Health IT

With HIMSS16 two weeks away, the #HIMSSselfie won’t die

Despite our wish expressed after last year’s HIMSS conference that the #HIMSSselfie should be so over, it seems to be back, totes ready to jump the shark again. Maybe it will jump Katy Perry’s Left Shark, just to prove it’s stuck in 2015?

By Neil Versel on February 16, 2016

Rasputin

The #HIMSSselfie refuses to die. (Perhaps we should call it #HIMSSRasputin?)

Despite the wish that MedCity News’ Fearless Leader, Chris Seper, expressed after last year’s HIMSS conference that the #HIMSSselfie should be so over, it seems to be back for HIMSS16, totes ready to jump the shark again. Maybe it will jump Katy Perry’s Left Shark, just to prove it’s stuck in 2015?

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Left-Shark-And-Right-Shark-With-Katy-Perry

How do we know it’s back? It’s made Steve “Health IT Conference Guy” Sisko’s “Totally Unofficial #HIMSS16 Hashtag Guide.” According to Sisko:

Here’s this year’s Unsanctioned, Probably not Approved by the Lawyers, and Certain to Offend Someone, Totally Unofficial #HIMSS16 Hashtag Guide for the 2016 HIMSS Conference in Las Vegas. These hashtags are intended to supplement the Official #HIMSS16 Hashtags.

There are some good ones on this list, including the timeless #HIMSSanity, coined by health IT veteran Larry Lin in 2012, while his almost namesake Jeremy Lin was creating “Linsanity” in the NBA. It perfectly captures the craziness of the annual HIMSS conference, which should draw 45,000 people and 1,300 exhibitors to Las Vegas in two weeks.

I’ve (humbly) been credited with a new one, #HIMSSSpeedDating, which Sisko described as “the process of hitting up as many vendors, exhibits and meetings as you can during the actual conference.” It came about Monday following a particularly testy Twitter exchange I had with yet another vendor who has no idea how many meeting requests reporters get for this megaconference.

https://twitter.com/ShimCode/status/699446332226871296

According to the glossary, I may have been in a #HIMSSHaze when I sent those tweets:

A slight obscuration of mental acuity occurring prior to and/or often during the HIMSS Conference, typically caused by well-meaning but misguided vendor PR people inundating media with last minute requests for meetings. Synonyms: #HIMSSMist, #HIMSSFog.

Because I was up past 2 a.m. working on my schedule, I suffered from #HIMSSomnia the next morning, a condition that promises to be chronic the week of Feb. 29.

There are plenty of other good ones. Hashtags identifying good places to eat around town (#HIMSSFood) or grab swag on the show floor (#HIMSSSwag) are particularly helpful.

Expect to see some HIMSS shaming, à la manspreading, via #HIMSSSeatHog. Twitter abusers might get the #HIMSS16TweetHog scarlet letter.

But even though the #HIMSSselfie isn’t dead, remember what Seper said last year: “And if you do decide to take selfies at HIMSS 2016, may this song never leave your head.”

Actions do have consequences.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons