[UPDATED: June 24, 2010]

I’m always ready for an opportunity to speak with fellow healthcare marketers, so I try to attend a number of conferences each year. I also get the chance to speak at a number of conferences as well. So, if you’d like to hear what I have to say, please come on out (don’t forget to introduce yourself).

If you’re interested in having me speak at your event or privately at your company, please use the contact form to get in touch with me. References are available upon request. You can check out many of my past presentations on the Pubs and Presos page.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

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2010

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Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development

September 12-15, 2010, Chicago, IL

I’ll be part of a panel for during the annual meeting for the Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development ”Connections 2010: Healthcare on the Winds of Change.” The session is called: “Gaze into Our Digital Ball: A Q & A on the Future of Emerging Media.” It’s just what it sounds like…a Q&A session. So come prepared.

Here’s the full description: “Social media can be an organization’s greatest asset or its biggest headache. As healthcare organizations venture into this ever-changing realm of communication, many are discovering that the rules governing utilization, implementation, monitoring, and resource allocation are either nonexistent or developed through trial and error. Join this panel discussion to discover what works, what doesn’t, what to consider, and pitfalls to avoid. You’ll walk away with the necessary tools to take your organization into new realms of social media you never considered possible.”

The panel takes place on Monday, September 13. For more information and registration, check out the site.

E-Patient Connections 2010

September 27-29, 2010, Philadelphia, PA

As a follow up to the first E-Patient Connections conference, they’re doing it again. Limited details are avaialbe at this point, but expect some interesting “tracks” you can follow. I’ll be helping lead the social media track, Social Pharmer, so expect to see a wide range of speakers from many different disciplines and industries.  Stay tuned for more.

I’ll also be conducting a tutorial on social media that I’m calling “Social Media Marketing Accelerator” (yes, just like the one at DIA above).  This will take place on September 27, 2010. Here are the objectives for the course:

• Describe the most and least effective social media marketing programs from multiple industries
• Summarize the current social media platforms used by patients and physicians
• Understand the marketing opportunities and challenges for social media
• Know both the accepted “etiquette” for participating in social media and applicable DDMAC regulations
• Analyze the current social media efforts of multiple pharma and healthcare companies
• Create a “best practice” process for creating and approving social media programs within your organization.

You can register for the entire conference (including the tutorial) here. Use code “rx2010″ to get a $300 discount. As a further incentive (as if you need one), everyone who registers gets a free Zeo Personal Sleep Coach system. [Disclosure: I am co-chair for this conference and I receive a referral fee for registrations from this blog.]

Recent Past Speaking Engagements

46th Annual Meeting

June 13-17, 2010, Washington, DC

I conducted a tutorial on social media that I’m calling “Social Media Marketing Accelerator”.   Here were the objectives for the course:

• Describe the most and least effective social media marketing programs from multiple industries
• Summarize the current social media platforms used by patients and physicians
• Understand the marketing opportunities and challenges for social media
• Know both the accepted “etiquette” for participating in social media and applicable DDMAC regulations
• Analyze the current social media efforts of multiple pharma and healthcare companies
• Create a “best practice” process for creating and approving social media programs within your organization.

At some point, I’ll be doing a live webinar of this tutorial so that anyone can catch it.

I also be spoke during a session called “Social Media and the FDA Guidance Document.”

You can download the PowerPoint version of my presentation called Pharma Social Media-Yes, It's Possible (759 downloads) here. My only request: if you like it, tweet it (or LIKE! it)…spread the love. [NOTE:  If you feel compelled to "re-use" any of the content from the presentation, please make sure you're giving proper attribution. Don't be "that guy."]

As an additional service to all of you, I’ve taken the audio from my presentation and synced it up with the slides using SlideShare’s (frustrating-to-create-but-easy-for-you-to-view-tool) SlideCast. I’ve embedded it below.

2nd Annual Social Communications & Healthcare – Case Studies and Roundtables

May 11, 2010, New York, New York

I presented the 2010 Dosie Awards Winners. You can download my presentation from the meeting here: 2010 Dose of Digital Dosie Awards Winners (842 downloads).

22nd Annual Conference on Marketing Pharmaceuticals: Integrated Marketing, Emerging Media Trends, and New Regulations

Feb. 22-24, 2010, New York, NY

I conducted a tutorial on social media that I’m calling “Social Media Marketing Accelerator”.  Here are the objectives for the course:

• Describe the most and least effective social media marketing programs from multiple industries
• Summarize the current social media platforms used by patients and physicians
• Understand the marketing opportunities and challenges for social media
• Know both the accepted “etiquette” for participating in social media and applicable DDMAC regulations
• Analyze the current social media efforts of multiple pharma and healthcare companies
• Create a “best practice” process for creating and approving social media programs within your organization.

Details on the event and registration information can be found here or download a PDF with all the details.

9th DIA Conference for Contemporary Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management Strategies

January 12-14, 2010, Washington, DC

This was a new organization for me to work with and it proved to be a good opportunity. It was a completely different conference focus than what I’m used to. I was asked to speak about “new media” communication platforms to disseminate drug risk information. Specifically, how do you used tools like Twitter to inform people about new safety issues with a particular product? More on the conference here.

