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Posts Tagged ‘Impactiviti’

We’re moving – 500 feet north

Posted in Pharmaceutical, tagged Impactiviti on February 10, 2016|

As of March 1st, 2016 this will be my new home and HQ:

Impactiviti HQ

On February 22, we closed on this house that is just 10 doors down from the place we’ve been renting here in Franklin, TN.

I love working out of my home, and having a bright sun room adjacent to my office is a real bonus. When I’m talking with you on the phone, I will undoubtedly be pacing back-and-forth between those rooms, which is my favorite way of multi-tasking.

Y’all come and visit sometime!

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LTEN 2015 Conference Review: Bright and Sunny

Posted in Conference, tagged Ferrazzi, Impactiviti, lten, Pharmaceutical, pharmaceutical training, Sales training, scottsdale on June 5, 2015|

Last night over a glass of wine on our back patio, I gave my wife a glowing report about the LTEN conference (from which I had just returned). And it struck me afresh how upbeat this year’s event truly was.

I mean, it was in Scottsdale, Arizona – so how could things NOT be bright and sunny?

I know that the LTEN staff (always great to see Dawn, Christine, Miki, Gregg, Nanette, and Tim!), who worked so hard on the event, were thrilled with the attendance numbers, including a growing number of folks from medical device and other related companies.

Board Members and Advisors were actively engaged throughout the week, constantly visible in sessions and on the exhibit floor.

John Constantine, Corey Padovano, Jim Page

This was John Sjovall’s last conference serving as President, although his imitation of Elton John (LTEN John – get it?) did not put him on a yellow brick road to Vegas for nightclub bookings, we all appreciated his steady leadership over the past two years.

This year, I didn’t attend a lot of workshops, instead focusing on networking with individuals on both the client and vendor/partner sides. And that was wonderful. In fact, the main keynote was by Keith Ferrazzi, on the building of community through networking. Keith’s material was solid and very practical – I’m always going to applaud encouragements to build professional networks.

The most creative and interesting workshop that I did attend was put on by the folks at Campbell Alliance Learning Solutions (John Bye and Celeste Mosby) – a very cool board game to teach market access fluency. Some of the talks I attended were too didactic, but this one was full of energy as the various teams worked together to try to figure out where the decision-making power resided in a simulated managed markets setting.

And then there was the conference app – a quantum leap above any other mobile application we’ve had in the past. This one, created by DoubleDutch, encouraged direct person-to-person interaction and easy posting of updates/photos. For years, getting social media integrated into the LTEN conference has been a slow ride, but I think we finally crossed the river this year. Utilization of the app was off the charts!

The evening social events (Monday and Wednesday nights) were very pleasant and relaxed networking times. Monday was a bit weak on the food side of the spectrum, but Wednesday certainly was not! The Learning Labs (mini sessions in the exhibit hall during lunch hours) seemed to be received quite well; and, for the first time, there were LTEN Excellence Awards, including posters of entries. Nice touch.

Since my Impactiviti business is about matchmaking life sciences companies with optimal vendor/partners, I tend to spend a lot of time on the exhibit floor, interacting with my many vendor friends. Having been on the provider side for many years, I’m acutely sensitive to the mood of our vendor colleagues, and often there have been complaints about how little traffic there is in the exhibit hall. But this year, we seemed to hit an inflection point. The mood among vendors was very upbeat, all week – lots of solid interaction happening. I think the combination of better scheduling (more free time in the hall); a simple and intuitive layout of the facility (exhibit hall centrally positioned and all meeting rooms extremely close); and the lack of “outside” distractions at this particular resort made for a much better community experience. Also, it was a privilege to be able to connect many vendors and clients “live” at the conference, which is always a highlight of my year.

Next year’s event will be held June 13-16 at the Gaylord National D.C. Resort; for our friends in Medical Device and Diagnostics companies, there is a gathering in Chicago this year on October 6-7.

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Do you want to stay updated throughout the year on the latest life sciences training news and resources? Subscribe right here to the twice-monthly Impactiviti e-newsletter and get better connected to your community! And call on me at any time for advice on your training needs: asksteve@impactiviti.com

-Steve Woodruff, President, Impactiviti – the eHarmony of Life Sciences Training

Are we connected yet on LinkedIn?

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Shouldn’t Your Training Projects be Successful?

Posted in Pharmaceutical, Training, tagged Impactiviti, lten, Project management, SPBT, Training, Vendor management on August 7, 2014|

How many of your training managers actually have some kind of background in operations – or, have been trained in how to manage vendors and projects?

