In recent months, I’ve had a few interactions with individuals who are new to Wisconsin or new to healthcare marketing/PR. Both were happy to have connected with WHPRMS and were looking for additional resources to advance their careers and develop a foundation in Wisconsin. These interactions reminded me of when I was right out of school and trying to break into marketing – not the easiest task in the world but one that everyone should go through. You know, it builds character, develops perseverance, etc., etc. but really how can we help those new to our state or to our field?
In my experience, the best jobs have come to my attention through word-of-mouth, networking and relationship building. Surprise, surprise right? This isn’t a shock to anyone in the marketing field; we know word-of-mouth is important and it’s no different in a job search. We also know that as social media continues to evolve and change our communication channels, the way we organize a job hunt will change. In today’s job market, using social media is a must – for example, keeping track of professional contacts on LinkedIn and personal contacts on Facebook can be very helpful when you jump into a job search. We also need to remember that our lives extend into the online world, so keeping an eye on your online reputation is essential.
Of course, networking and relationship building takes time and sometimes feels like you’re not doing your due diligence in searching for a position. That’s were sites like whprms.org, bigshoesnetwork.com and wisconsinjobnetwork.com come in handy. But what other tools have you used to navigate your career path? What tools would be valuable for individuals who are new to Wisconsin or to healthcare marketing/PR?
Oh, and if you know of any open positions, please let me know and I’ll pass them along.

Sayward Proctor
WHPRMS Secretary
PR Account Manager, KW2

It just dawned upon me the other day that summer is actually here.

Never mind the fact that its been a warmer than normal spring for the first time in a long time, but things finally started clicking with me when my daughter officially announced to me that she was officially a 4th grader as she walked out of school on the last day of 3rd grade.

Another reason that I finally know its summer is that when this blog is distributed, I will be in the midst of The Griswold Family Vacation.

No, it’s not a cross country trip to Wally World in the wood panel Wagon Queen Family Truckster, but seriously my wife’s maiden name is Griswold and we are spending the week at a cabin in northern Minnesota. We’ve done this for years and it’s always a lot of fun and come to think of it, if you play the what actor should play you in a movie game, Chevy Chase would not be a bad choice for me.

Another reason summer is here is that we are about a month away from the entry deadline for the 2010 Communications Review. I am guessing that many of you are saying…seriously…it’s that time again? Well it is and before you know it the July 4th Holiday will be here followed shortly by July 16th, which is a date I like to say is the only official WHPRMS Holiday of the year, the entry deadline for Communications Review.

There are many reasons why the annual Communications Review is important to our organization. Aside from being judged by a group of your professional peers and taking pride in the hard work we all do on a regular basis, it also is an important operational issue for WHPRMS. A successful communications review provides revenue that goes into keeping our annual events like the fall conference and personal development day an affordable option for our members.

On June 29th, Lori Bruss and I will be hosting our monthly Web Ex on the Communications Review. As co-chairs of the Communications Review, we have worked hard to fine-tune our annual awards program which has resulted in some changes to the categories. I invite you to join us to learn more about these changes, hear from some of last years Judge’s Choice Winners and if time permits, I’ll share some tales from the Griswold Family Vacation.

Enjoy the summer.

Tom Weaver
Public and Community Relations Manager
Ministry Health Care
WHPRMS Communications Review Co-Chair

As I sit down to write this blog post, I can’t help but think about all the “social media time” I’ve been racking up lately. If you are anything like me, you’ve entered into this virtual world of connections, status updates, and thought-sharing opportunities that was supposed to simplify your life and now you’re more time-committed than ever. Perhaps it is the beautiful summer weather that has rolled into Wisconsin, but I find myself wanting to simplify my online life. Just take a look some social media user statistics and you’ll see what I’m talking about:

50% of active Facebook users log on to the site every day and creates 70 pieces of content each month

People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook

Nearly 2/3 of marketers are using social media five or more hours each week, with the remaining third spending over ten hours

The amount of time one can spend engaging in social interaction online is unlimited, but how do you gauge when to step away from the screen? My research on social media “best practices” unearthed some so-called “experts” recommending a minimum of two hours per day engaging in social media! “Goodbye children, mom has to go tweet.” Combine professional and business use with personal use and the statistics are staggering!

