A Surprisingly Popular Booth
“Yes, if everyone’s here, let’s begin the meeting.”
Two days before the conference, we gathered at 9 a.m. and started our briefing.
“Yeonghun. First, give us an update on the computer science papers related to the product, and walk us through the marketing points.”
We were going over everyone’s product knowledge in a formal, organized way.
Normally, there was no need to share every scrap of information we knew with one another.
But at a conference, we couldn’t afford to answer questions with, “I don’t know.”
“First, I’ll share the content of the paper Professor Hwang Junhak himself is preparing to write and present.”
So all of us had to know the product inside and out.
“Next, I’ll go over the FAQ and any updates you all should be aware of.”
It was a time for us to train one another.
“Then I’ll introduce the places currently using our product as a demo, the places using it for academic purposes, and the places where it’s already generating actual sales.”
Because we had so few clients, we could share that kind of detailed information.
Thanks to the nature of new technology, we could finally answer the question we always heard: “Where is this actually used?”
Fortunately, several university hospitals, centered around Korea University Hospital, were already using our product.
I wanted someone to ask that question, honestly.
“Here are the marketing messages we’d like each professor to hear, along with the promotional materials matched to them.”
How many places even bothered deciding which handouts to give depending on who walked in?
Well, maybe there were plenty.
But it would be hard to find anyone who had prepared more thoroughly than we had.
[Good. You’ve prepared everything properly.]
That was because I’d prepared everything the picky Badugi had told me to prepare.
Badugi had been nagging me at every spare moment, worried I might miss even one thing.
[Thanks. I’ll play tug-of-war with you using the mouse later.]
[I don’t get moved by things like that.]
[Your tail’s wagging like crazy, though.]
Watching Badugi flatten itself in place and collapse dramatically, I burst out laughing.
Everyone immediately turned and stared at me.
“I just got happy thinking about the conference coming up, so I laughed before I knew it. Haha.”
Luckily, all the presentations had just ended, so I got out of that awkward moment naturally.
“Why does he talk like that?”
Whatever.
“Anyway, two days left. Please send another attendance reminder to everyone who contacted us asking about the product.”
“Yes!”
“Good work, everyone. Let’s keep it up!”
The people who had looked excited just days ago now had faces full of tension.
Even people like Jaeyun and Ha Juwon, who’d met plenty of professors before, were the same.
Still, they were strong under pressure. They’d all do fine.
“Siwon. I put the list of pre-meeting requests into the calendar.”
“Good. Yeonghun, if possible, please stay nearby and help respond too.”
“Got it.”
Yeonghun stood somewhere between excitement and nerves.
“Tomorrow’s just the booth setup check and we’re done!!”
“Uh, there’s still the results report too.”
“But overtime will be over!”
Seunghun-hyung, practically bouncing with relief, was no different.
“Ah. We’re going to get a ton of feedback, aren’t we?”
“We just need to sort out the feedback that actually matters.”
“We should be grateful just for the people visiting the booth and taking an interest in our product. What else is there to say?”
“Let’s see if you still say that when everyone starts demanding a complete overhaul of the screen layout.”
Choi Yeonghun, Jeong Hyeonwoo, Seo Jeongwon, and Yoo Jiwon were all afraid of customer reactions.
“No, seriously, why is everyone so tense?”
And I, simply looking forward to tomorrow, waited with everyone else for the day after next.
“Let’s just iron our suits well!”
＊＊＊
It was honestly ridiculous.
I was the one who told everyone not to get nervous, but on the day itself, I think I was the most nervous of all.
“Siwon. Why do you look so grim?”
“Don’t worry about him. That’s Siwon’s nervous face.”
“What? You’re nervous?”
The members who had arrived thirty minutes early all looked brighter than I’d expected.
Once the day actually came, they seemed to have lost touch with reality and adopted a let’s-just-enjoy-it mindset.
I was the only one who still felt tense.
[Don’t tell me you’re nervous because of trauma from your previous life. It’s lame.]
