Marc Sedam, MBA, RTTP
Associate Vice Provost for Innovation and New Ventures
University of New Hampshire
Managing Director
UNHInnovation
AUTM 2020 Chair
AUTM Member since 1997
What is your current state of mind? 
In the aftermath of cancelling the AUTM 2020 Annual Meeting, a little melancholy.
 
Can you tell us a little about the decision-making in the days leading up to the cancellation of the AUTM 2020 Annual Meeting?
It was a whirlwind few days. The staff were simultaneously pushing full steam ahead with a year’s worth of preparations while we were all monitoring the regional, national, and global public health information in real time. We discussed what a cancellation would mean financially early the week before and felt AUTM could handle a wipeout. The staff and Board were always willing to cancel, but were committed to that decision being as data-driven as possible. But our focus the entire time was first about the safety of our Members and, if we could feel comfortable with that, whether the high standards AUTM sets for our events could be met. On Monday we were headed towards record registrations and a full meeting. On Wednesday we still had 1700 registrations and all 92 of 95 panels were still on, but by the afternoon the national public health narrative was rapidly changing. Thursday, prompted by the California Governor declaring a state of emergency, the bottom fell out even though we were still getting new registrations. Once AUTM staff was on the ground in San Diego and got preliminary data from the hotel, the decision to cancel was obvious and all activities turned towards mitigating impact. The quick actions of AUTM staff, and Steve’s leadership, allowed us to weather this event much better than we’d predicted. While it’s clear we’re still looking at a seven-figure loss it could have been much, much worse.
 
Has anything good come out of cancellation? What have we learned?
Well, the outpouring of support from the Membership was amazing. It was an incredibly challenging weekend made easier by dozens of emails and posts supporting the decision, as well as the continuing progression of COVID-19 news in the days since. Yet we have learned a couple of important things:
  • Plan for the next “black swan” event. We would be foolish to assume that this is the last time a major AUTM activity will be canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Beyond financial issues (see below), we need to rethink how we deliver content and improve our online and asynchronous learning options. If there’s a future disruption, could we quickly pivot and have all panelists and presentations happen online while keeping the interactive nature of our events? Can AUTM Connect facilitate contacts and partnering year-round? Do we need to adjust the bylaws to be more reflective of 21st century business practices? We know that you can’t possibly plan for every potential contingency, but this will force us to look at how AUTM currently delivers value to the Members and examine alternate channels or approaches to keep us flexible.
  • Run a tight financial ship. AUTM has always been a very conservative association with its finances and over the past decade careful financial management allowed us to set aside a 12-month buffer in our reserves, meaning we could operate the organization for one year without bringing in additional revenues. While cancellation of the Annual Meeting is going to take a very large chunk out of those reserves, AUTM remains on firm financial footing. While we’re not starting over, it’s going to take some time to get back to where we were. Having blockbuster attendance at AUTM 2021 in Seattle is the fastest way we can recover.
  • Focusing on Member needs is all the strategy we need. As you could imagine there were dozens of moments in the run up to the annual meeting where it was not clear what to do. Over and over again we would ask ourselves “What’s in the best interests of our Members?” and that focus never let us down. As a Board we have a fiduciary duty to the Association but as your colleagues we had (and have) as significant a duty to you. We’re looking at ways to use the cancellation as a springboard to engage the Membership in new ideas and methods of interacting with each other. I think we will come out the other side better than before.
What do you most value in your friends? 
An ability to pick up a conversation from two years ago and seamlessly continue it. That and a willingness to watch the opening weekend of March Madness without a break.
 
What is your motto? 
Capitalism works and people are inherently good. The goodness of people almost always keeps our baser natures from running amok.
 
Which words or phrases do you most overuse? 
The word “stuff,” especially when speaking extemporaneously. It’s a great catch-all word until you see it in print, attributed to you, then you want nothing more than to clarify what you meant.
 
Which talent would you most like to have? A 36” vertical leap. I love playing basketball but somehow gravity affects me more than others. When you end an alley-oop with a layup it’s a little underwhelming.
 
What do you consider your greatest achievement?  I’m going to cheat and answer three different ways. For degree of difficulty, it was definitely running Qualyst—a UNC-Chapel Hill start-up that I had the unique experience of being involved with from initial disclosure all the way through market acceptance. Seeing a university start-up from the licensee’s side was transformative and really effects how I view tech transfer today. I ran the company for almost four years and somehow managed to never miss payroll, though we did end one month with $7.11 in the bank! In terms of impact, it’s been driving UNH’s international leadership in the commercialization of creative works. We are applying tech transfer practices and assistance into the arts, humanities, and social sciences, including a vibrant trademark strategy. It’s been my answer to how to make a long-lasting impact universities without medical schools. But on a personal note, it was coaching my daughter’s softball team and watching a group of 12 girls mature over five years into a cohesive unit. We won the league championship the season after one in which we only won a single game. My daughter recorded the final out and for the first time in my life I was speechless.
 
What (or who) lured you into tech transfer and what makes you stay? 
Ooooh. My favorite ice breaker at the Annual Meeting! I moved to Chapel Hill in 1996 and the only person my wife and I knew in town was Fran Meyer, the Director of Carolina’s TTO, from a family connection. My first job was as a temp doing filing, digitization, and data management and I guess I did well enough for Fran to want to keep me around. I got hooked because I had the great good fortune to work with the ideas of amazing faculty (including two Nobel Laureates) under the guidance of two former AUTM Presidents (Dave Winwood and Mark Crowell). Why would you ever leave after that? I remain committed to the tech transfer profession because the job has expanded to include business development, corporate engagement, start-ups, seed funding, venture capital, and local and regional economic development. Everything is tech transfer these days and helping AUTM navigate the challenge of providing significant value to all of those roles is my next big thing.
 
Of all the roles you’ve held in tech transfer, what’s been the most satisfying and why? Running UNHInnovation, hands down. UNH has always given me creative freedom to build a technology transfer operation that services the whole institution. Our unofficial office motto—“Serve the Idea”— guides us to do what’s best for the idea to achieve its maximum benefit in the world. It’s why we operate the licensing, corporate engagement, entrepreneurship center, and an industry-facing testing lab under UNHI. The integrated structure makes that much easier. I’ve now been tasked with attempting to start a research foundation and build out a community of innovation which is, I hope, the natural evolution of what we do. And all at my alma mater as well! But I also hear that this AUTM Chair thing is pretty interesting…
 
If you could offer a tech transfer newbie any advice, what would it be? 
Embrace filing and data entry. You’ll never know where it could lead you.