So, how do you keep life balanced and still maintain a strong online presence? Here are a few tricks I’ve found that can help to make the most of the time you devote to social media.

1. Determine how much effort you should dedicate to social media use by weighing the personal and professional benefit. The following site has a great self-assessment to help you get started.
http://webworkerdaily.com/2010/01/12/how-much-time-should-you-spend-on-social-media/

2. Select the best tools for your individual situation – and stick with them. Spend some time researching the different social sites out there and choose just a handful to get involved in, 1-2 personal sites and 2-3 professional sites maximum. If you’ve got accounts for a dozen or more social media sites, consider consolidating and closing some accounts. Websites like www.mashable.com give great overviews of the computing power that is out there, the features and benefits of each and allow you to refocus your efforts in the best direction.

3. Manage your social media involvement through a social media aggregation tool. There are some great tools out there that help organize and bring all your sites into one place – many people have heard of applications like HootSuite and TweetDeck, but I’m surprised by how few people are using them. No more logging into multiple sites to manage your accounts. You can find some great aggregation tools at http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/192312 – in particular I’m intrigued by NetVibes because you can view your social media sites, favorite websites and even email all from one screen.

4. Know that all good rules are made to be broken! As much as we try to manage our time, it still runs away with us. If you blow through your weekly social media “time budget” in a day or two, be sure to give yourself a day off. Get outside, enjoy the great Wisconsin summer, and when you get a chance to tweet about it we’ll be there to listen.

Lori A. Bruss
Executive Vice President
The Roberts Group, Inc.

Well not really a “battle”, but I just think it sounds good for a blog title. Reminds me of a TV show I used to watch as a kid: Battle of The Network Stars

Really is there anything better than watching Mr. Kotter vs. Wonder Woman battling it out?! A true battle of epic proportions.

One of the most common misconceptions that I hear about the internet and social marketing in particular, is that it’s mainly used by “those college kids”.

A recent study shed some interesting stats looking at Generation Y, Generation X, and the Baby Boomers.

Gen Y – 18-29 year olds
Gen X – 30-45 year olds
Boomers – 46-64 year olds

Here’s a few of the stats that I found interesting:

“I have a social networking profile”

75% of Gen Y said yes
50% of Gen X said yes
30% of Boomers said yes

Now if women baby boomers are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook, how different will that number be one year from now?

“I texted in the past 24 hours”

80% of Gen Y said yes
63% of Gen X said yes
35% of Boomers said yes

1 out of 3 boomers is texting now. I wonder how many are on a blackberry or iphone? Or are using “aps”? Have you implemented a mobile strategy for your business or website yet? If so, shoot me an email or leave a comment about how it works.

“I get my news from the internet”

59% of Gen Y said yes
53% of Gen X said yes
30% of Boomers said yes

This is the one that I’ll be fascinated to watch in the years to come. Here’s my bet on this. I think Kindles, Ipads, and similar devices will become more prominent over the next couple of years. This technology will be used as a customized news source delivered to your personal reader. Maybe its a magazine? Or maybe its blog? Or a newspaper? All based on your interests and eco-friendly. Or maybe for a business it’s an E-Magazine instead of an E-Newsletter.

Thanks for reading everyone is good to be ranting again. Oh one more Gabe Kaplan reference.

Ryan Weckerly
WHPRMS Board Member
President, MorningStar Media Group
Morningstarmediagroup.com

Source: Pew Research Center “Millennials: A Potrait of Generation Next,” February 2010.

For my wife Sue and I, 2010 marks the start of our 17th parade season as Oktoberfest Grenadiers.

These are La Crosse Festivals ambassadors who do other festival parades all year to promote Oktoberfest, and royalty transporters during fest week. Picture the movie Transporter 17, with the leads in Lederhosen and Dirndls. There you go. Still waiting for my grenade tho. Seriously, great fun there. Reason for this Bloglet:  if you do not volunteer for your local civic, community group or festival, you are missing out.  I have a work family at Ad Aids, Inc, and a home family (pretty much the same family), and a Fest family.

