Pharma Conferences this Fall

I’ll be attending two pharma-focused conferences during the autumn months of 2012 (both in Philadelphia) – hope to see many of you there!

ePatient Connections has become one of my favorite annual events. I love the mix of speakers, and the emphasis on healthcare from the patient (not merely industry) perspective. Great lineup of presenters as usual, including Mark Bard, Kevin Kruse, Arnie Friede, Carly Kuper, Kerri Sparling, and many others. More information can be found here.

Digital Pharma East is a wonderful gathering of everything tech/digital/mobile in the pharma and healthcare world. I really like the fact that there is a dedicated mobile day on the 18th. This is a great event for learning and networking! More information here.

Both of these events are put on by the fine folks at exl Pharma.

ALSO – on November 8th, I’ll be presenting (in conjunction with the Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers) a one-day Successful Vendor Management workshop, in Florham Park, NJ. If there’s one area that seems to be consistently left out of on-boarding training for managers (training, marketing, & communications), it’s how to spec out and manage a project, and how to select and manage outsource vendors. We’ll be covering all of that in a practical and actionable manner during this well-received workshop – please join us! More information and registration here.

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Impactiviti is the Pharmaceutical Connection Agency. As the eHarmony of sales/training/marketing, we help our pharma/biotech clients find optimal outsource vendors through our unique trusted referral network. Need something? Ask Steve.

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ePatient Connections 2010: Recap

I had the privilege a couple weeks back of attending the second annual ePatient Connections conference, which I highly recommend for those in the pharma/healthcare industry.

Interacting with the growing number of influential ePatients, and hearing their perspectives, is immensely valuable. The conference is put on by Kevin Kruse and his team at Kru Research.

Here is my video recap:

Other helpful summaries of the conference can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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Two Thumbs Up: ePatient Connection Conference

I was in downtown Philadelphia earlier this week for the inaugural ePatient Connection 2009 conference, a first-time event by the relatively new Kru Research (headed up by Kevin Kruse). I’ve known Kevin for years through our mutual work in pharma training/eLearning, but this was his first venture into organizing a conference.

Count me impressed.

Unlike last week’s Digital Pharma conference, which took encouraging steps in the direction of a more “unconference” format (review here), ePatient Connection had a more traditional, structured format. But unlike others – and I’ve been to MANY over the years – it was fresh, interesting, and basically…it rocked. The two days each flew by quickly.

I’m not going to attempt a content overview – that has actually been nicely done by Eric Brody here. And PharmaExec on-line gives a nice quick scan here, including some of the juicier quotes. Suffice it to say that the speakers were diverse, knowledgeable, and well-chosen. I’m saving my two thumbs up for the following:

This event was tight. By that, I mean it was run incredibly efficiently and smoothly. Sessions started on time, ended on time, did not drag, and the speakers were clearly prepped with directions to keep it focused and well-structured. The audio/visual setup was one of the best I’ve seen, even to the point of having a photographer going about the entire time taking a tremendous variety of pictures (immediately uploaded to Flickr). The Wi-Fi was strong. There were outlets/extension cords along one entire side. There was a Twitterscreen. Sessions were captured on video. The attendee goodie bag was one of the best ever, including several books, and even an iPod Touch! There were standard presentations, panels, interviews, open forums, 1-on-1 sessions, and even a Pecha Kucha (20 slides, each for 20 seconds) slot. Vendors had a chance to briefly show their wares up front, which is a great way to give them exposure without turning sessions into sales pitches. All in all, other conference organizers could learn a lot from this freshman endeavor. Kudos to Kru & crew for pulling this off.

This event was well-targeted. It’s way past time to start bringing together people from the pharma/device industry, the ePatient community, and other stakeholders in healthcare. Hearing from bloggers with medical conditions, and getting their perspectives (not only on stage, but actively throughout the conference on Twitter), was both inspiring and enlightening. Folks on the business side and on the consumer/patient/people side need to better understand one another, and this was a very helpful format to move the dialogue forward. The fact that we had a late entrant show up from FDA/DDMAC (Paul Loebach, a really nice guy) was a huge bonus.

I had the privilege of co-facilitating, with Jack Bilson and John Mack, two lunchtime discussions on Developing Guidelines for Social Media. Those sessions could have gone on for hours – very rich interaction and a high level of interest among the participants. But, of course, everything was running on time (I told you it was tight!), so we had to move along by 1:45 pm!

It does seem to me, after the last few weeks, that we really have turned the corner when it comes to use of Twitter in pharma/healthcare industry conferences, as there was an incredibly active and informative Tweetstream (hashtag: #ePatCon). Many, many people were “tuned in” to parts of this conference from around the globe, and participating virtually. And, of course, we enjoyed social occasions and a tweetup, where many of the pharma “early adopters” renewed friendships or met each other for the first time – always very rewarding.

This event was an exhausting and exciting pleasure to be a part of. Looking forward to the sophomore edition!

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Pharma Social Media resources: SocialRx

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Disease Guilt

I’m enjoying a two-day conference on the empowered health consumer (ePatients 2009) – one of the most enjoyable aspects being hearing directly from people with diseases (such as diabetes) who are living out the management of their conditions on-line.

I was taken aback late yesterday when one of the diabetes bloggers mentioned the constant GUILT that they labor under – and others chimed in to confirm this. This had not occurred to me before – just take your meds and manage your diabetes, right? Umm…no. It’s much more complex, apparently, and impacts people on many levels.

Later, while chewing on this, I realized that I did understand – I labored for decades under the relentless assault of undiagnosed and untreated depression, and sure enough, I lived with the guilt of it every day – not feeling the things I knew that I should, and constantly pushing the stone uphill every day in an unending cycle of self-doubt. Feeling like a burden to others. Feeling like I’m not overcoming.

So now this has me wondering – is this a regular “feature” of these long-standing, somewhat-manageable diseases? Even when you’re being treated? I’m very curious about the experiences of others with diabetes, or CF, or MS, or other conditions – are you taking your meds with a dose of guilt each day? Please give your insight in the comments. Your voice is important.

[and read this related post from Kerri Sparling, who has first-hand experience. The last sentence is the payoff]

(Image credit)

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Pharma Social Media resources: SocialRx

Subscribe to the Impactiviti blog via e-mail (which will bring you Impactiviti Daily – a brief of the day’s top pharma news)

Sign up for the Impactiviti Connection twice-monthly e-newsletter (see sample)

Connect with Steve Woodruff

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