Trish Skram’s Blog

February marks such an important month me. As many of you know, February is American Heart Month. Statistics show that cardiovascular disease continues to be the number one killer of both men and women in America. For me, personally, it really hits home. Heart disease is also the number one, most prevalent disease in my family, on both sides. To recognize heart month and my dedication to keeping myself and my loved ones educated about heart disease, I’m going to wear red for the remainder of February and post photos to my Facebook, and Flickr accounts. Wearing red signifies the power we have as women to come together and stop heart disease and stroke.
I’m a BIG supporter of AHA, especially AHA of Rock County, where I serve on its executive leadership planning team. This organization is near and dear to my heart and I hope its mission and vision will generate a healthy change in your life as much as it has mine. My favorite AHA initiative (and also becoming its most recognized accomplishments), is the “Go Red for Women” movement. “Go Red” works to raise awareness about women’s number one killer, heart disease. Real women from all over the country speak up about their heart experiences to help save lives. Their stories always inspire me and I hope you take this opportunity to get informed with the facts and make a positive commitment to your heart health. Join the cause by visiting its Facebook page.

I wear red in honor of my grandfather Alvin Skram, who passed away from sudden cardiac arrest in 1981. I wear red in honor of my uncles, Chuck, Jerry, Roger and Ronny, who are all strong heart survivors. I’m proud of all of you for being proactive about your heart health and maintaining healthy lifestyles. And I will always support the American Heart Association (AHA) for its dedication in keeping our communities educated about heart disease and speaking up about what we can do, today, to help prevent heart disease and stroke.

If heart disease and stroke affects your life, how do you educate the ones you love? OR better yet, how do you maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle? Please share your thoughts below.

Technorati Tags: AHA of Rock County, American Heart Month, heart health awareness, PR Gal blog, Random "Trish" Thoughts

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. If you’re a health care marketer or public relations person, 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 my 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. 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.

If you’re in health care marketing and public relations you understand that the word, free, goes a long way. Not one of these 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?

Technorati Tags: health care PR/media relations, Mercy Health System, Random "Trish" Thoughts

Posted December 31, 2009

It’s New Year’s Eve! I love this time of year. It’s a great opportunity to sit back and reflect on the past year or years’ happenings and look at what you did and maybe even what you would do differently in the year ahead. And may I just add … 2009 was a GREAT year! Each year, my boyfriend, Ron, and I take time to gather up our previous year goals and create new ones for the coming year. Then, we sit down, over a glass of wine and talk about where we were and where we want to be, what worked, what didn’t, why a particular goal wasn’t met, where we succeeded. It’s a great exercise to get your mind crunching and move faster and more effectively in all areas of life. It’s been great for us as a couple, too! So, with that said, here are a few highlights for 2009:

Professional:
• Became part of a rock star dynamic Web 2.0 team at my company to mold and shape our online presence into the comprehensive network it is today. My role as media/PR specialist has essentially become, “PR 2.0.” I’m so very fortunate to work for a company that allows me to explore my passions, develop new challenges and advance in my career.
• Part of an expert panel at a national PR/communications event in Phoenix on social media and health care. My first EVER national appearance– thanks @texasgirl11 and @markraganCEO for providing me with the opportunity.
• Finalist at the 2009 Ragan Recognition Awards in Chicago for “best specialty publication/magazine in May 2009. Shout out to co-worker, Robin, for her mad graphics skills.
• Awarded with three merits from the Wisconsin HealthCare Public Relations and Marketing Society for public relations and social media relations. One being Judges’ Choice for excellent social media measurement and effectiveness. Not a sole effort, folks- I work with an amazing, very intelligent group of people. They all deserve the shout out too!
• Guest speaker at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater public relations/communications department. What an honor to be invited to speak for a professor I had only 3 years ago!

Personal:
• Ran my first 5K in March, then 8K in May! I’m proud to say I’ve completed over 6 races in 2009. WOOT! Thanks, Amy and Amy (trainer) for pushing me and helping me get to where I am. Now training for a half-marathon in August 2010 – one of my big goals for 2010.
• Made fitness a regular, attainable habit in my daily regimen.

• Went SKYDIVING for the first time ever! Read about my experience HERE.
• Took a fabulous trip to Niagara Falls, Canada with my man, Ron and two if our close friends.
• Traveled to Las Vegas, Chicago, Phoenix and Canada (some work, some personal). Either way, traveling is always a highlight in my book!
• Vamped up my social networks online, including my biggest accomplishment, my personal blog, trishskram.com. It’s almost been a year – and I’m proud of what it’s become so far. Special shout out to Ron, for his unfathomable faith in me to be something better. You’re my rock!
• Last but not least, I’ve connected with some of the most creative, knowledgeable communications/PR folks via online– you’re all shining stars.

Besides all that mushy stuff … some of you may be trying to stick to your past New Year’s resolutions still. If they were easy, everyone would be doing it, right? Willpower, stress and time seem to be a big part of why we don’t reach our goals. If you are reading this and thinking, “Wow, that’s SO me…” then the following are a few tips I use to help me make better resolutions to set realistic goals:

• Set up an appropriate environment to support you.
• Don’t expect perfection. Set realistic goals. Choose lifestyle changes you are willing to work on. Don’t just change behaviors to make your family, spouse or children happy.
• Studies show it takes 6 months to change a habit permanently so have patience. It takes time to change old habits.
• Get an accountability partner. Choose friends that will help you get where you want to be. A partner that is positive and supportive of you. Oprah says it best, “Surround yourself with people that will lift you higher.” So true.

So, what are your 2010 resolutions and how do you plan to stick to them?

Image courtesy of Design Leftovers, bmiint.blogspot.com

Technorati Tags: Happy New year, Janesville, Madison PR/marketing, Mercy Health System, Random "Trish" Thoughts, social media in Janesville, what Trish Skram's accomplished in 2009

Coming soon…

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