WHPRMS Conference is in Green Bay this year, but I’m hoping to see the fall conference back in La Crosse sometime soon so we can show you how it’s done during fest week!

Oh, did I mention that the WHPRMS board is a family of sorts too… We welcome your participation!

Hope to see you at WHPRMS events, or on the links!

Yes…there will be golf in Green Bay during the WHPRMS conference… Stay tuned!

Chuck Moore
President
Ad Aids, Inc.
www.adaids.com
La Crosse

One of my favorite TV shows while growing up was “The Cosby Show.”

The kids were likable. The parents both worked yet appeared to have time for each other and each of their children. The dilemmas facing their family were handled with humor and ingenuity, and when the kids really broke the rules, they received punishments, but yet it was apparent they were still loved.

Back then, I wanted that life. Not to be in their home, or to be adopted by Heathcliff and Clair Huxtable (Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad), but to someday be a successful career woman, married to a successful career man, with our perfect child or children and living in a beautiful home.

What does this have to do with you, you ask? Well, what did you wish for? Are you where you thought you would be?

My marketing and public relations career has been pretty successful. I’m married to a successful man, we have a gorgeous son and a beautiful house.

I have everything I wished for. For the most part.

That “for the most part?” I’m still trying to find that perfect balance of home life and career life. How about you?

No matter how many career deadlines and challenges I’ve faced over the years, nothing could prepare me for leaving my son after maternity leave, for trying to rearrange meetings with physicians or health system directors when I have a sick kid, or even for those days when my son just doesn’t want me to leave him.

I was always the worker who enjoyed many of my projects and challenges. I would eagerly take work home in the evenings, staying up until two or three in the morning, trying to finish something.

Having a child took away a large portion of these evenings – not to mention my ability to catch-up on sleep at a later time. And if I’m on a deadline, negotiating with a three-year-old so I can have some quiet computer time is sometimes a good lesson in why the United States will not negotiate with terrorists.

Now, three years after having my child, many days still feel like an insane juggling or balancing act. I still enjoy my career and am thrilled I work for a great, supportive organization that encourages a positive work-life balance, but I wonder if true balance is possible.

So I ask you, my marketing and public relations colleagues, how do you balance your life and career? Can we truly “have it all?”

Rachel Hill Smith

Marketing Specialist, Mercy Health System

WHPRMS Southwest District Representative

Proud Mom and Occasional Personal “Mommy Blogger”

Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. Yammer.

Sure, they’ll keep you connected but they won’t shake your hand, look you in the eye or buy you a drink.

At the risk of sounding retro, I’m here to promote the benefits of real, personal interaction. Sure, social media are the way of the world but there’s still value in working a room, meeting and greeting, power-mingling or whatever you want to call live interactions. In my mind, these activities still are essential for career building.

So, I’m going to walk my talk. As the southeast district representative for the Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society, I’m planning an old-fashioned networking event. It’s open to all members and prospective members, as well as communication, marketing and public relations students.

Why don’t you join us? WHPRMS will provide the appetizers, you can buy your beverages. We can exchange contact info, swap stories, uncover job opportunities and unwind after a long day. And we’ll give out door prizes because we know you love free stuff!

I encourage you to invest an hour or two to meet your peers. It’s a great way to maximize the value of your WHPRMS membership. After the event, you can rush home, grab your laptop or smart phone and friend, follow or link up with your new contacts.

When:                        5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 25

Where:            T.G.I. Friday’s at Miller Park, One Brewers Way, Milwaukee

Why:                         See above!

R.S.V.P.             By March 22 to dbernatz@chw.org.

See you then!

P.S. Don’t take my comments as a slam against social media. I know the value of these powerful tools and I want to hear from you — but spare me the post that says “I hate Mondays.” Duh.

