Here Comes the Data: Results of Research on How Physicians Use Social Media (hat tip to Sue Pelletier)

How Social Media Transformed a Nonprofit Medical Professional Society (hat tip to Maddie Grant)

How Hospitals Can Avoid a Social Media Crisis

The HCEA Top 50 Largest U.S. Medical Meetings (Is it just me or is it kind of surprising that a state dental society tops the list? New York must have a ton of dentists!)

And finally, Dartmouth Hitchcock provides a terrific example of social media guidelines for employees. Easy to understand, fair and not too serious. (hat tip to Ed Bennett)

I don’t mind. In fact, I am somehow oddly flattered when he jokes that I have no less than 47 ways to access the Internet in my purse alone. While this is obviously an exaggeration, to be fair, it’s not that far off.

So it came as no surprise to me when my appreciation for technology became a source of bewilderment for a complete stranger one morning last week. I rarely leave the house without either my iPad or Kindle in tow. After all, you never know when you are going to be delayed in some way or otherwise end up with some time to kill. So when an employee of my gym announced that the yoga instructor was running late for class one day last week I didn’t hesitate to whip out my Kindle and jump back into my latest novel of choice.

My reading was soon interrupted by a gentleman who looked to be about 60 occupying the neighboring yoga mat in the lotus pose, “Is that one of those there electronic book thingies?”

I looked up, smiled and nodded, “Yes, but it is actually the older version of the Kindle. My husband got it for me for Christmas a few years ago.”

He smirked and shook his head while attempting to switch to a cobbler’s pose, “I just don’t get it. My nephews are into all of that stuff.” He continued stretching and waved his hand in the direction of a young woman who was also attempting to read a few mats over, “She’s reading one of those old-fashioned books. You know, the ones with paper and ink?” More smirking and head shaking followed.

“How do you even get a book on that thing? Do you plug it into a computer?”

Optimistically hoping to enlighten this gentleman on the efficient bliss an avid reader could enjoy with a Kindle I hopped up from my mat to demonstrate just how easy it is to purchase a book. Within 15 seconds he waved me away saying, “I don’t have my glasses. I can’t see anyway.”

I gave up, but still smiled and returned to my mat to continue reading while I waited for our instructor.

That didn’t happen. Every sentence I attempted to digest was punctuated by George Orwell’s quips:

“Let me ask you – have you ever even played a record?”

“Hmph. I’m retired now. My company got the email sometime before I retired. Now people always want my email address. I just don’t get it. Just call me!”

“Imagine if you could have one device that had all of your music, movies, a phone, and the Internet — all in one??”

Still discouraged from my failed attempt to gently introduce him to the simple and beautiful efficiency of the Kindle I decided I would not waste my efforts by sharing the “news” of smartphones and tablets.

Later in the day when I reflected on this bemusing exchange I felt:

• frustrated because he expressed curiosity about technology only to immediately wave it off as an unnecessary nuisance;
• amused because the exchange could have been a scene straight from the cutting room floor of an updated version of the movie Grumpy Old Men;
• and fearful of the day when I become so perplexed by—and resistant to—advances in technology that are created with the intent to make our lives easier and more enjoyable.

Then I came across this article in the technology section of The Wall Street Journal and I wasn’t so bothered. In fact, this article only strengthens my resolve to enjoy advances in technology as long as possible—no matter how difficult it is to let go and appreciate the ideas and inventions of the next generation.

— Sent from my iPad

(Yes, Grumpy Old Man – I wrote this blog post on my iPad and with a wireless keyboard. So what!)

p.s. I’m considering wearing sunglasses to yoga this week. Maybe he’ll think I’m from the future.

Earlier this week, HootSuite announced a new viewing option available to all users for no charge: HootSuite Presentation View. This new option is designed with Twitter users and hashtag activity associated with conferences and events in mind. According to HootSuite:

During special events – like conferences, speeches, and elections – updates can overwhelm even the quickest of owls. While you can set up a stream to monitor certain keywords, how do you keep an eye on real-time results without refreshing?

The answer: the Presentation View. This view allows users to see updates as they come with a clear and easy interface to show Tweets from all Twitter users – not just those with whom you have a follow/er relationship.

I love a company that understands its users’ interests and anticipates needs.

Being in the association and conference world, my only request for an improvement to Presentation View would be to allow users to customize the theme. Annual meeting signage usually follows a color scheme which is carried throughout the thousands of signs, carpet and drape, bags, printed publications and other telltale components of a conference seen inside and outside of a convention center. What can I say — we like consistency.

Minor kvetch aside, I’m still impressed and pleased with HootSuite for developing this new feature. Well done, owls!

I see a long and successful coaching career in this kid’s future.

I hope that you come away with some great takeaways!

Online Community Manager: A New Position in Education

Well done, Red Cross. Here is how to handle a Twitter mistake with class – and end up getting props on Mashable!

Twitter Faux Pas

I’m not sure why – but I want this. My birthday is in May.

Solowheel

Friday Funny!

Sign of the times….

One of my favorite light bulb moments from EventCamp 2011 came from Liz Strauss.  In her general session she described the difference between monitoring and listening in social media:

“Monitoring is like the camera on the traffic light that captures people running the light. Listening . . . is knowing which car was having an emergency and on the way to the emergency room.”

Such a simple statement. Such a true statement.

So I found it timely that on the heels of EventCamp I came across this blog post from one of the pharmaceutical bloggers I follow. If you read the post, you see that MaverickNY is simply letting her readers know that she is heading to a medical meeting, and that she would be sharing her experience via Twitter. However, she notes that due to the length of the ‘official’ hashtag—a whopping 12 characters including the hash mark!—she, along with many others, would be using an unofficial and shorter hashtag.

This post is not about the importance of keeping the character count of your official conference hashtag low to allow attendees to easily tweet without struggling to stay under 140 characters. This post is about monitoring and listening.

Are you listening to your attendees? What about the non-attendees that are trying to follow your event via Twitter?

It is important to monitor (year-round, not just around your event) for mentions of your association, meeting name (and variations), and keywords related to your industry/event using tools like Google Alerts, Twitter Search, Addictomatic, and the list goes on. Subscribe to your attendees’ blogs and tweets—and read them. It may seem time-consuming, but it is not difficult to find the people you need to listen to if you consistently monitor social media.

Imagine if the social media staff at the association putting on the medical meeting that Sally is heading to are not aware that a considerably large—and definitely socially savvy—set of attendees are planning to cover the meeting via Twitter, but not from the official conference hashtag they plan to monitor.

I hope that association is listening.

[Image via Purple Unicorn]