Diabetes Social Media Summit

I think I'm the last person to write-up about this meeting so consider this a short recap.

Roche Diagnostics organized this meetup with help from Amy Tenderich and Manny Hernandez. Roche paid all of our expenses to and from the meeting and put us up in a comfortable hotel. I know that going into this summit I was nervous because I really didn't know what to expect. One concern we all shared was whether Roche was going to use the summit to do a big sales job to us. In the end, we all learned from the experience and Roche did an excellent job focusing on social media, and how to engage with it, while keeping marketing away.

We arrived at our hotel on Wednesday evening and had a dinner hosted by Roche at a local restaurant. Each table had 2-3 bloggers and a corresponding number of Roche staff. Despite this, and I know I wasn't alone, we had an opportunity to talk with Roche people about a number of topics including, in my case, the Disetronic insulin pump (aka Accu-chek Spirit) and when it might be available again in the US. At some stage I'd like to review it, hopefully I will have that opportunity.

After a late night talking with each other, we were up early (and not so bright) for a 7:30 trip to Roche offices. Manny Hernandez led us in an exercise where we tried to think about how to increase our outreach to people with diabetes. The 500,000 to 1 million (estimated) people that read our collective blogs already know we exist, but what about the millions of people who are struggling with diabetes without much support except from office visits 2 - 4 times a year.

Some ideas that I liked:

1. Provide information to doctors offices with a list of qualified online resources that can help people with diabetes. (Gina Capone's excellent Diabetes OC is a great reference site if you're trying to get information about diabetes.)


2. Form a loose association of blogs and try to focus on a single topic once every few months. We could issue a press release to media around this event and spread awareness of a specific diabetes issue. Eventually media might pay attention to this reliable source for diabetes information and news.

In the afternoon we focused on social media and how to best engage pharma in our world. Here we're all really interested in a relationship that will benefit all of us. We need better information and products; pharma would like to increase awareness of their offerings and get more market share. Getting this right is a delicate balance and I'm sure mistakes will be made. I think Roche wanted to try and learn from our experiences so they don't screw up too much. Of course the problem here is that there aren't really any rules about how to use social media effectively and sometimes we all screw up. But we learn quickly!

I think Roche showed a lot of courage in organizing this first-time event. We bloggers benefited because we had a chance to build stronger connections. I hope that some of the very direct feedback we gave Roche will help them as they try to improve their message for folks with diabetes. (Hint: don't use stock photos, show real people with diabetes in realistic situations: carb counting; testing while exercising; correcting a low; etc.)

Our smiling faces are below, if you click on it you'll get to a page with a link to each blogger. If you want more information about the summit, each of them has provided a slightly different take on it.

Labels: bloggers, diabetes, friendship, meetup, Roche, summit

posted by Bernard @ 9:06 PM 8 Comments Links to this post  

March meetups in Massachusetts

I couldn't resist the alliteration, sorry.

There are two opportunities to meetup with folks in Massachusetts this month. This coming Sunday a group of us will be getting together in Marlboro for a presentation on the Latest and Greatest Diabetes Technologies. Dr. Howard Wolpert of Joslin clinic will be presenting, he's a great speaker and worth hearing.

The following Saturday, ADA is holding a diabetes expo in Boston. It runs from 10 AM to 4 PM, but a group of us is planning to meetup at 2 PM beside the DESA booth and then gather in the food court area.

You may have heard me say this before. If you're nearby to either of these locations I recommend getting to one of the events.

Meeting up with a group of folks with diabetes is uplifting and supportive. We don't get together and complain about our challenges. We do talk about the latest things we've learned and support those of us who are having some issues. It's fun and liberating to sit down to eat and be with others who are pulling out test kits, injecting insulin or playing with the buttons on their pump. If you've never used a pump or a CGM it's a great chance to talk with others who have and learn some of the pros and cons.

I hope I'll see you at one of these events.

Labels: expo, Massachusetts, meetup, technology

posted by Bernard @ 8:48 AM 3 Comments Links to this post