I was fiddling with my phone, checking the time for no reason, when Badugi tossed out that icy line and my pulse actually settled a little.
It was because I’d objectively recognized how uncool I looked, getting nervous over trauma from my previous life.
When I first attended a conference as a complete latecomer.
Back then, how much baseless disregard had I been forced to endure?
“Lung cancer diagnosis AI? When did something like this even come out, and now you’re trying to do it?”
“Which hospital is using this?”
“You’re saying the product doesn’t even have CE certification yet?”
The looks and voices of people who had stared at me as if I were pathetic were still vivid in my memory.
But I had to pull myself together.
This time was nothing like then.
“The professors should be arriving soon.”
“It’s a weekday today, so maybe it’ll be a little calmer?”
I calmly gave the energetic ones a reality check.
“The weekday crowd on the first day is usually the biggest. Think of it as spending all three days’ worth of stamina today.”
At that, everyone who’d been wearing relaxed expressions looked at me with confusion.
“Hospitals often send people to conferences during work hours. A lot of medical students come too.”
“Ah.”
Only then did everyone nod and look toward the entrance.
Our booth was tucked fairly far into a corner.
It wasn’t the kind of spot someone would pass by casually and stumble upon us.
“Huh? I feel like I’ve heard of them somewhere.”
Still, the good news was that we were a brand people had at least heard of somewhere.
We’d been on enough media outlets, and we’d gone viral enough on the quiet, that plenty of people had heard the TA Medical name for a startup only one year into its life.
“I’ve heard of this place, but what do they actually do?”
This wasn’t a place to get hurt because people didn’t know who we were.
It was a place where we should be grateful that they wanted to know.
“Hello. TA Medical develops AI that helps diagnose nodules and related findings through X-rays.”
“So, like, something that helps with cancer diagnosis?”
“Yes. In the case of nodules, we can even help determine whether they’re malignant or benign.”
“What?”
To be honest, most of the doctors we met at events like this didn’t have a proper understanding of our product.
It probably felt like some unheard-of company was suddenly pitching some strange new technology at them.
“Yes, well. Right.”
So after hearing a brief explanation, many of them would stop listening and just walk past the booth with a sour expression.
“Why won’t they even listen to the end?”
“Because they’re suspicious. Still, they did at least hear the explanation, so that’s not bad.”
“You’re being optimistic.”
That wasn’t optimism.
The truth was that more than half the doctors simply passed us by.
Anyone would be reluctant to spend time on an unfamiliar startup they barely knew.
“Oh, TA Medical. I saw you on the news.”
Then there were doctors who came to us already favorably inclined.
“You don’t have any published research on this yet, do you?”
“Not publicly, no. But there are already many university hospitals in Korea using the product for academic purposes. Would you like me to give you a more detailed introduction?”
“Yes, yes. But can you show me how the product actually works?”
Doctors who asked about our product with real curiosity, medical students who took our goods with bright eyes, people who quietly picked up our business cards from the desk.
There were far more people responding to us positively than I’d expected.
“Oh? Isn’t that Director Son Boyoon over there?”
“Oh? It is.”
Just as I was feeling proud of the attention building around us, Director Son Boyoon led a cluster of doctors toward our booth.
“I came to help. This is the place I mentioned.”
As soon as the chic Director Son finished speaking, the hospital directors from major hospitals around the country smiled first and greeted us.
“Hello. I heard your technology is really good.”
“Director Son is so picky. How did you ever get her to agree to work with you? Haha!”
“What do you mean picky? You’re the ones who still haven’t even used a demo at the place where your own friend works.”
“We have to see how it runs before we can adopt it! Can you show us how it’s implemented?”
In less than five minutes, five major hospitals had filled out demo request forms.
Honestly, this development really was incredible.
“My legs are killing me. Can I sit here?”
“Of course. Please, make yourself comfortable.”
“Explain the product and the company in detail. He never explains things properly.”
