A few days ago I received an eMail from Paul Levy describing a unique outreach to help educate people about an important life issue that is often incredibly difficult to discuss. End of Life Experience.
It may seem strange to some, but for me, on the day before Thanksgiving it seems right to join with the voices of many people in social media who are dedicating posts to this cause. Taking these words from Alexandra Drane's speech (video below) I invite you to .. Make a toast to those that you love and those that you miss and have this conversation with your family.
We make choices throughout our lives - where we want to live, what
types of activities will fill our days, with whom we spend our time.
These choices are often a balance between our desires and our means, but
at the end of the day, they are decisions made with intent. But when it
comes to how we want to be treated at the end our lives, often we don't
express our intent or tell our loved ones about it.
This has real consequences. 73% of Americans would prefer to die at
home, but up to 50% die in hospital. More than 80% of Californians say
their loved ones "know exactly" or have a "good idea" of what their
wishes would be if they were in a persistent coma, but only 50% say
they've talked to them about their preferences.But our end of life
experiences are about a lot more than statistics. They're about all of
us.
So the first thing we need to do is start talking. Engage With
Grace: The One Slide Project was designed with one simple goal:
to help get the conversation about end of life experience started. The
idea is
simple: Create a tool to help get people talking. One Slide, with just
five questions on it. Five questions designed to help get us talking
with each other, with our loved ones, about our preferences.
And we're asking people to share this One Slide - wherever and
whenever they can.at a presentation, at dinner, at their book club. Just
One Slide, just five questions. Lets start a global discussion that,
until now, most of us haven't had.Here is what we are asking you: Download The
One Slide and share it at any opportunity - with colleagues, family,
friends. Think of the slide as currency and donate just two minutes
whenever you can. Commit to being able to answer these five questions
about end of life experience for yourself, and for your loved ones. Then
commit to helping others do the same. Get this conversation started.
Let's start a viral movement driven by the change we as individuals
can effect...and the incredibly positive impact we could have
collectively. Help ensure that all of us - and the people we care for -
can end our lives in the same purposeful way we live them. Just One
Slide, just one goal. Think of the enormous difference we can make
together. - Written by Alexandra Drane and the Engage With Grace
team
The story of Za, that began this innovative journey is told by her sister in-law Alexandra Drane.
In his role as Director of Web, Film and Interactive Strategies for the American Cancer Society's High Plains Division David J. Neff has worked with ACS in some exciting social media intitiaves. One of the most successful has been Sharinghope.tv the non profit world's first total user generated content site.
The other side of David J. Neff is .. he is an author, speaker and social media maven. He's also a guy with a big heart. Skipping along Twitter a couple of weeks ago I caught tweets about a Tweet-up. Following the teeny bread crumb trail I learned that David was part of the Tweet-up team. Sounded like a Diva Interview to me and David agreed.
Toby/Diva Marketing: So David, what is a Tweet-up?
David J. Neff: A Tweet-up is the same thing as what used to be called a meet-up. From the meet-up.com days. It’s a bunch of people who know each other online meeting in real-life. Usually to enjoy some Tex-Mex and Adult Beverages if it’s an Austin tweet-up ; -)
Toby/Diva Marketing: What was the ACS Tweet-up about? How many people signed up?
David J. Neff: Well Toby we didn’t have a ACS Tweet Up. We had a Blood Drive Tweetup to benefit the Central Texas Blood and Tissue Center. The American Cancer Society was not involved at all. We had 45 to 50 people sign up and we had 45 people show up.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Let’s put a little traditional perspective around that number. In a typical Blood Drive out reach what would be your average response?
David J. Neff: We doubled their traffic for that day!
Toby/Diva Marketing: Did you have any expectations? What did you “hope” would happen?
David J. Neff: I hope I would get to meet a lot of the Central Texas/Austin commuity and talk to them about giving blood and even our newest Web Community www.sharinghope.tv. Luckily we did a lot more than that!
Toby/Diva Marketing: As with most social media initiatives the “oomph!” comes from relations build with a community .. with Twitter it's the “Followers.” This is sort of a chicken and egg question. Do you first have to build a base of Followers before you can have a successful Tweet-up? How do you do that?
