Couldn't make it to Philadelphia for the AMM's September Educational Forum?
Here's a bit of what you missed...

New venue, new energy

Philadelphia was the host city for “KOLs, Thought Leaders and Influencers: Refine the Roles of Media and Strategies,” the September Association of Medical Media Educational Forum.

Perhaps due to the “City of Brotherly Love” vibe, the change in venue or the friendly faces (some new, some familiar), the educational forum certainly had new energy, according to organizers and attendees.

Lisa Healy, AMM President, kicked off the afternoon events by thanking the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, the educational forum partner, and CMI/Compas, who provided the meeting space for the event at their Center City office location.

Healey went on to welcome the sold-out crowd and introduce moderator Leslie Laredo of the Academy of Digital Media.

Laredo created the program that included keynoter David Mays, Founder of Scientific Engagement Strategies, the event keynoter and panelists: Mays, Liz McShea, CMI/Compas Social Media Associate Director; Brad Rzendzian, Janssen Oncology Sales Specialist; and Sally Cioci, Frontline Group Publisher.

Mays challenged the audience to think beyond the health care professional audience to patients who search for medical information and discuss the information they found on “Dr. Google” with their physician or nurse.

He also teased out the nuances between types of individuals chosen as a spokesperson – a key opinion leader (researcher, in healthcare, professional), thought leaders (advocates, expert on subject, respected) and an influencer, who “in a nutshell is a friend.”

Mays told the audience that they can help impact health care by connecting the right people to ensure the message is accurate and correctly delivered to the right audience.

Laredo then brought in the panel discussion to discuss expanding pharma messaging across channels for the clinician and patient audiences.

Rzendzian expanded on the keynote address by reminding the audience there is more than one customer and that one can craft the message for the physician audience, the nurse audience, and the patient audience by using the same base of knowledge to “maximize the wins.”

Cioci suggested when creating resources for patients also bear in mind that not everyone has the same baseline of knowledge and may have difficulty digesting the content.

When choosing an individual to assist with your messaging, McShea said in the realm of social media it is “not just the number of followers an individual has but the quality of their followers.” She said consider finding a great thought leader who might be connected to an advocacy group who more than likely will amplify the message. McShea also suggested one consider how the individual uses social media – Are they just retweeting? Are they posting their own thoughts that speak to a physician audience? Do they tweet from conferences? Are they a macro influencer who are more likely to garner the attention of Dr. Oz?

The post-educational forum networking event was sponsored by Healio Strategic Solutions.

Earlier in the day, AMM members attended “Storytelling for Media: How to Express Insights and Inspire Decisions.” The training session was taught by Leslie Laredo of Academy of Digital Media.

At the networking event, President-Elect Hank Blaney said that there was special energy at the day’s event and Philadelphia was a great city for AMM’s first venture outside of New York. He said that AMM educational forum will be in other Eastern seaboard cities in the future.

AMM’s next event will be Bowling for Breast Cancer 2019. The event will also be at a new venue – Lucky Strike Manhattan – and include a new activity – ping pong. Join the AMM for bowling and networking on October 15 from 6 pm to 9 pm. – by Joan-Marie Stiglich, ELS

 

Reference:

KOLs, thought leaders and influencers – Refine the roles and media strategies. Association of Medical Media Educational Forum. September 19, 2019. Philadelphia.

Disclosure: Stiglich is the Healio Chief Content Officer. She is a 25-year veteran of medical publishing and has been a Healio employee for the duration of her career.