If your department is like that of most life science companies, the answer probably lies between few and none. Why? Well, trainers are typically assigned out of Sales, not Operations.

But managing projects requires a new skill set, and without it, expensive failures regularly occur during a training rotation (and beyond).

Being shoved into the deep end of the pool is one way to learn to swim. But a one-day workshop is all that’s needed to impart the core principles and basic practices leading to successful project management.

In one minute, here’s an explanation of the key value of this workshop:

Impactiviti and LTEN sponsor these workshops for life sciences member companies. All the details are right here. Sign your trainers up now while there is still room!

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Tap Into The Network Effect

Posted in Recommendations, Right-sourcing, Sales training, tagged Impactiviti, pharmaceutical sales training, recommendation, referral, SPBT on April 29, 2014|

Today, I want to pull back the veil a bit on one of the most important parts of my network.

The Impactiviti pharmaceutical network is pretty broad, encompassing a range of professionals in the pharma/biotech/med devices/healthcare sphere.

But then there’s my “Inner Circle,” and that group provides one of the best pools of expertise I can offer you.

The “Inner Circle” is my closer group of industry clients and partners who support each other through recommendations of vendors and other resources.

How does it work? Here’s a very recent example:

Someone who took on a newly-created training role was looking for a potential vendor(s) who could provide curriculum for a very specialized niche group. I spent time brainstorming the need with this individual and more carefully defining the need. This was a case where I felt I should reach out to my Inner Circle for their advice (these Inner Circle e-mails, which occur about every 2 weeks or so, are anonymous so no identifying client information is shared). In this case, I got back several well-targeted recommendations, including some companies that I was familiar with, but wasn’t sure could extend out to this niche. Today, I’ll make specific recommendations back to my client.

On a regular basis, people in my Inner Circle expose me to previously-unknown companies, some of whom become valued Impactiviti referral partners. In fact, in recent months, Inner Circle recommendations have led me to a great Managed Markets training supplier, a boutique leadership development firm, and a virtual facilitation training company – all of whom I can now bring forward as targeted referrals.

This two-way recommendation network effect makes it so much easier to identify the best resources for specific needs.

When you call on us here at Impactiviti, you get far more than Steve Woodruff. You get unmatched expertise from your peers. So, when it’s time to seek out vendor/partners – contact us. We can provide the best expertise available, without charging you a penny.

(stevew at impactiviti dot com; 973-947-7429)

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Successful Vendor Management – One Sentence

Posted in Pharmaceutical, Vendor Management, Vendor Selection, tagged clarity, Impactiviti, Project management, Steve Woodruff, Vendor management on December 13, 2012| 2 Comments »

It’ll make or break any project. Clear alignment (or lack thereof) at the kickoff of a new initiative.

How to gain alignment among ALL the stakeholders, on both the client AND the vendor side? In my Successful Vendor Management workshop, I advocate for a one-sentence summary:

Believe it or not, a majority of projects don’t start out with a clearly-defined charter like this, which is the main reason projects go off the rails during the development process.

Here’s a one-minute video on the importance of the one-sentence summary:

(Hint: I find that that most challenging part of the process is coming to clarity and agreement on the project goal, which is an actual business outcome, not merely a description of project features).

There may be some steps you can skip along the way during a given project. But the one-sentence summary is not one of them. Up-front clarity among all involved parties is not a luxury – it’s a necessity!

Training, and Your Development

Posted in Networking, Pharma, Pharma News, Pharmaceutical, Training Needs, Twitter, Vendor Selection, tagged Impactiviti, Pharma, Pharmaceutical, Vendor Selection on March 27, 2012| 1 Comment »

Impactiviti helps pharmaceutical training clients find the best vendors for their needs. Plus, there’s a lot more!

>> Subscribe to the weekly Impactiviti Connection pharma e-newsletter, loaded with news and resources for our industry

>> Join the Impact LinkedIn networking group (vendor-free): over 450 members devoted to commercial pharma

>> Sign up for one of our high-value SUCCESS Workshops for training departments on Vendor and Project Management best practices

>> Download the Client-Vendor Success white paper

And, for all your training and technology needs, speed-dial Steve Woodruff, who will help you find the optimal vendors for your needs (yes, the vendor recommendation service is free – here’s how it works).

I’m also happy to connect with you on LinkedIn. So…plug in to the Impactiviti network!

Seeking career or business clarity? You may also want to Discover Your Fit at SteveWoodruff.com)

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Some Thoughts on Digital Pharma East 2010

Posted in Conference, ePatients, epharma, Healthcare, Pharma, Pharmaceutical, Social Media, Technology, Twitter, tagged Digital Pharma, doctor V, doctoranonymous, epharma, exl, Impactiviti, Social Media on October 22, 2010| 2 Comments »

This week, I enjoyed the opportunity to gather with a large number of professional colleagues at eXL Pharma’s 4th Annual Digital Pharma East conference.