David J. Neff: Good question. I don’t have a third of the followers you do Toby (add me at @daveiam) so that was not an option for us. But what did happen was people spread the word on twitter and email! Michelle Greer my awesome co-partner on this did the same thing and soon we had the whole Austin Twitter Community interested in the Blood Drive. It went viral since it was such a good cause.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Twitter has a unique challenge. As the tweets (or posts) continue to increase exponentially based on the number of people you follow you can easily miss a tweet. How did you compensate for that?
David J. Neff: Michelle Greer and I talked the heck out of it. We also partnered with two local groups to get the message out. The 501 Tech Club of Austin and the Austin Social Media Club. They were a big help!
Toby/Diva Marketing: From a marketing view .. congrats! on integrating other social tactics such as the YouTube video and @Twitter messages .. which is how I found out. Please talk a little about that part of your strategy.
David J. Neff: That was just the summary.
If you are going to have an event around your non-profit be sure to Blog about it, Video tape people and take photos. It’s all you can do to spread the word!
Toby/Diva Marketing: What are a few of the Lessons Learned? Would you do it again?
David J. Neff: Whew! We learned a lot. The most important thing is that people really do care nowdays. You just have to break through the clutter and get them to notice your event. In this case the community on twitter really helped us do that! We do plan to do it again very soon for another non-profit here in town. Toby/Diva Marketing: What would you tell non profits and profits who are exploring micro blogging/Twitter as part of their communication out reach?
David J. Neff:
Make it happen. You need to experiment. Watch this video and follow some of my tips.
Follow David on Twitter! FI Space - blog about innovation for non profits.
Only my friend Nick Jacobs, CEO of Windber Medical Center, would write a book titled Taking The Hell Out of Healthcare - a patient's guide to getting the best healthcare - and put a lovely bouquet of flowers on the cover. Nick Jacobs is no stranger to pushing the envelope. He is a pioneer in healthcare social media. Nick was first CEO of a general hospital/medical center to launch a blog sponsored by his hospital.
Taking The Hell Out of Healhcare is Nick's innovative approach to healthcare that treats the patient as a "person" while looking at a healthcare system that Nick calls broken. The book is a guide " ... on how to get the same treatment as the CEO's family in any hospital, a book on patient advocacy."
Nice to see more companies embracing social media marketing .. social networking .. social computing .. influencer marketing .. participation marketing .. whatever buzz word you call it - along with the tactics that build the mosaic: blogs, widgets, social networks, vlogs, social bookmarks, micro blogging and who knows what will develop tomorrow - however, the reality is many consider it to be more of a revolutionary strategy than an evolutionary way to reach customers.
Although thousands of physicians are active in social media, it's not a big surprise when it comes to Web 2.0 and social media, healthcare organizations are in the caution-to-adopt category. With the restraints of HIPPA is it even worth a dive into the wild side? Should healthcare organizations go "social?" For Nick Jacobs, President/CEO of Windber Medical Center the benefits from his blog far exceeded expectations. From Nick - his story -
Because of this Media 2.0 involvement, I began receiving invitations all over the country to speak about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the form of growth, outreach, transparency, criticism, board reaction, etc. Because of these presentations in Washington D.C., Chicago, Las Vegas etc. I was exposed to the magnitude of not only blog power, but also You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, and any number of other web
Would I blog again? Yes. It has resulted in me writing two books and four newspaper columns that have increased our business by double diget figures .. It has put a human face on a very conservative, formal job, hospital CEO. It has helped me to reach out to a region that only five years ago dismissed us as a non player. It has introduced us to the new world order regarding viral marketing and reaching out through the web.
Let's take a look at defining "success." Enoch Choi, MD, another pioneer in this space, believes social media is a good business decision for healthcare organizations.
I''ve recommended healthcare institutions that are interested in getting
into social media to go where their target audience is -- where Google
searches on the terms they'd like to target are going to. I'm
involved with MedHelp, where these institutions have a chance to have
their MDs answer questions, on the topics they'd like to recruit more
patients in, to increase their referrals. in this way, blogging can
improve their bottom line.
Here area some healthcare organizations that are exploring social media marketing.
Diva Marketing Talks
is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic about
social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate
in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show?
You can pick it up as a podcast.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks explores an innovative, new model for a social media community. Dr. Daniel Palestrant, Founder CEO of Sermo, and Dr. Richard Thrasher, community member, join me to talk about Sermo, an online community open only to doctors (a niche) where for a fee sponsors can listen in, ask questions but not fully participate.
Big question: Would this model work for other verticals/market segments like moms or golfers or accountants or patients?