As I watched the Haiti earthquake news coverage unfold it was interesting to see how it transformed from an international disaster on day one, to a daily local news story for weeks.
The day after the quake struck, the scramble through news archives appeared to lead to two groups of former sources to try to find a local voice: parents who adopted Haitian babies and church-led medical missions. Then the focus turned to what local organizations were doing to help – whether gathering supplies, holding fund raisers or organizing a relief trip. The calls to large employers and local colleges seeking Haitian connections came next.
At some point, those in healthcare public relations either received a call or had to make a decision whether to pitch their efforts. In both cases, they approached the fine line between providing timely information and appearing self-absorbed.
The truth is, with sound fundamental media relations in practice at your organization, this wouldn’t be an issue. The relationships you build on a regular basis with reporters and editors allow you to drop the quick “I have a doc heading to Haiti next week” e-mail to the health reporter or to leave a “we’re holding a medical supply donation drive tomorrow” voicemail for the TV assignment desk.
I would argue that with effective internal communications and social media tactics you probably wouldn’t have to take those steps. By keeping employees updated on what efforts your company is taking, you start the spread of information to family, friends and patients. A quick blast through your organization’s Facebook or Twitter page (you do have those set up right?) does so even faster – and a good reporter is already following you.
In the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter which method is used. One could argue the need to use any and all means to reach the end.
So how did you handle the Haiti situation? Did you seek out attention or simply respond to inquiries? Will reading this perspective today change how you handle a similar situation next time?

First Hand Account
As you’re pondering this question, I thought you also might be interested in this first-hand experience from an Arkansas nurse before she left Haiti just a few days ago. It is certainly a humbling account, and one that reminds us that there is still much work for us all to do as individuals and for the organizations we represent.

In my opinion today has been the worst day yet. We got 3 helicopters in today. one was huge…carrying 20 people. The twenty have been sitting in Port Au Prince for two weeks in a sewage treatment plant. They had unstable fractures and injuries. We are seeing huge bed sores in addition to all the other injuries.

Love you and miss you,
Heidi

Mike Milligan is president of Legato Marketing & Communications, a communications firm specializing in helping health care organizations enhance their brand and build volumes. For more insights on health care communications, subscribe to the LegatoBlog at www.legatoblog.com.

“Dead puppies. I like ‘em!” My blogging experiences of late remind me of that old Saturday Night Live skit in which a late-night radio host (a ‘la Larry King) makes some pretty outrageous statements in an attempt to elicit a response – any response – from his listeners. I’ve seen many thoughtful blogs posted on sites with which I’m affiliated and yet when it comes to responses I’m hearing … well, crickets! A valuable blog requires discourse, and I’d like to see WHPRMS lead the charge – I know you members have it in you because I’ve listened in on some pretty animated discussions at the conferences! So, as President I invite you to please express yourself in this forum!

Our 2010 Membership Drive is underway! Renewal forms are out or you can download them here off the website. Have you turned yours in? Excellent! Hesitating? It’s possible and understandable that you’re organization has cut back staff education or networking budgets, or you’re being careful with your own time and money.

No need to hesitate, though: The fact is, there’s NEVER been a better time to be a member of the Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society. The reasons are legion:
• New bi-monthly blogs (like this one, only most will be much better)!
• Monthly webcasts
• Monthly webinars
• Associate member podcasts
• A wonderful new website with many new opportunities for member interaction
• Exciting new regional networking opportunities
Of course, we’re keeping classic membership benefits like the annual conference and industry leadership and achievement recognition.

Our big focus is on member education, education, networking and education. These days, you can never have too much information or too many friends in the industry. I thank my stars for what I’ve learned and the people I’ve come to know through WHPRMS. Pathetic as it may seem, when I first became a member and attended my first conference in 2001, I paid my own way – my organization didn’t have the budget for someone so low on the totem pole. It certainly was the most affordable networking group I could have chosen (have you seen others’ membership dues lately?!).

Many of you already may be paying your own way – bless you for making the personal investment in your future! My commitment to each of you is to ensure your experience is worth every penny and every second of the time you’ve put into it. Thank goodness we’ve got an incredible board of directors this year to back up that commitment – each and every one looking out for you, the member. When you achieve your goals in joining WHPRMS, we achieve ours! My personal goal is to help 250 members achieve their goals this year. Do your friends and co-workers a favor, too, and invite them to join.

Let me know what you need and how we’re doing! Oh, and as for the puppies – are you For or Against?

