I want you to see. I will share it after the week is over.
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