You can download a copy of my presentation from the Pubs and Presos page._

Healthcare Social Communications Leadership Forum Breakfast

November 18, 2009 New York, NY

Their description:

The Healthcare Social Communications Leadership Forum is an invitation-only exclusive group of senior marketing and communications executives from prominent pharmaceuticals, hospital groups, medical device and technology companies, and managed care providers. The forum was created from our recent July 23, 2009 Social Communications & Healthcare: Case Studies & Roundtables event which was sold out with over 375 attendees. The feedback from attendees, speakers, and sponsors was so positive that we saw an opportunity to have a smaller, more private forum for knowledge sharing and networking focused on how leading healthcare brands are embracing social communications to achieve business objectives. We plan to meet once per quarter to cover the most pressing issues facing healthcare communications and marketing professionals.

The event will cover the following questions:

• What can be learned from the November 12-13, 2009 U.S. Food and Drug Administration public hearings on social communications?
• How do you deal with regulatory and legal issues when planning and implementing social media strategies?
• Why real-time social media tools, such as Twitter, are gaining momentum and what’s the business case to use them?
• How has social media impacted crisis communications specifically for the healthcare industry?
• How do you sell social communications projects and prove ROI to senior management?
• How do you create and participate in communities to achieve communications, education, and branding objectives?
• What are the tools, technologies, and best practices for monitoring and measuring social communications?

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Got all that? I was one of the speakers for the event and discussed what I took away from the FDA public hearing on social communications.

My presentation was “Three Things I Learned at the FDA Social Media Hearings and Three I Wish I Had” and you can download a copy and listen to the entire presentation (with synced slides) by following the link above.

Promotion of Food and Drug Administration-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools — Public Hearing

November 12-13, 2009, Washington, DC

FDA held a a ground-breaking, public hearing on the use of social media by pharma and medical device companies. Approximately 60 speakers were invited to speak at the event. I presented two different times at the meeting (presentations can be found here). My two topics were “Can a LACK of regulations improve the quality of healthcare information available online?” and “Are pharma companies supposed to be private investigators?” (about the requirements for an adverse event to be reportable).

E-Communication & Online Marketing Summit 2009

November 3-4, 2009,Philadelphia, PA

This is one of the big ones. They are expecting more than 250 pharma folks to attend this year’s meeting. This conference draws a large global audience, so it’s a good opportunity to meet your counterparts all over the world.

I”m moderating a panel at this meeting called: “Social Media Expert Panel.” (Again, their title, not mine.) The design for this one is to allow the panel to answer any and all of your social media questions. So, who’s on the panel? Some really great folks actually:

* John Mack, President, VirSci and Author of Pharma Marketing Blog
* Steve Woodruff, President, Impactiviti and Author of Impactiviti Blog
* Wendy Blackburn, Executive Vice President, InTouch Solutions and Author of ePharma Rx
* Silja Chouquet, Owner & CEO, whydot and Author of WhyDotPharma

That’s a bunch of pretty smart folks who are all, in my opinion, thought leaders in pharma social media. It ended up as a great discussion with some great questions from the audience. I, for one, certainly would have liked to have some more time to talk and hear even more of what these people are thinking. But, hey, that’s what Twitter is for. Send them a tweet and I’m sure they’ll all be more than happy to talk with you (and don’t forget to read their blogs too).

E-Patient Connections 2009

October 26-27, 2009, Philadelphia, PA

This is a great conference design. Really different from many other pharma meetings. It had a little more of a TED feel to it. They had some celebrity speakers, case studies, one on one coaching, a Pecha Kucha, and private coaching sessions.

I did one of the Pecha Kucha presentations (20 slides, 20 seconds per slide) on “Marketing with Meaning.” What’s Marketing with Meaning? We think advertising can do more than just talk at people. At its best, it can actually change people’s lives for the better. Healthcare companies all have products that are meaningful to customers, but is their marketing of these products equally meaningful? I see a lot of room for improvement and a big opportunity. If you want to find out more, check out Marketing with Meaning. And there’s a book all about it too, which you can get on Amazon. We gave away a copy to everyone at the meeting. You can get a copy of my Pharma Marketing with Meaning Pecha Kucha here and see the actual presentation.

Find out more about the program and consider it for next year. The Twitter hashtag for the meeting was #epatcon if you want to see all that happened.

3rd Annual Digital Pharma

October 19-21, 2009, Bridgewater, NJ

This was a big one. I’ve been fortunate to work as an advisor on this conference and I really like the format they’ve came up with. Here’s how they described it:

“Digital Pharma is leading the way by incorporating “Unconference” ideas into the framework of the event. The traditional format of having speakers talk “at” the audience for 40 minutes followed by an uninspired brief Q&A are over. People simply do not communicate that way anymore. People have come to expect the opportunity to collaborate as a group, to provide and hear instant feedback, to have a much more open and free flowing arena in which to share ideas. Digital Pharma is going to provide all of that and much, much more. As we like to say, every attendee is going to help run the show and be a faculty member-so please join the faculty at this cutting edge, experimental event!”