Topic for February 26, 2008: Where the Docs Are .. Someone Waits For Them. Paid Sponsors in a Social Networking Community.
Daniel Palestrant is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge-based Sermo, Inc. As CEO, Daniel is responsible for the overall vision of the Sermo community and business. His main tasks focus on ensuring that Sermo is a valuable resource to physicians while building a profitable and socially responsible enterprise.
Daniel's first experiences with Healthcare Informatics came when he conceived, designed, proposed and managed deployment of CIBUR (CIGNA Internet Based Universal Resource), one of the first commercial Web-based healthcare resources for physicians and allied health professionals. No stranger to the entrepreneurial side of medicine, Daniel founded his first company, Azygos, Inc., in 1998. During that time, he successfully raised $2.2MM in funding and deployed the company's first clinical application on schedule and on budget, before selling the company to BioNetrix in May of 2001.
After selling Azygos, Daniel joined BioNetrix (Now BNX Systems) as Director of Health Care. During his time at BNX Systems, Daniel helped numerous healthcare-focused businesses increase network security, improve patient privacy safeguards and comply with HIPAA. Daniel has done clinical and laboratory research in transplant immunology. He has a B.S. in biology from Johns Hopkins University, completed medical school at Duke University, and trained in General Surgery at Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital, in Boston before leaving to launch Sermo.
Dr. Richard Thrasher
Dr. Richard Thrasher is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology. He established ENT practice - The Ear, Nose, & Throat Center at McKinney. He is also an active member of the Sermo community.
Dr. Thrasher received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and his medical degree from the University of Connecticut. He completed a general surgery internship in Denver before going on to an Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. While in residency, Dr. Thrasher spent significant time at Denver Children’s hospital (routinely rated in the top 10 children’s hospitals in the country) and has a particular interest in pediatric ENT.
Upon completing residency, Dr. Thrasher served on clinical faculty with the University of Nebraska Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery while he served as a Major in the USAF for 3 years at Offutt AFB in Nebraska. During this time he won three awards for best instructor as a clinical preceptor for family medicine residents and physician assistant students. He also served as medical director of the surgical service and chief of otolaryngology at his base hospital.
Dr. Thrasher was the first otolaryngologist in Nebraska, and first in the Air Force, to perform the new Balloon Sinuplasty® surgery. He was also the first otolaryngologist in Nebraska to perform an innovative base of tongue procedure for sleep apnea and is one of only 6-7 surgeons in the country currently doing this procedure. He has extensive experience performing the Pillar Palatal Implant® procedure for snoring. He has authored several publications and remains active in pursuing clinical research in sinusitis and sleep apnea.
Dr. Thrasher’s special interests include pediatric ENT, snoring/ obstructive sleep apnea, thyroid surgery, and sinus surgery. He is an active golfer and self-proclaimed technology geek. He lives in Plano with his wife and 2 children but hopes to move to McKinney in the next several months.
Tips From The Diva Bag
Complements of Dr. Richard Thrasher
Log on frequently and just observe how things work for a little while. Some may feel comfortable seeing the personality of the site within a couple of days, some may need some more time. But I would observe how the interaction works first before just jumping in with a post. There is an etiquette on-line that is not always readily apparent to novices.
When you do begin to interact, do so frequently. If you make a comment or post a topic, follow up on it frequently to see if there is any feedback regarding your input. This will definitely bring you into the community. Those who post and run will not feel like they develop a relationship with other users as well.
Avoid trying to make overt discriminatory comments—this is the surest way to be ostracized. Whether you have a bias toward something whether it’s race, gender, educational background, etc, if you make those types of comments known, you will be quickly attacked. I have seen this on many on-line communities. Most importantly be open-minded of the opinions of others and at least respectful even if they’re factually wrong. There are definitely better ways to handle differences of opinion than through attacks.
Disclose, disclose, disclose. If you market yourself or a product on Sermo and do not disclose a financial interest, but one is discovered, you will immediately be ostracized by the community at large. If you fully disclose your interest in the marketing, you stand a fighting chance of having a constructive discussion of your particular topic.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions about patients who have a diagnosis that you can’t figure out or who has an adverse event that you want to discuss. Often these are the best discussions on Sermo.
Can't call in but have a question? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks
to chat about. Don't forget Diva Marketing Talks morphs into a podcast.
