Columbus AMA Blog

The SIG Chronicles, VIII – Making SIGs Better

By Paul Dumouchelle, Management Consultant, ADVISA 

Previous versions of “The SIG Chronicles” described my experiences as chair of the Healthcare SIG.  This edition covers my experience in a July meeting of all the SIG leaders focused on improvements to our program.

Our new VP of SIGs, Rex Parsons, called a meeting of all the SIG chairs in July to talk about the program and make plans for improvements.

At the meeting were Erika Pryor for Social Media, Ann Beeson for B2B, John Hondroulis for Internet/e-Commerce (which we decided to change to “Interactive”), Dave Demarchi for the In-Transition group, Bill Troy for International and Lisa Bowers for Nonprofit.  Joining us was Martin Poston, new VP of Communications.

We kicked off the meeting with a short team-building exercise that I led using management tools from ADVISA.

In true marketing fashion we focused on research and communications.  Rex shared some key research on SIGs that showed the primary reason, by far, for people to decide on attending a SIG was the speaker.  Location, timing and networking opportunities were all much lower.  This highlights the focus that the SIGs must maintain on developing topics and speakers of high interest.

Rex also shared research showing which SIG areas were of greatest interest to our audience – there was a long list but all I can remember from that slide is that Health Care marketing (my team’s focus) had the lowest number.  Good thing I like a challenge!

Regarding content we discussed the growing importance of mobile technology and its impact on marketing.  This is an area all the SIGs hope to explore more in-depth in the upcoming year.  We also thought a day-long program focused on marketing involving all the SIGs might be a good approach to try – this would replace the regularly-scheduled morning programs for a time.

In the area of communications we discussed ways to improve the promotion of the SIGs.  We plan to move the initial email blast earlier in the promotion cycle and increase the frequency.  Martin is also looking at how to improve the interaction with the event registration program – currently there are very few people with the training necessary to effectively use the system.  The website was another key topic – it needs a bit of help, for example the names of people associated with the SIGs (yours truly, included) had not been updated as of the time we met.

We also committed ourselves to goals to increase attendance and membership recruitment – which means we have to improve the content of the meetings, the speakers we include and communication of all this.

Next in “The SIG Chronicles” – Topic TBD! 

About “The SIG Chronicles:”  This blog series records Paul Dumouchelle’s experiences, impressions and insights gained as Chair of the Healthcare Marketing Special Interest Group for the Columbus branch of the American Marketing Association.

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Video Calling and other Glimpses of the Future

By Paul Dumouchelle, Management Consultant, ADVISA

Apple’s advertisements for the video calling feature on their latest iPhone have caught my attention.  While elusive, the promise of combining a video feed of the person with whom you’re talking via a phone has been around at least since Dick Tracy’s fancy wristwatch.  Technology that actually delivers on this promise has blockbuster potential.

Apple had done a good job of focusing on the human element of its technology – a grandfather viewing his newborn grandchild for the first time – a woman telling her mate that she is pregnant (though she describes their efforts at achieving this status as “work,” a term that is at odds with my personal experience).  It is this human touch that makes the promise of the technology so powerful.  In this disconnected age, anything that brings people closer together has tremendous value.

This makes me think of Aldous Huxley’s “Feelies” described in his 1932 novel Brave New World, one of my all-time favorites.  When will Hollywood transcend “moving pictures” to create actual experiences and transmit feelings directly?  The recent success of 3D is a step in this direction.  Virtual reality devices are another stab at this.  Someday, perhaps, we’ll be able to experience love scenes where we feel everything, including the hairs of the bearskin rug on which the movie stars lie, as Huxley described it.

Huxley’s future was largely dysfunctional, of course, but I don’t foresee sinister implications from video calling – it looks like a great thing!

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The SIG Chronicles, VII – Social Media for Medical Practices

By Paul Dumouchelle, Management Consultant, ADVISA 

Previous versions of “The SIG Chronicles” described my early experiences as chair of the Healthcare SIG.  This edition promotes the upcoming SIG presentation on September, 23, 2010 by Amy Dawson, Sr. Vice President and Healthcare Group Account Director of Fahlgren.  Established in 1962, Fahlgren is a Columbus-based full-service communications agency with 160 associates in seven offices across four states.

Make Twitter, Facebook and YouTube work for your medical practice using proven strategies and tactics from a master in the field!  Newbies and social media “veterans” will benefit from real-world case studies and execution tips for marketing medical services from Amy Dawson, Sr. Vice President and Healthcare Group Account Director of Fahlgren.

Prior to joining Fahlgren, Amy spent 13 years with OhioHealth, and she has extensive background in public relations and marketing on both the client and agency side. Her work has been recognized locally, regionally and nationally, including a PRSA Silver Anvil Award for Excellence in Healthcare Marketing Communications. She has worked with integrated health systems, academic medical centers, specialty hospitals, physician practices, medical device and distribution brands and health-related non-profits.

Date:  Thursday, September 23, 2010

Time:  7:30 AM to 9:00 AM

Location:  1266 Manning Parkway, Powell, OH   43065

Cost:  $5 for AMA members, $15 for non-members

Next in “The SIG Chronicles” – Making SIGs Better

About “The SIG Chronicles:”  This blog series records Paul Dumouchelle’s experiences, impressions and insights gained as Chair of the Healthcare Marketing Special Interest Group for the Columbus branch of the American Marketing Association.

• Read On