SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — As many as 9,500 people are in San Francisco this week for the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference and investors are getting creative to find places to meet in the crowded city.
ABC7 News reporter Luz Pena spoke to the CEO of a venture capital firm who is inviting potential clients into a mobile meeting room.
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“Lots of lines that kind of thing. So, it could become an issue,” said Tyler Elmer with KeraLink.
John’s Grill is projecting they will serve over 4,000 conference goers this week.
“We have three floors here at John’s Grill and they are all packed with people who are returning from all the J.P. Morgan years in the past, and booking our private events on the third floor and packed from lunch to dinner,” said John Konstin Jr., John’s Grill owner.
We checked multiple coffee shops around the area, and they were all packed.
“How difficult has it been to find a place to meet up with people?” ABC7 News reporter Luz Pena asked.
“Oh, it’s been crazy. Yesterday we went to Starbucks, and we couldn’t find a drink, couldn’t find a seat. Today we were supposed to meet at Peet’s looked around for tables and couldn’t find anywhere to meet. We ended up going to the Marriott Marquis, split seats with people,” said Steve Duddy, CEO of Duddy Executive services.
We heard of a venture capital firm that got creative and rented a bus to have meetings.
The bus is named for the firm “Hatteras Venture Partners.”
“Hotels charge too much money for hotel suits to have meetings, so we decided, what the heck we are going to have our meeting in a mobile meeting room,” said Clay Thorp, Co-Founder and General Partner, Hatteras Venture Partners.
Thorp said they’ve had 35 meetings on the bus this week so far. One of them with some of the biggest biotech investors in the world at once. All of them loved the idea.
“To find conference space is nearly impossible you have to do it a year in advance. This has been amazing,” said Mark Lampert, CEO Biotechnology Value Fund.
Thorp came up with the idea and said it has become an attraction where deals and connections are happening.
“Normally, we would meet and we would have a calm ride very quiet,” said Thorp, who also added that they have taken some people around the city to sightsee.
And the word is spreading.
“I wish I were invited to the bus, but I was not,” said Tyler Elmer, KeraLink employee.
The Hatte bus is not open to the public. The mobile meeting room is only available for people they want to do business with.
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