Update: Enoch Choi, MedHelp of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation joined the conversation. If you have any interest in healthcare in the U.S. or where physicians' interest are in changing the healthcare system do not miss the After Show. In Ophra style, the After Show continues on a free for all flow for as long as the conversation goes on.
Paul Levy, President and CEO of Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and blogger of Running A Hospital Blog is no stranger when it comes to innovation and loving a good challenge. In 2002, when Paul took the helm of the BIDMC the hospital was on verge of being sold by the Commonwealth. In 2004, the medical center reported a $28 million dollar operating surplus.
With the hospital under control, I guess Paul found a few extra seconds. In August of 2006, Paul decided to add blogging to his To Do List and launched Running A Hospital Blog. In keeping with the mantra of social media (transparency, authenticity, honesty and passion) posts run from patient's customer service concern to his views on social issues to health insurance to asking readers if he got paid too much and even the recipe of Beth Israel's famous chocolate chip cookies.
The healthcare business is fiercely competitive, especially in Boston, a city know for its hospitals and docs. In his post Opening Day Items Paul shows us an out-of-the-box marketing strategy that dovetails into the BIDMC's partnership with the Boston Red Sox. BI Babies are sent home in co-branded baby caps and a certificate for a tour of Fenway Park on birthday number five.
Bloggy Discloure: I'm a BI bebe and I'm betting if the BI had that in strategy in-place, I would have had a few more siblings! Had to add this comment from Paul - "And, by the way, all BID babies are above average . . . Good to know that you are another example of that."
In an email chat Paul explained his views about about blogs and social media in healthcare. I think you'll agree that Paul has indeed taken a sip or two of the kool-aid and hit a home run with Running A Hospital Blog.
One of the nation’s preeminent academic medical centers, providing state-of-the-art clinical care, research, and teaching in affiliation with Harvard Medical School. Licensed for about 600 beds, BIDMC annual clinical and research revenues are in excess of $1 billion. Overseen by a 20-member Board of Directors and with a staff of over 6,000 FTEs and a medical staff of over 700 physicians in thirteen clinical departments.
Toby/Diva Marketing: It seems as though Running A Hospital Blog is your personal blog versus a “company blog.”
Paul Levy: This a personal blog. It is not published by the hospital.
Toby/Diva Marketing:Why a personal blog and not a BI/Deaconess Medical Center blog a la Nick Jacobs?
Paul Levy: Dunno. I'm not sure it matters that much, but if it were an official organ of the hospital, I would probably feel compelled to have all posts reviewed by our General Counsel, press office, and other people inside the hospital. That would make it hard for me to write and post something at 5am or 10pm, when I do my writing.
Also, I would probably self-censor much more, knowing that things were going to be reviewed by corporate folks. I think currency and immediacy and spontaneity are important in keeping things interesting. Also, this way, my staff folks can honestly deny that they have any prior knowledge about what I have written! By the way, I like Nick's blog a lot. He seems like a wonderful guy, and they are lucky to have someone with his experience, wisdom, and good humor.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Do you think the hospital will adopt a social media strategy including blogs, blogger relations, etc? If so when? If not why not?
Paul Levy: I''m not sure what it means to have a social media strategy, at least with regard to blogs and blogger relations. Anyone can start his or her own blog in about 30 seconds. Why should the hospital be a repository? If we were, then we would have to have blogging policies! That seems inherently contradictory to the idea of social media.
If we did post blogs on our company website, wouldn't we have to make the "space" available to all and then also have to insure that they met standards for honesty, accountability, grammar, spelling, HIPAA, good behavior, and the like? If you permit all blogs to be posted on the company website without standards, then you are inviting lawsuits. So then I would have to have people enforce the standards.
Why undemocratize the most democratic form of communication by imposing corporate standards on it when anybody in the company can already create their own site in the outside world? If it is good enough and interesting enough to attract readers, the word will get around.
We are, however, looking at wikis for a variety of purposes.
Toby/Diva Marketing:Why has blogging been worth your time, energy and resources? What has surprised you about your blogging experience?
Paul Levy: Totally worth it, especially in terms of getting feedback from a wide variety of people throughout the world. It is like tapping into an incredibly extensive community.
Toby/Diva Marketing:Are ideas and suggestions from comments distributed and/or utilized internally?
Paul Levy: Oh, yes. I pass along ideas to our folks, and we follow up.
Toby/Diva Marketing:How does your blog fit into Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Marketing/ Community Outreach Strategies.