For you cynics out there, it may sound too good to be true, but Shwen Gee was the Chair for the meeting, so you know he’s going to ensure it comes off very well.

I co-lead a half day workshop on social media. Here are the details:

Social Media Boot Camp: Getting Ready for Digital Pharma

Workshop participants will discuss and understand how the Social Media are transforming the way every industry communicates with its customers. While pharma has lagged many other industries because of regulatory issues, it’s quickly beginning to use and leverage the power of this medium. As the social media landscape changes dramatically and quickly, this workshop is designed to provide attendees with the latest best practices for social media marketing. Special attention will be paid to the regulatory realities faced by pharma. Attendees will have several opportunities to engage in some hands on demonstrations to increase their knowledge and comfort of social media.

Key Agenda Items

• Defining what social media really is
• Best in class social media examples outside of pharma
• Overview of the principles of pharma social media
• Monitoring your brand online
• Fundamentals – How to properly use different social media platforms for marketing
• Review the newest social media tools available
• How social media fits within a larger marketing strategy
• Hands on mini-workshop

I’m lead this with Fard Johnmar who was an outstanding partner. You can download the materials that Fard created for the meeting along with my presentations from his blog. I highly recommend taking a look at the planning worksheet he created.

If you want a great recap of what happened, head off to Twitter and pour through the stream for the conference’s hashtag, #digpharm.

PharmaMed Marketing & Media

September 23-24, 2009, Princeton, NJ

This one had three different tracks you can follow: digital marketing, sales force effectiveness, and patient-centered communications. Something for everyone.

Here’s the description:

“The current economic climate has substantially increased the demands on product, brand, and sales management teams with regard to accountability, measurable results, and innovation. Med Ad News, the pharmaceutical industry’s leading authority on pharmaceutical business, product marketing, and sales, presents a comprehensive, two-day, three-track conference that promises to provide the tools and techniques needed to optimize marketing and sales efforts.”

I did a talk on day one of the digital marketing track (what else?). It was called: “New Frontiers in Digital Marketing: Implementing & Integrating.” What’s that you ask? Well, I’m not sure. I typically only get to suggest a title for these things and the conference organizers come up with something on their own. Here’s the description I created:

Just how digitally savvy are your patients?

When it comes to your patients’ digital behaviors, traditional market research can only answer two questions: what to do and what not to do. When planning your brand’s digital strategy, the more important question is: what else can we do? Unfortunately, most marketers aren’t familiar enough with the digital space to answer that question. But what if you were?

A new concept called “Digital Savviness” will show you how to determine which digital technologies your patients will respond to and which technologies can help you reach your brand objectives.

Key session takeaways include:

• Match the digital sophistication of your audience to the digital
  programs you create
• Understand that demographic data and current “online activities” are sometimes not enough to create a great digital marketing plan
• Better understand how to use data to develop alternative marketing tactics and stand out from your competition
• Discuss digital tactics and how they meet certain marketing objectives

You’ll be the first to hear about the concept that’s being turned into a “mini-book” that I’m finishing writing as we speak It’ll be worth checking out, as you’ll learn about a completely different way to build a digital marketing plan (including a free online tool that will help you do it). You can download a copy of my presentation on Digital Savviness here.

Link to digital marketing track.

Link to conference website.

Social Communications: Healthcare Case Studies & Roundtables Conference.

July 23, New York, NY

This conference is all about social media communications in healthcare. What I like about it is that it is in case study and roundtable format. That means, no long speeches, but rather hands-on discussions about what the attendees want to hear. In their words: “This event will showcase the best examples and case studies on how leading healthcare organizations achieve marketing and communications objectives through the strategic use of social media.”

I did one of the keynote speeches entitled: “Healthcare and Social Media: Know the Rules.” You can download my presentation and even listen to it if you’d like.

I also lead a roundtable discussion entitled: “The Future of Pharma Marketing.” Sound interesting? Maybe you should attend. The roundtables are supposed to be highly interactive, so they are limited to 15-20 people with attendees selecting the roundtable that most interests them.

CBI’s 2nd Annual Bio/Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Forum on Emerging Media Optimization in Consumer-Focused Marketing.

June 25-26, Philadelphia, PA.

I spoke on “Make the Move to a Decentralized Marketing Approach to Branded Campaigns.” Here’s what it’s all about:

“If you build it they will come” may have worked in Field of Dreams, but times have changed. There is too much competition for consumers’ attention online allowing them to choose from any one of millions of other sites. Consumers now spend less and less time on “traditional” websites and instead find themselves spending hours with social media instead. These days, in order to ensure consumers receive, understand and are engaged in your brand message; you must bring it to them rather then hope they find you. No longer can pharmaceutical brand exist on just one site, have just one presence, one URL. In this session, analyze the movement from a centralized means of online marketing and how to bring the brand to the patient-consumer through effective decentralized marketing.

To see my presentation from the conference, check out this page. There was  a lot of tweeting from the event. You can see it all summarized here.

E-Marketing Association meeting April 21-22. I was a panel speaker on “The Power of Social Marketing”

More Info