BlogWorldExpo ’10 Recap (Social Health)
Phil and I just returned from BlogWorldExpo 2010 in Las Vegas (it’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it), and my mind is swimming with ideas sparked by the smart, passionate people we encountered there as part of the Social Health track sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. As a company we’re extremely interested in the potential of social media as a part of the broader healthcare conversation, and are engaged in discussions about it daily – so this was extremely relevant for us.
As usual, we’ve got interactive sketchnotes from the sessions up on Flickr with a bunch of links to the speakers, their blogs and causes, and recommended resources. Note that Phil and I split up for coverage where there were multiple sessions held in the same time slot, so he may chime in with some additional insight – but here’s my quick recap of the day.
Badges Of Honor: BWE10 Social Health Track
Things kicked off for us with a keynote by e-Patient Dave. I had been aware of him in the past but hearing his story first-hand was incredible – it was the perfect way to start the conference. When you’ve got a serious lump in your throat 15 minutes into the day, that’ll do wonders to open your mind and make you want to change the world. I truly believe that the other participants we met there (doctors, patients, industry folks, and consultants) were all interested in doing just that.
Dave’s core messages were as follows:
1. Every person must accept a certain measure of responsibility for their own recovery from an illness (quoting Norman Cousins).
2. Networked patients will move from being passengers to being drivers of their healthcare decisions.
3. We are all patients, and as bloggers we are free to be “mouthy”. This has the potential to elicit positive change.
4. The chance to be engaged in your own treatment is a huge mood booster and motivator – it’s a much better alternative to helpless passivity.
5. Laugh, sing, and eat like a pig.
Next was a panel moderated by Trisha Torrey, including patient bloggers Amy Tendrich (Diabetes Mine), Jenni Prokopy (Chronic Babe), and Lisa Emrich (Brass and Ivory) – and what an eye opener. There were great discussions about the types of resources these folks recommend to their readers, how they validate them, the role they’re intended to play, and what they believe are the right ways to engage with industry. However, it goes beyond that – anyone interested in how to create vibrant online communities can learn volumes from what they’re doing, but the work being done here to provide information and fellowship to folks dealing with chronic conditions is so unbelievably important…I had no idea how traditionally underserved these populations are, and it was a game changer for me. In fact, so was hanging out with the speakers late into the evening (add Kerri Sparling from Six Until Me, Manny Hernandez from TuDiabetes.org and Scott K. Johnson to the mix) and not only being allowed a glimpse into their unique worlds and perspectives, but literally laughing until my face hurt. Inspiring and challenging peeps, these.
The Name Of The Game
Next was another panel discussion moderated by Bob Brooks from Wego Health (another seriously funny guy, with whom I share an uncannily parallel past) including the aforementioned Manny H. and Amy Kiel of Una Vita Bella. This session provided more insight on ways in which industry could provide value and partnership without diluting perceived validity and authenticity, tips on ways to manage the information fire hose as a patient and a patient blogger, and exactly what patients are looking for from these communities. Here we’ve got three basic tiers of information needs coupled with the desire to network and find others in similar situations:
- What is this condition? What do I have?
- How do I treat it?
- How do I cope with it? What practical advice is there on how to live with this condition?
We also attended a few general keynotes outside of the Social Health track, but they were much more broad and I’d like to stick to the script here. So, we’ll jump to the final session of the day – a whiteboarding session facilitated by Marc Monseau form Johnson & Johsnon and David Armano of Edelman Digital (check out his sketches from the session), which everyone I talked to later spoke of as a highpoint of the day. Basically it was an open conversation among folks from the various communities represented, addressing the question: “OK, we’ve all gained some great new insight throughout the day…what are we gonna do about it?”
The conversation was fast paced, passionate, and intense – the microphone traveled quickly around the room and the group was highly engaged. Where did we end up? There was a lot of great thought captured visually by David, and ultimately the day concluded with this statement: as different groups of folks with different needs and drivers, we need to come together to envision the future of healthcare in the same way Apple did in 1987 for the future of computing – no one group can go away and successfully do it on their own. Then, as a broader healthcare community, we can begin to make strides toward achieving that shared vision. It has been 23 years since Apple’s vision and they’ve achieved a good deal of what they dreamt up but not all…yet. How long will it take us?
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BlogWorld 2010 and #SocHealth — November 2, 2010 @ 7:59 am
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By Rob Halper, October 18, 2010 @ 3:25 pm
Thanks for your comprehensive summary. Nice blog!
Rob
jnjhealth
By Scott K. Johnson, October 18, 2010 @ 8:54 pm
Thanks for the great summary Russ.
The sketchnotes and Flickr photo pool are fantastic, and not only capture some key information from the event, but I found that they also felt alive with emotion. As the notetaker, you get the lions share of the credit for that.
The energy I felt, not only at the sessions, but in every interaction I had with the people there, really fills me with hope and excitement for what the future holds.
By Phil, October 18, 2010 @ 9:05 pm
Well said, Russ. I’ll post my notes in a couple of days after this post makes the rounds.
By Rick Calvert, October 19, 2010 @ 1:00 am
Great wrap up of the social health track Russ. Thank you for this. I can tell you Rob, Marc and the rest of the team at J&J worked really hard on Social Health this year along with Patti on the BlogWorld side. Judging from your post it looks like we really hit the mark.
By David Armano, October 19, 2010 @ 8:38 am
Russ, thanks for this post. I found the entire day to be informative and inspirational. And of course I also enjoyed participating in the whiteboard session. The energy in that room was contagious!
By Marc Monseau, October 19, 2010 @ 12:28 pm
Russ — what a fantastic recap of the day. I think you really caught the essence of what was covered — and what opportunities now exist for all of us — patients, physicians, providers and manufacturers — to use the power of different online tools, networks and communities to help improve access to information that people can use to improve their health. Much was discussed at this session — and, as you point out, the energy was high. However, we now need to figure out how to harness this and come up with something tangible rather than simply talking. Really like the reference you made to the Apple Vision. What SHOULD online health look like in 5 years? Ten years? 20 years?
By Kerri., October 19, 2010 @ 11:48 pm
Fantastic recap, Russ. It was absolutely inspiring to speak with you, and I’m excited about the change that WE, as a group of digital crusaders, can bring to the table.
By Marianna, October 26, 2010 @ 1:14 pm
Seems like most of your commenters were there with you. As someone who wasn’t I really appreciate this post. I especially love th interactive notes. Beautiful, engaging, and informative. Thanks!