Paul Levy: This is not the hospital's blog. Strictly speaking, it is not tied into our business strategies, although I like to think that there is nothing in it that is inconsistent with our strategies.
Toby/Diva Marketing: I noticed that the blog is not linked from the Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center webstite. Nor is there a direct link from the blog to the BI website. Any plans to do that?
Paul Levy: No, it is not a hospital publication.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Did you have to first gain permission from your board?
Paul Levy: No.
Toby/Diva Marketing: How are you handling HIPPA regulations?
Paul Levy: I follow them!
Toby/Diva Marketing: What were the reactions from your peers?
Paul Levy: Some are very supportive, some are disdainful. Our physicians and nurses and other staff are very, very supportive.
Toby/Diva Marketing: What are your feelings about Sermo? Particularly the inclusion of allowing investment firms to view postings and the possibility of inviting the pharma in?
Paul Levy: I have never read it. I don't look at sites where you have to register.
Toby/Diva Marketing: What will it take for social media to gain acceptance within the healthcare community, to the extent that blogs (and other tactics) are adopted?
Paul Levy: This will happen very slowly. It is not a field that encourages open expressions of feelings or positions.
Toby/Diva Marketing: What would you tell other healthcare organizations and physicians who are considering launching a blog?
Paul Levy: Be prepared for a great adventure.
Sidebar: Thanks to Nick Jacobs for the intro to Paul Levy. Another example of the blogger network.
Two pharmaceutical companies joined the healthcare blogosphere conversation this month: GlaxoSmithKine - alliConnect and JNJBTW - Johnson and Johnson. The launch of these blogs, that differ vastly in tonality and focus, is a significant step in acknowledging the importance of social media in healthcare marketing. Or is it? Are they really in the game?
What first had me questioning was the lack of attention to branding on JNJBTW. Disappointing. J&J is famous for strategic marketing. However, the "skin" of JNJBTW lacks sophistication giving me the feeling that this blog might be a tentative step or perhaps an experiment. Examples - the link "About the authors" profiles one author not multiple authors. Nor is there a link to the parent company. These may seem like minor details but in social media success is in the details.
Sidebar: J&J has reached out to healthcare bloggers hosting dinners in NYC and at the Healthcare Blogging Summit in Las Vegas in March. Bloggy transparency, I attended the speaker's dinner in Vegas and enjoyed in-depth conversations with a couple of folks from J&J.
Although alliConnect is a stronger branded site (the logo is the masthead), I wondered about GSK's commitment to this initiative as well. Neither blog is linked from the parent company website. At least I couldn't find the page. alliConnect isn't even linked from the brand website. So I ask GlaxoSmithKine and Johnson and Johnson what are your intentions? Is this a feel good let's be cool at the next stock holder's meeting or are you in the game?
Launch date: June 2, 2007 Focus: Weight loss product alliconnect and issues regarding weigh loss. alliConnect is the official alli blog. It's a place for you to have a conversation with us about weight loss issues. Because we work for a drug company we do have to abide by a few rules
Tonality - Conversational Transparency: Blogger Steve Burton shares an oops experience he had with alli. Smart Moves: Invitation to alliFirst Team to post comments
Just the facts ..
Blogger/s: VP of weight control, brand manager, marketing director, attorney, consultant (Debbie Weil); photos of bloggers "conversational bios" Blog Skin: alli logo used as header is the only branding element Graphic elements: Posts include photos Social media bookmarking: None Comments: Open Trackbacks: Open Blogroll: Yes, GlaxoSmithKine links only Blog Search: Yes Comments Policy is a good reflection of the overall tonality of the blog.
We will do our best to review and publish your comment within 24 hours.
We
reserve the right to reject comments that contain profanity, are
inflammatory or are otherwise inappropriate. We will not publish
opinions that are so far outside of mainstream science as to be
misleading or confusing. We will not permit comments to be disguised
as sales pitches for other products or services.
Please share
your stories and experiences with weight loss, as well as your opinions
- even if they are critical of alli. However, please do not include
your mailing address or phone number. The purpose of this blog is to
stimulate discussion.
Legal Stuff This blog is written by employees of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare who are authorized to speak on behalf of the company.
Our
posts and answers to your comments reflect our company's point of view.
They are based on the latest in science and what we've learned from
talking to consumers.
When we offer personal points of views, or talk about our experience with alli, we'll make sure that's clear.
