*A guest post by David Bachler
The May of 2025 annual meeting for the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) marked the long-awaited return of the organization to Hawaii’s shores. 2017 was the last time ISMRM had hosted their annual meeting at the Hawaii Convention Center, nigh a decade ago. This year also marked a pivotal time for Smart City Networks at HCC the company closes in on its own 10-year mark of partnering with the Center.
The networking for the event boasted a 3000-concurrent device hosted attendee Wi-Fi network; with the physical network spanning 45-concurrent physical handoffs. The customized wireless augmentation was the crowning jewel of the operation for ISMRM, as the SCN team augmented the wireless infrastructure by nearly 50% above its normal capacity.
Former GM of Smart City Networks at the Hawaii Convention, David Bachler, returned at the request of ISMRM to oversee the execution of the network services, in tandem with the recently minted GM (and Mr. Bachler’s successor), Christian Peterson. In close tow with the former GM was also SCN veteran GM of the Seattle Convention Center, Joe Melancon. A first-class showing of expertise with a total of three general managers to oversee the execution of the event. Mr. Bachler had this to say about the experience:
“Even prior to SCN winning the contract in Hawaii in late 2016, the Hawaii Convention Center was already my baby. I was there for a total of 12 years and know that building like I know my first car. My rationale for recruiting Mr. Melancon on this one was simple, this was a stepping-off point that had been 12-years in the making. I needed seasoned eyes that I could trust to check my work.
My successor, Christian, could almost be regarded as hand-picked by me to take over. I was granted a lot of visibility into his vetting and onboarding, which felt like a rare gift to me. Credit here is due to our Director, Jim Snook, for that privilege; he cares about his people, and he knew full well how much I wanted the Center to be left in good hands.
For me, ISMRM is not a simple event from a networking standpoint, and it serves as a perfect litmus test to see if someone can handle the full breadth of complexity that this job entails. We were lucky enough to reunite and liaise with the client’s networking specialist, John Bonebrake. This was my third go-around with John, and I can say without reservation that he is truly one of the best in the business. Christian has been driving in the GM chair for many months now and hasn’t disappointed. This was my way of fully endorsing my passing of the torch to him, with Joe alongside me to lend his seasoned wisdom and perspective.
Christian did an outstanding job, and I now know that a place near and dear to me is in good hands. As we would have said in the service together, ‘Bravo Zulu, brother’.”
Thank you, David Bachler for that insight into ISMRM and the Hawai’i Convention Center! For more Smart City Networks stories, check our our blog!
