A SOCIAL EVENT GOES MAINSTREAM

ISSUE:
Goryeb Children’s Hospital, the pediatric hospital of Morristown Memorial Hospital, is among the most innovative and clinically advanced children’s treatment centers in the New Jersey/New York region.  The hospital is staffed by nationally-recognized, board-certified pediatric specialists and provides an array of services, including a children’s sleep center, an adolescent center for health and specialized pediatric exercise and nutrition programs.  Despite its offerings, however, the pediatricians and specialists, as well as many of the hospital’s unique programs, were largely unknown to the media and, consequently, to the surrounding community.  The hospital’s PR team charged Coyne PR with not only raising awareness of Goryeb, but also of positioning the Goryeb physicians as ongoing resources to media – both traditional and social – on pediatric health.

IDEA:
To forge an ongoing relationship between media and pediatricians, Coyne PR organized a special “Back to School Lunch & Learn” media event at Goryeb.  The event strategically targeted reporters and bloggers who also were parents of young children – and naturally would have an interest in pediatric health issues. Coyne PR produced the event starring the pediatricians speaking about the most pressing back to school health issues of the season, including H1N1, sleep disorders, pediatric headaches, anxiety, and kids’ fitness.  The tone of the event was conversational, encouraging the reporters and bloggers to ask questions, mingle with pediatricians and experience unprecedented access to the doctors.  To amplify the discussion and provide a live feed, Coyne PR arranged for one of the mommy bloggers to tweet live from the event, taking questions through her Twitter account, relaying them to the panel, and responding to followers who were tuning in.

IMPACT:
The event was a rousing success!  With reporters attending from the New York Times, Star-Ledger and several parenting magazines, as well as local mommy and community bloggers, the event continued long after its anticipated end time, as pediatricians fielded questions and participated in on-the-spot interviews.   The live tweet feed resulted in nearly 100 tweets reaching more than 7,000 followers during the presentations, and included links to videos of each presentation to the hospital’s YouTube channel.  In the week immediately following the event, reporters and bloggers posted 10 articles and, testament to the lasting impression the pediatricians made on the attendees, requests for interviews continued several months later, including the “CBS Early Show” and Ladies Home Journal.  In fact, the hospital was so pleased with the event that they have requested a “Return to Spring Lunch & Learn” in 2010