Launch date: June 4, 2007 Focus: Corporate/company issues JNJ BTW, there will be talk about Johnson & Johnson - what we are doing, how we are doing it and why.This
is a big step for us as a company. Anyone working for a large
corporation will appreciate that there are many internal limitations on
what we say and how we say it.
Tonality - Formal Smart Moves: RSS feed for comments
Just the facts ..
Blogger: Corporate communication media relations; no photo; "business bio" Blog Skin: Johnson & Johnson logo used in subtitle is the only branding element Graphic elements: Posts do include photos Social media bookmarking: None Comments: Open Trackbacks: Not indicated
Blogroll: Yes, Johnson & Johnson links only Blog Search: Yes Comment Policy is a good reflection of the overall tonality of the blog.
All
comments will be reviewed before posting. Since this blog is about
Johnson & Johnson, comments that don't directly relate to the
Company or to topics covered on this blog won't be posted. That said,
some comments may be forwarded to other people within the Johnson &
Johnson Family of Companies for follow-up as appropriate.
We
generally won't post comments about products that are sold by the
Johnson & Johnson operating companies. Product questions should
directed to the companies that sell them. A list of the products sold
by our operating companies is available on the Johnson & Johnson
website.
Please keep in mind that Johnson & Johnson and its
operating companies work within highly regulated industries. Therefore,
comments that pertain to ongoing legal matters or regulatory issues are
unlikely to be posted. Further information about our policies
concerning content ownership and privacy as well as our responsibility
for the accuracy of comments posted to this site can be found in our Privacy and Legal Notice.
Sidebar: Sometimes the world spins strange synergies. Seems Marc Monseau, blogger for Johnson & Johnson wants to lose a few pounds. "After all, if I could lose a few pounds and reduce my cholesterol, I'm pretty sure that I would not only feel better but I would also reduce my risk of developing heart disease - a condition that plagues my family." Hmmm ... wonder if GSK's blogger relations strategy includes out reach to another pharma company (smile). How about a blogroll link exchange?
Read more from two prominent healthcare bloggers:
John Bell on alliConnect - This step forward into social media will be a huge leap for pharma. It is particularly valuable for this category but others will follow.
Fard Johnmar on JNJBTW - Based on Monseau’s opening post, I get the sense that he is going to be talking about some meaty and relevant issues.
The Health and Human Services Department has taken an innovative social media approach to creating a conversation with the public about pandemic flu. The Pandemic Leadership Blogprovides an opportunity to have an open conversation
and shape the thinking about how to communicate the critical need for
preparedness at home and within workplaces and communities.
16 business, healthcare, faith-based and community leaders were invited to particiapte in a five-week Blog Summit. I was delighted to see Nedra Klein Weinreich
among the prestigious experts. Nedra brings a wealth of social
marketing and social media marketing experience to the conversation.
Her first post addresses both topics and ask critical questions including how to best use social media in times of a public healthcare crisis.
I was curious as to how and why HHS chose to use social media as part of its outreach.
Nedra graciously explains some of the back-story and strategy behind thePandemic Leadership Blog.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Who was behind the idea of using blogs to create a dialogue with the public about the pandemic flu?
Nedra Kline Weinreich: I’ve been impressed with the way HHS has been dipping its toe into the water with social media. I suspect that the team at Ogilvy, which has been working with HHS on getting the word out about pandemic flu preparedness, convinced the powers that be over there that blogs are a new way to engage their constituents and key advocates in a conversation about this issue. There is already a lot going on in blogs and wikis related to pandemic flu information and discussions, so it makes sense to capitalize on this existing base of people to get the ball rolling. I know they are also hoping to engage people who are not already knowledgeable about the issue.
Toby/Diva Marketing: In addition to creativity, it takes a certain amount of courage to launch a public blog on any subject but the pandemic flu issue seems like it might be especially risky. How/where/why did the HSS find the chutzpah?
Nedra Kline Weinreich: You’re right that it is somewhat risky, given that HHS is not limiting the blogging to its own employees, and is not controlling the content of the blogs at all. Although the Secretary of Health & Human Services, Michael Leavitt, is contributing posts, the rest of the bloggers have no affiliation with the government, and may even (gasp!) say things that are critical of the administration’s policies or actions.
I have no doubt that HHS had a hard time at first agreeing to let the bloggers post directly without any intervening approval process, but to their great credit there is no moderation of our posts at all (though comments are moderated to prevent spam, offensive language and personal attacks). I don’t know where the courage came from, but I applaud their willingness to let the chips fall where they may.