“The one who’s going to install this should come and explain it, not just Representative Siwon~”
Before I knew it, the small booth tucked in the corner had been taken over by hospital directors from some fairly large general hospitals.
Maybe it was because they recognized them, or maybe it was because there were so many doctors with name badges hanging around our booth, but more and more physicians started stopping by.
“Oh? Hwi-an! Long time no see!”
Some of the directors seated at our booth even called over other doctors they knew when they spotted them.
“Is this a good situation right now?”
“This is absurdly good.”
Jae-yun was a little thrown by the sudden social whirl, but objectively, the situation was excellent.
“What exactly is this place?”
Even people who had shown no interest in us at all came over with questions.
“Hello, Lin!”
“Hi! Why are you here? ”
Even doctors from overseas gathered here occasionally.
It really was a conference covering all of Asia.
“Do I need to speak English?”
“You do. Seunghun, your English is good, isn’t it? Go on.”
“Ah, yes.”
People attracted people.
It was such a simple principle that I’d never really thought about it before, but seeing our booth packed to the point of bursting made that principle feel real.
“If you want to try the demo, we’ll come by and install it right away~”
“Three tote bags? Yes, I’ll get them for you right away.”
Some people asked about our product, while others were only interested in our merchandise.
Either way, the important thing was that people were gathering in large numbers.
“Wow. The section chief would love this.”
“Take a photo of the booth and show him. The section chief is coming tomorrow, isn’t he?”
There were also people who only stopped by to take pictures from a distance, but even they were likely to pull in visitors for tomorrow and the day after.
“We’ve been sitting here for too long, haven’t we? Should we go?”
“Sounds good. Everyone, we’re heading out now. Thanks for the coffee.”
“Yes! See you next week!”
Only about fifteen minutes after Director Son Boyoon left did the bustling booth finally calm down a little.
“Wow. I’m seriously exhausted.”
“They left right at lunchtime. Do you think they did that on purpose to consider us?”
“Could be. Anyway, let’s split the group in half and go eat.”
Whether they were going to eat or taking a breather without eating, everyone looked bright.
“Siwon, I’ve got ten demo contracts already.”
“One hospital in Singapore also applied for a demo, Siwon.”
“More than half the promotional materials are gone too. We’ll probably need to restock them from the office.”
“Right. Some people were even taking the handouts just to take them, but unless they were wearing participant badges, we just gave them out anyway.”
“Good work.”
It was obvious why everyone was in such a good mood: we were getting a lot out of this conference.
“There probably won’t be many days as busy as this. Still, let’s keep pushing for a few more days.”
“Yeees~”
＊＊＊
There were more doctors than expected who simply picked up our handouts at the TA Medical booth and left.
They weren’t looking to talk for long, but they were curious about what kind of company we were.
“Professor, what’s that paper?”
“No idea. There was a huge crowd in the corner, so I just grabbed one.”
Quite a few of those people were overseas professors.
Because their schedules were packed with meetings, they planned to look us up separately rather than hear about us in person.
“Professor, I heard this is also being used at Korea University. There are demos in other Korean university hospitals too.”
“Really? Then I suppose there’ll be research or something from Korea University later on.”
“There are a few small papers in the veterinary field.”
“Right. But nothing on the human lung.”
Of course, overseas professors and doctors held TA Medical to a higher standard.
It made sense. Getting excited over some obscure overseas startup they’d never even heard of would have been ridiculous.
Even so, those doctors were still impressed.
Similar technology had been attempted by various groups for years, but this was the first company they’d seen that had actually broken into so many university hospitals while confidently claiming accuracy.
“It’s interesting, but I wonder how expensive it is.”
“You’d want to adopt it somewhere with lots of traffic, like an emergency room or a health screening center.”
So everyone could at least think, Maybe something like this will be adopted eventually.
It was too practical to dismiss as nonsense, but too lacking in proof to call fully reliable.
“Oh, Representative Siwon. I’ve got some good news.”
For that ambiguous TA Medical, good news was approaching.