Patient bloggers and online advocates are finding new ways to connect, launch advocacy and disease awareness campaigns, and use web-based tools to manage chronic conditions. Their influence has grown to the point where they are even being approached by the pharmaceutical industry to become involved in sponsored initiatives. Does this mean a larger voice for patient experiences and viewpoints or does it hinder trust in the patient community? This panel looks at issues involved in working on both independent and sponsored advocacy projects, and explores the issue of transparency in patient blogging
White Board: Drawing upon the themes that will emerge during the panel discussions and presentations associated with the Social Health Track, the white board session leaders will encourage attendees to discuss the hurdles and opportunities facing patients, professionals and members of industry. Participants in this engaging session will hopefully discover in which they can better connect, share information and work together to collectively improve health literacy, disease awareness and the distribution of useful health information.
The availability and affordability of DSLR cameras means that everyone is becoming a photographer. Instead of hiring a pro photographer, many businesses and individuals are taking matters into their own hands, sometimes with questionable results. Photographers Aaron Hockley and Kris Krüg will share some tips and tricks for better photography. Topics include basics of composition, exposure, lighting, and white balance. Basic post-processing techniques will be covered as well, wrapping up with some power tips for sharing photos using social media tools.
How to maximize your blog for increased visibility in search. Many bloggers have great vision for content creation and a gift to write, but fail to attract any visitors. This panel will focus on how to optimize your wordpress blog in order to rank in search engines for specific key phrases.
Drew will take bloggers on a trip through various photo, video and audio hosting sites. Drew will get up close and personal with Flickr, YouTube and many other sites. Blogging is a multimedia medium but many bloggers are not taking advantage of all the free and paid tools available to make their content even more compelling. With Drew's array of digital cameras, digital video cameras and personal cell phone he will teach the audience many ways to capture compelling content to share with their blog audiences.
Bloggers have long known that quality content can be the key to making a blog successful. But many websites have a poor reader experience that get in the way of making a good website great. In this session, successful blogger Andy Hayes will walk attendees through a series of exercises to understand what’s going on in the minds of new readers and regular subscribers. Specific topics during the session include: • the big picture of what’s going on when a reader visits a website • how to create a persona of your target reader, why it is so important, and why most bloggers don’t care • common mistakes made in effective website design and how to fix them • why new readers and regular subscribers are very similar, yet very different • how to keep your focus on the reader and how to incorporate feedback into your everyday routine If your blog is a business, your readers are your customers. Great businesses obsess about their customers.