Toby/Diva Marketing: How is the qualitative information being data mined and is a formal report of the feedback going to be produced?
Nedra Kline Weinreich:I don’t know what their specific plan is, but with more than 400 content-packed comments after just the first week, I sure hope they will be doing some sort of analysis to make sure the great ideas don’t get lost. They are producing a metrics report to take a look at who has been visiting the blog, but a qualitative analysis is absolutely critical as well. Many of the people who are leaving comments are those who have been working on and thinking about this issue for a long time (professionals and private citizens), and their input is extremely valuable.
Toby/Diva Marketing: What is your role, and the other bloggers, other than to generate content?
Nedra Kline Weinreich: Many of the bloggers represent particular constituencies (e.g., business, nurses, public health professionals, nonprofits), and the hope is that the bloggers will use their networks to get the word out and bring in more diverse voices to the conversation on the blog. The blog is also an adjunct to a one-day summit that will be happening in Washington, DC, and it allows HHS to get the discussion going prior to the event and continue it afterwards.
Toby/Diva Marketing: How will Michael Leavitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services join in on the conversation?
Nedra Kline Weinreich: So far Secretary Leavitt has written the introductory blog post, and he will be posting each week as well. I don’t know if he has left any comments on other people’s posts, but William Raub, the Science Advisor to the Secretary, and Suzanne DeFrancis, the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, both posted comments to the blog so far. So HHS is definitely engaged in the process.
The Questions: What would you do if you were charged with developing a national healthcare policy that could impact millions of people? How would you involve citizens, the healthcare community and other stakeholders to ensure that their ideas and questions were heard and discussed? That was the challenge facing the Health and Human Services Department as it prepared for an important Leadership Forum on pandemic preparedness.
The Solution: The Health and Human Services Department stepped into the world of
social media and invited 16 business, healthcare, faith-based and community leaders to particiapte in a five-week Blog Summit. The blog summit provides an opportunity to have an open conversation
and shape the thinking about how to communicate the critical need for
preparedness at home and within workplaces and communities.
Each week the Pandemic Leadership Blog will address a different question, the Leadership Forum will be live blogged and follow-up conversations to discuss lessons learned and next steps will be continued on the blog.
Sidebar: I call this a short-term campaign blog. It has a specific purpose and limited time period when blogging activity will occur.
Week 1: The Need to Prepare Why is it critical for each of us to prepare for the threat of pandemic influenza?
Week 2: My Role as a Leader What are my constituents concerns? How can I play an important role in communicating the need to prepare?
Week 3: Getting the Job Done What do I need to succeed in communicating the importance of preparing for a pandemic?
June 13th - Leadership Forum Live blogging from the Leadership Forum
Week 4: Forum Results Report out from the Leadership Forum
Week 5: Making it Happen What steps do we need to take to successfully move forward?
“The conversation about individual preparedness for pandemic flu must
extend nationwide through all possible channels, including social media
and the Internet. The
blog summit is an innovative and efficient forum for bringing together
leaders for a lively discussion on the pandemic-preparedness movement."" HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
I was delighted to see Nedra Klein Weinreich among the prestigious experts. Nedra brings a wealth of social marketing and social media marketing experience to the conversation. Her first post addresses both topics and ask critical questions including how to best use social media in times of a public healthcare crisis.
What are some of the methods we can use to reach each of the audiences with our messages? (e.g., online social networks, blogs, Oprah, school district newsletters)
Who are the spokespeople that are seen as most credible by each audience? (e.g., local officials, doctors, peers)
Who are the partners that we need to hook up with in order to best reach each audience? (e.g., doctors, “mommy bloggers,” media organizations)
Sidebar: Can bloggers make a difference? Read the story of how 2 mommy bloggers used their blog to help Katrina people.
Check out the How The Blog Works page for ideas if your readers are not blog savvy. There is also a Comment Policy page. Sidebar: HHS an RSS feed unique to each blogger would be nice.
Bravo and congrats to the Health and Human Services Department .. or should I say "
toss of a pink boa?" .. for its innovation and courage. If a government agency can step out of its comfort zone and explore avenues to engage and leverage conversations online think of what a Big Brand or medical center, or non profit or school or business or .. or .. or .. As the saying goes, you are limited by only your imagination and a little bit of chutzpah.
