The ACE Summit & Reverse Expo

What The ACE Summit & Reverse Expo does

The ACE Summit & Reverse Expo is an annual in-person conference organized by Bluegrass Business Media that connects U.S. healthcare capital project, facility, and equipment decision-makers with supplier partners. Its defining structural feature is a reverse expo format — hospital, health system, regional purchasing coalition (RPC), and group purchasing organization (GPO) leaders host booths while suppliers visit, inverting the traditional trade show dynamic to concentrate buyer attention. The event runs three days and integrates CE-accredited educational tracks (architecture, capital equipment, engineering/facilities, supplier strategies), keynote sessions, idea exchanges, hosted buyer meetings, focus groups, product showcases, and structured networking events. The 2027 edition lists over 50 confirmed provider booths (including Kaiser Permanente, Cleveland Clinic, UPMC, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Bon Secours Mercy Health, and Vizient) alongside 20+ planning, design, and construction (PDC) firms in a parallel PDC Expo.

The company monetizes through three streams: attendee registration fees, tiered supplier exhibiting packages for the Reverse Expo and PDC Expo, and event sponsorships covering meals, receptions, golf events, and keynotes. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Supporting products include the year-round ACE Master Class Webinar Series, which sustains audience engagement between annual events. The business has operated continuously since at least 2014, with documented events in Atlanta (2014-2020), a virtual edition in 2021, Orlando (2024-2025), and upcoming New Orleans editions (2026-2027). Historical attendance metrics show the provider side consistently representing 48-69 healthcare buying groups across 40+ states, responsible for 1,200-1,540 hospitals and 11,000-14,500 non-acute care facilities.

Operationally, ACE Summit is a micro-organization (1-10 employees) operating from Bluegrass Business Media's Lexington, Kentucky headquarters, with a small contact roster (Trey Beuttel for provider/sponsoring relations, Chris Nolan for registration and hotel logistics, Kevin Brooks for suppliers, Jaclyn Fyffe for sponsorships, Lisa Ponssa for general information). It maintains a sister-event cross-promotion relationship with IDN Summit, also owned by Bluegrass Business Media, targeting adjacent healthcare supply chain audiences.

Name

The ACE Summit & Reverse Expo

Legal name

Bluegrass Business Media

Website

https://acesummitandexpo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The ACE Summit & Reverse Expo is an annual healthcare facilities and capital equipment conference organized by Bluegrass Business Media that connects hospital, health system, GPO, and PDC decision-makers with medical equipment and design suppliers via a reverse expo format.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Conferences and Events

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare, Medical Devices & Pharma Shows Organizers (THAHABAH)

Keywords

• Healthcare facility conferences
• Reverse expo events
• Capital equipment sourcing
• Healthcare procurement networking
• Planning design construction expo

Headquarters

HQ city

Lexington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Attendee Registration: Fees charged to healthcare executives and supplier attendees for event access, including sessions, reverse expo, and networking events
2. Supplier Exhibiting: Fees for suppliers to exhibit at the Reverse Expo and PDC Expo, with tiered booth options for different visibility levels
3. Event Sponsorships: Sponsorship packages for various event elements including meals, receptions, golf events, and keynote sessions

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The ACE Summit & Reverse Expo produces an annual three-day in-person healthcare facilities and capital equipment conference that brings together hospital, health system, RPC, and GPO executives with suppliers of architecture, construction, capital equipment, facilities, and healthcare design products. The event is differentiated by a reverse expo format in which providers host booths for suppliers, complemented by the PDC Expo, CE-accredited breakout sessions, keynote programming, hosted buyer meetings, focus groups, product showcases, networking events, and an ongoing webinar series between annual events.

Product overview

The ACE Summit & Reverse Expo is a single unified conference product offering centered around an annual event that brings together healthcare executives and suppliers of architecture, construction, capital equipment, facilities, and healthcare design products. The core product consists of the main ACE Summit Conference enhanced by the unique Reverse Expo format (where buyers host booths rather than traditional exhibitor booths) and the PDC Expo for planning/design/construction professionals. The event portfolio includes multiple integrated components: CE-accredited educational tracks (Architecture, Capital Equipment, Engineering/Facilities, Supplier Strategies), Keynote Series, Capital Projects Forum, Hosted Buyer Meetings, Focus Groups, Product Showcases, and Idea Exchanges. Supporting networking functions include various receptions, breakfast sessions, and golf scrambles. An additional remote offering, the ACE Master Class Webinar Series, extends education between annual events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Reverse Expo: A unique trade show format where hospitals, health systems, RPCs, and GPOs host booths to engage with suppliers of healthcare facilities, equipment, and design products.
• PDC Expo

Products and services

• ACE Summit Conference

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• IDN SummitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe IDN Summit is a sister conference operated by Bluegrass Business Media, the parent company of the ACE Summit. Both events target healthcare supply chain and capital investment professionals, with cross-promotion between events.
• Bluegrass Business MediacoreOthersBluegrass Business Media is the parent company that organizes the ACE Summit. Located in Lexington, KY, they provide event management, marketing, and operational support for the conference.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• AHR Expo: Largest HVACR industry trade show in North America. Adjacent rather than direct — overlaps with hospital capital/facility decision-makers for mechanical and building systems but serves a much broader building audience.

Broad incumbents

• HIMSS Global Health Conference: Largest healthcare IT conference in the US. While broader than ACE's capital-equipment focus, it overlaps on healthcare executive attendees, exhibitor base, and CE-accredited content; a dominant incumbent in the healthcare event space.
• ViVE Healthcare Conference: Major digital-health-focused healthcare conference drawing senior healthcare executives. Competes for executive attendance and sponsorships, though its content focus skews more toward digital health than capital/facilities.
• Becker Hospital Review Events: Hosts multiple healthcare executive conferences (CIO, CFO, CEO summits). Broader portfolio than ACE but competes for the same C-suite healthcare executive attendees and sponsorship dollars.

Direct peers

• IDN Summit: Sister conference under the same parent (Bluegrass Business Media), targeting healthcare supply chain executives with similar summit + reverse-expo format. Closest functional comparable and likely the most direct peer for ACE Summit.
• MD&M (Medical Design & Manufacturing) Tradeshows: Large medical-device design and manufacturing trade shows with capital-equipment buyer attendance. Comparable exhibitor base to ACE's supplier community, although MD&M is more design/manufacturing focused.
• Healthcare Design Conference + Expo: Dedicated conference for healthcare facility planning, design, and construction professionals — directly overlapping the PDC Expo portion of ACE and serving the same architecture/engineering/construction buyer audience.
• Health Connect Partners (HCP) Events: Operates hospital-focused reverse-expo style events for supply chain and capital equipment leaders. Comparable business model (reverse expo, hospital-hosted booths, supplier attendance) and overlapping customer base.
• ASHE Annual Conference & Technical Exhibition: American Society for Healthcare Engineering's flagship event, focused on healthcare facility management, engineering, and safety — a direct peer on the facilities-side buyer audience of the ACE Summit.

Emerging players

• ECRI Institute Conferences: Independent nonprofit that produces healthcare technology, safety, and procurement-related events and research. Overlaps with ACE's healthcare capital and equipment decision-maker audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1310160549125552&type=3
• Xx.com/acesummitexpo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The ACE Summit & Reverse Expo