By Jennifer Maffia, Owner of Advanced Recruiting Partners

This year, I won’t be exhibiting at SCOPE.

No booth. No back-to-back badge scans. No racing from meeting to meeting trying to squeeze value out of every minute.

Instead, I’ll be walking the floor, sitting in on conversations, reconnecting with people I’ve known for years, and meeting new faces without an agenda attached.

And honestly? That’s often when SCOPE is at its best.

After spending years in life sciences recruiting and staffing—and watching how sponsor teams actually operate before and after conferences—I’ve noticed something: the most meaningful outcomes from SCOPE rarely come from the sessions alone. They come from the relationships built around them.

SCOPE 2026 (February 2–5, Orlando) will once again bring together thousands of clinical leaders, service providers, and partners. The content will be strong. The trends will be familiar. AI will be discussed—enthusiastically and cautiously, sometimes in the same sentence. But the real value will show up in quieter ways.

It shows up when a sponsor shares what’s actually slowing their trial down, not what’s on the slide.

It shows up when someone admits what didn’t work last year and what they’re
reconsidering now.

It shows up when you leave a conversation thinking, “We’re not the only ones dealing with this.”

When you approach SCOPE as a relationship-building environment rather than a knowledge-collection exercise, the pressure lifts. You stop trying to attend everything. You listen more. You ask better questions. And you start noticing patterns—what multiple teams are wrestling with, where expectations are shifting, and which ideas are gaining traction beyond the buzzwords.

Some of the most productive conversations I’ve had at SCOPE didn’t end with a clear action item. They ended with trust. And trust is what makes the follow-up conversations, weeks or months later, far more honest and useful.

That doesn’t mean preparation doesn’t matter. It does. But preparation isn’t about building a perfect schedule. It’s about knowing what matters to you right now, so you recognize the right conversations when they happen.

Whether this is your first SCOPE or your fifth, I’d encourage you to leave space for reflection, for connection, and for the conversations that don’t fit neatly into a track or time slot.

Those are often the ones that stick.

I’m looking forward to experiencing SCOPE this year through conversations, shared observations, and time spent really listening to where the industry is—and isn’t—moving.

About Jennifer Maffia 
With over 20 years of experience in clinical staffing, Jennifer Maffia connects
pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences companies with top-tier clinical talent. She is known for building lasting client relationships, supporting tenured recruiters, and driving impactful hiring strategies. Through industry partnerships and active board involvement, Jennifer remains committed to advancing the life sciences field and improving patient outcomes.