I’ve attended this conference 3 or 4 times and it gets better every year. This year was no exception. The eXL team (Bryon Main, Jason Youner, Jayson Mercado, and others) did a great job organizing a multi-faceted event that contained far more variety than most of the ePharma conferences I’ve attended.

Instead of giving a recap of content (ably being done by several others – here, here, here, here, here, here, and including this very cool video essay by DoctorAnonymous, Mike Sevilla!), I’m going to list out some of my high-level impressions and perspectives as a veteran conference correspondent and industry networker.

1. It was great to have participation from savvy ePatients and ePhysicians. I can’t underscore enough how much it matters for pharma professionals to be exposed to “customers” on the ground, especially those emerging into thought leadership. Not only did I get to renew ties (and meet for the first time) some of my ePatient friends, but I was also privilege to have long discussions with Mike Sevilla (DoctorAnonymous online) and Bryan Vartabedian (Doctor_V online). Bryan ably served as co-host along with Shwen Gwee, the social media guru at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

2. Mobile is huge. And getting huger. If you’re not thinking about the intersection of communications and mobile devices, then you’re trying to make a faster horse-and-buggy while cars whiz by.

3. We’re finally moving past the first few years of very limited social media case studies into a variety of interesting approaches and efforts. Frankly, the ePharma conference circuit was getting a bit wearisome as industry struggled with the very basics, but now the on-line efforts are maturing, and increasingly being tied into off-line (integrated) efforts (Applause from audience). The best part is that these efforts will only increase in number and creativity.

4. Including speakers who are not embedded in the industry is very smart. We enjoyed hearing from Doc Searls (one of the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto), Bob Garfield (Advertising Age columnist), and futurist Ian Morrison. Getting high-level perspectives about cultural and technological trends definitely stirs up more creative thinking and discussion. As we all know, pharma can be very insular, and we need fresh infusions from the outside to keep us from being boxed in by our own self-made ruts.

5. There is no substitute for face-to-face networking. Attaching names to faces to feelings to ideas to potential collaboration…you cannot replace human networking with technology. This came up several times in talks as well, about the potential for pharma to be overly enamored with e-solutions such that human contact with physicians gets lost. And for me, it was a welcome chance to rub shoulders with old and new friends like Shwen Gwee (credit for photo above), John Mack, Eileen O’Brien, Gilles Frydman, Phil Baumann, Daphne Swancutt, Bruce Grant, Faruk Capan, Jess Seilheimer, Mike Myers, Ellen Hoenig, Jeff Greene, Len Starnes, Christiane Truelove, Cheryl Ann Borne, Hannah McDonald, Allison Blass, Mark Senak, Gigi Peterkin, DJ Edgerton, Cynthia North, Zoe Dunn, Kelly Dane, Chris Campbell, Quang Pham, Lance Hill, Carly Kuper, Alex Butler (who, for being an industry pioneer, won the Hawaiian shirt off of John Mack’s back!) and many others – these are the people that are shaping the future of pharma digital. And many have become good friends, both on- and off-line!

6. Having tracks and unconference sessions is a really good idea. The problem, of course, with tracks is that you want to be in more than one session at a time – but I think it’s great for drawing a more diverse set of attendees, and open discussions during unconference sessions can be very lively and invigorating (note: successful unconference sessions rely on a skillful moderator who knows how to draw others out, and at least a few people who don’t mind sharing opinions and being a bit provocative!)

Three years ago, live-tweeting a pharma conference was brand new territory. Now it’s becoming common practice. If you want dig deeper into the content, quotes, impressions, and resources shared, do a Twitter search under the hashtag #digpharm. This is also a great way to discover some of the most active folks involved in pharma social networking.

There is much more that could be said, but I can’t close without thanking the many sponsors who helped make the event possible, especially PixelsandPills, HealthCentral, and HealthEd, who sponsored social events in the evening.

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Today’s Top Three in Pharma 021609

Posted in Glaxosmithkline, GSK, Pharma, Pharma News, Pharmaceutical, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda, Top News, tagged Byetta, Impactiviti, Uloric on February 16, 2009|

Takeda gets approval for Uloric – Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ULORIC® (febuxostat) 40 mg and 80 mg for the chronic management of hyperuricemia in patients with gout. This once-daily, oral medication is the first new treatment option in more than 40 years for the more than five million patients who have hyperuricemia associated with gout.