The Colorado Health Symposium

Alexis Anderson is in Keystone working with our client, The Colorado Health Foundation at its annual Colorado Health Symposium. Check out her guest blog "Discovery Session: Motivate People to Take Action and Inspire Behavioral Changes" about the daily challenges of health care social marketers.

~ Kristina

Always Continue to Learn…

I recently attended the Mayo Clinic and Ragan Communications’ second annual Health Care Public Relations, Marketing and Internal Communications Social Media Summit in Jacksonville, Fla., and it got me thinking about the value of professional development. It’s so easy to get so wrapped up in our day-to-day work and our hectic schedules – and often, taking time out for professional development falls to the bottom of our priority list. It sounds like a lovely idea, but who has the time???

My experience at the Mayo/Ragan conference reminded me of the importance of stepping back and taking the time… the time to learn from renowned leaders in the field, the time to share ideas with industry colleagues, and the time to get re-energized about the work we’re doing.

For me, the conference was extremely valuable in that it served to validate that, as an agency, GroundFloor Media has stayed on the proverbial leading-edge when it comes to counseling our health care clients about social media. At the same time, I learned a variety of new tips, tricks and tools from both the speakers and my fellow attendees as we discussed approaches we’ve taken, issues we’ve faced, etc. And, indeed, I returned to Denver energized and excited to share this expanded knowledge with my co-workers and apply it to strategies for clients.

I am grateful that GroundFloor Media places such an importance on professional development – whether it’s membership in a professional organization or participation in a webinar, a local industry group luncheon, or a multi-day workshop in another city. We are encouraged to identify opportunities that will help us strengthen our expertise – and then to take the time to participate in them and share what we learned during a subsequent internal staff lunch & learn.

In addition to the conference I recently attended, one of my colleagues is currently at a conference focused on internal communications. Three of us will be attending a monthly breakfast for health care communicators next week, and yet another is planning to attend a travel-focused social media conference early in 2011. Many of us are also active members of professional organizations including the Colorado chapter of PRSA, Colorado Healthcare Communicators and the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN). All of these activities are invaluable when it comes to ensuring that we continue to stay abreast of the latest trends and developments in the PR/marketing communications industry.

~ Amanda Brannum

Fighting the cookie temptation…

While reading The Denver Post on Saturday, I came across an article titled “Save me… ideas for doing more with less.” (In case you missed it, it was featured in the "In & Out" section; click here to read the story). At first glance I was thrilled to see our client, The Children’s Hospital, included in the article, yet as I read the hospital’s tips to “keep the vacation lazies at bay,” I realized I needed to take note of one particular tip...

I must admit that I love holiday cookies. My family and I bake cookies - sugar cookies, fudge, thumb prints, toffee and spritz - the day after Thanksgiving. During the holidays, I leave a plate of cookies on the counter for our family and friends to nibble on. As I read this article and was gently reminded about the severity of child obesity (the rate of severe obesity among U.S. children and teenagers more than tripled over the past three decades, according to a study in the journal Academic Pediatrics), I decided it was time to put the plate of cookies away.

As you enjoy the last few days of 2009, take the advice of the experts at The Children’s Hospital. Challenge yourself to be active – go skiing or snowshoeing; enjoy a walk or run; or build a snowman.

On another Denver Post-related note, I finally met “In & Out” editor Elana Ashanti Jefferson. While we have worked together to tell our clients’ stories over the years, we have never met face-to-face. It was a delight to finally sit down over a cup of coffee and hear more about her editorial interests. She works from a three- to four- week editorial deadline, so keep that in mind when pitching her!

~ Jennifer

There is much to be learned about social media from the Healthcare industry

I recently attended the Mayo-Ragan Healthcare and Social Media Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. More than 100 internal and external communications specialists and public relations agency representatives from the Mayo Clinic to Kaiser Permanente to Methodist University Hospital to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston were in attendance.

We were all eager to share and learn best practices from one other (as well as cheer on Green Bay, or was it Minnesota, during Monday Night Football). Generally speaking, the healthcare industry has been slow to adopt social media due to the trepidation around HIPAA. However, it was evident at this summit that there are numerous opportunities on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Yammer, FlickR, YouTube, Sermo, etc. for hospitals and health-related organizations to engage in this marketing medium and develop a powerful online community for its patients and physicians.

While there were many interesting statistics related to the healthcare industry presented, such as 7.3% of hospitals are engaged in social media and only 30% of companies have a social media policy, what really hit home for me, is that strong case studies and best practices from one industry can be directly applied to another and prove quite successful. Take Operation Smile’s social media model – which, when it found out that its supporters were online, engaged and ready to take action – the nonprofit worked to empower its online supporters to create new smiles for children around the world. Other industries have similar constituents (maybe your “donors” are your college students or physicians at your hospital). Find your social media audience and then work to acquire and cultivate them to become advocates of your brand, to volunteer or donate.

At GroundFloor Media, we officially launched our social media platform in late 2007, although we have been using blogs and online media since 2004 with a variety of campaigns. We have worked with clients in numerous industries including America On the Move, Westwood College, The Children’s Hospital, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Morton’s The Steakhouse, BNSF Railway and Qdoba Mexican Grill in varying degrees to evolve and/or develop their social media programs. Earlier this year, I became a member of GFsM, or GroundFloor Social Media team. We specialize in finding strategic and innovative ways for our clients to engage in social media and set them apart from their competitors. We meet weekly and discuss new trends, social networks, case studies, etc. to ensure we stay on top of these ever changing medium.

Our GFsM team agrees, if you are looking to dip your toe in social media, we say go for it! Start small. Find one social media network to activate and then follow the key influencers in your industry and in social media. Do it as “you” for a coupe weeks and then launch your company’s platform. Talk with your key audiences and engage in the conversation. And as my friend at Operation Smile shared, social media ROI isn’t Return On Investment, but rather Relationships, Opportunities, Involvement. Go ahead, engage and if you get stuck along the way, please call us – we’ll talk you through it.

Oh and one more thing, purchase a Flip Video. You won’t regret it and it can only enhance your social media activities. Start developing your own videos and post them to YouTube, Facebook and your Web site.

I extend a big thanks to Mayo Clinic and Ragan Communications for hosting a wonderful summit and securing excellent spokespeople!