Robot surgery: Inside Medtronic’s award-winning investor event

The company took home the trophy for best investor event at the IR Magazine Awards – US 2020

You can jump to 5.50 to go straight to how Medtronic pulled it off.

By their very nature, one award-winning investor event should have little in common with another. What they should be is unique and memorable – and few could be as memorable as the one held by Medtronic, winner of the best investor event gong at the virtual IR Magazine Awards – US 2020.

The firm had been working on a new robot surgery system in a bid to enter a market that Ryan Weispfenning, vice president and head of IR, tells IR Magazine was essentially a monopoly before Medtronic got involved.

Until it was unveiled, he says there had been a lot of stealth and secrecy around the robot, which only added to the anticipation on the Street. As a result, ‘this was probably the most-anticipated event in the medical technology space in 2019,’ he explains.

With all that pressure, what did Weispfenning and his team do? They had the robot perform live surgery on a cadaver.

The complicated nature of the event meant there were only a handful of places in the world it could happen, he explains, so the firm took investors to Hartford, Connecticut, with some viewing the surgery in person (pre-Covid-19, of course) while others logged in to a live stream to see the robot in action.

Click here to watch all the winners’ videos from the virtual IR Magazine Awards – US 2020.

Share this on:


Upcoming events

  • Corporate Governance Forum
    Thursday, November 5, 2026

    Corporate Governance Forum

    About the event WHEN WHERE VENUE_ADDRESS Awards by nomination Categories Awards by research Categories What our attendees say IR Rankings – LOCATION The IR Rankings – LOCATION report is the ultimate benchmarking resource for any IRO looking to improve their IR program. It provides detailed analysis and statistics on the…

    New York, US
  • Corporate Governance Awards
    Thursday, November 5, 2026

    Corporate Governance Awards

    About the event WHEN WHERE VENUE_ADDRESS Awards by nomination Categories Awards by research Categories What our attendees say IR Rankings – LOCATION The IR Rankings – LOCATION report is the ultimate benchmarking resource for any IRO looking to improve their IR program. It provides detailed analysis and statistics on the…

    New York, US
  • Forum – AI & Technology
    Thursday, November 12, 2026

    Forum – AI & Technology

    About the event A year ago, the conversation around AI within investor relations centred on adoption and implementation: which tools to use, how to implement them and how to manage the associated risks. Today, the landscape has evolved significantly. AI is no longer an emerging concept for many IR teams,…

    New York, US

Explore

Andy White, Freelance WordPress Developer London