5 Social Networking tools every health care PR person should know and use

Guest Blogger:  Trish Skram, PR Specialist, Mercy Health System

Did you know that one-third of Americans online use social media for health information? And the number is growing. In fact, a recent study shows that there were 90 million health care consumers in 2004, and now there’s 160 million.

This blog idea sprung from a post I read from MarketingCharts.com, “One-Third of Online Americans Use Social Media for Health.” According to new data from Manhattan Research, patients and caregivers are empowering themselves in record numbers when it comes to managing their own health and the health of their families. Great data, right? The Internet is surpassing physicians as the most popular health resource. Wow. You’re a health care marketer or public relations person, right? Why wouldn’t you get involved?

If used correctly, the right social media tools can ensure your patients, customers, employees and stakeholders extract more brand value. There are three main reasons why my social media team at Mercy Health System decided to get involved in 2008.
• Brand recognition
• Stakeholder engagement
• And well, it’s FREE.

With that said, over the course of 15 months of research, testing and engaging in online conversations for Mercy, I’ve concluded that there are five great tools that every health care PR person should know and use.

Blog
Simply stated, blogs are a great way to get timely, relevant and unique information about your organization to a mass audience. Mercy Health System launched its blogs in May 2009. So far, our three blogs are averaging over 500 clicks a month. Our Rock County blog alone has over 900 RSS subscribers. That’s almost as powerful as a costly ad in a local paper! But be careful; don’t talk at your audience on your posts. Remember, a blog is a place to encourage thoughts, ideas and most importantly, share and encourage information. Ask questions, make it personal and post frequently. Don’t use it as a news feed, that’s not what it’s for. Be engaging. Check out http://wordpress.com if you’re interested in setting up a blog. Note: These hosting sites are free.

Twitter
There are so many great uses for Twitter. For a health care PR person, it’s been an amazing opportunity to get real-time news, make connections and engage in conversation. For example, journalists, reporters and editors are increasingly getting involved in Twitter. It’s been a great resource for me to build relationships with the media and use as a pitching platform. In June, I used our Twitter account to connect with reporters when we were gearing up for our first live tweeted surgery. Our Twitter page had 1,100 followers before the surgery, and ended up with over 1,400 after the surgery. Media outlets from our area also tuned in to our live “Tweets,” blog posts and Facebook updates and we ended up with over 600,000 media impressions in two days. Many of those connections I wouldn’t have made if it weren’t for Twitter.

Facebook
Facebook is another wonderful platform to engage in conversation and share timely and relevant information with those who are interested in your organization. Build a fan page, share news articles, post photos from your last community event. Your patients and stakeholders are online. You can provide a comfortable setting for your fans and friends on Facebook to engage in conversation. You can find out a lot about your audience by listening, commenting and monitoring your fans and followers on social media networks.

YouTube
People love video. Video is powerful because it can capture true emotion. Many people prefer to watch a video than read an article. As health care pros, we have the opportunity to share patient stories and experiences. You can do that with video in such a beautiful way. Most importantly, they are extremely viral. For example, Mayo Clinic had an amazing run on YouTube when Fran and Marlo Cowan (married 62 years) played impromptu piano together in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic. Today, the video has over 5 million hits. Talk about viral marketing, folks!

Webinar/Conferencing
As mentioned above, your patients and customers are using social media. Hospitals can utilize social channels to answer health care- or illness-related questions or simply provide medical information. At Mercy, we’ve recently dived in to webinar conferencing for various health care topics. So far, a majority of our participants are 65 and older. Again, your patients and customers are online and they are becoming savvier every day.

As a health care marketing and public relations pro, you understand that the word, “free,” goes a long way. Not one of the tools (excluding our webinar hosting site) mentioned above involves a dollar amount. If you’re like most organizations, you probably pay a company to distribute your news releases. If you’re paying for those services, why wouldn’t you take advantage of a free tool like Twitter and Facebook? Think about it.

If you haven’t already, I strongly suggest you set up personal accounts with a majority of these tools. Just dive in and start making connections. You will begin to find out the benefits as you move along.

What online tools have you found worthwhile?

Note: If you’re interested in reading more about all things PR, social media and communications, please visit my “PR Gal” Blog at trishskram.com