In our mad rush to start off our new careers (mine as an independent consultant and Shwen as a social media thought leader for Edelman), I want to ensure folks that we haven’t forgotten that we are hosting a presentation for MM&M’s Virtual Summit on May 24th.

In the rather ambiguously entitled session “We’ve got your social media guidelines right here!”  we thought we’d cover some of the digital and social media activities  pharma companies could be doing NOW, despite a lack of (formal Internet and Social Media) Guidelines from the the FDA.

But as we started developing our slides and materials it suddenly struck us — is this REALLY what people want to hear?  Are we answering the questions people want answered?  If we put together a fantastic presentation, will people EVEN CARE???

Rather than second guess what people are looking for, we thought we would instead eat a bit of our own dogfood and ask you — our potential audience — to submit the questions YOU want answered in this session on what social media activities companies could be doing today.   We would then address the crowdsourced presentation (Well, ok, I guess the presentation won’t be crowdsourced, but the questions will be.  Anyway, you get the idea…)

So with that in mind, please let us know what questions you’d like answered.  (Keep in mind, now that Shwen and I are no longer working directly for our corporate pharma overlords organizations, so we may be a wee bit more free in what we can say in response…

Don’t be shy — please submit your questions in the comments field below and we hope to see you at the virtual summit!

THANKS!

Dear Friends,

After almost 6+ years on the “inside” of the pharmaceutical industry, I will be stepping off the reservation… Well, not TOTALLY off the Pharm completely, but I will be moving out from being on the “client side” to being on the “agency side”. This work-week — ending Friday the 13th — will mark my last week in the office as a Vertex employee.

While it is with bitter-sweet emotions that I am leaving Vertex, it is with great pleasure and much excitement that I can announce that I will be joining the health practice at Edelman as VP of Digital Health, where I will be reporting into Bruce Hayes (General Manager of the NY Health Practice) and joining my friend, Gigi Peterkin (formerly from AZ), to head up and build out the digital health offerings in the NYC office.

Many of you will probably be familiar with Edelman, either by their reputation alone, their well respected digital thought leaders (like Dave Armano and Steve Rubel), and/or by their well regarded Edelman Trust Barometer and Edelman Health Engagement Barometer studies.

Leaving Vertex…
I’m sure many of you are wondering why I’m leaving Vertex, especially at a time like this; where the company is at the brink of commercializing and poised to become a great full-fledged pharmaceutical, with a new product (pending FDA approval) and pipeline to boot.

So, let me first put aside any thoughts in your mind that I am leaving because I have any doubts or negative feelings towards Vertex. In fact, it’s quite the opposite — I have a HUGE amount of respect and adoration for the company, the people, and the product(s).

I really admire and laud the Vertex senior leadership for the approach/mindset they’ve taken towards building this company. I’m a big fan of the culture and the patient-first mentality that pervades even the commercial (sales and marketing) teams. And I absolutely love the fact that at almost every major (internal) meeting, we are reminded of the George Merck creed: “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people…“. If there’s anything I learned more about during my time at Vertex, it is the importance of always trying to serve the patients’ needs and how to try to put them first, even within a commercial setting.

On top of all that, I’ve gained a lot of experience in building a digital infrastructure and strategy in preparation for commercialization and I’m also very proud of my recent (digital/social) accomplishments, including the launch of the corporate Twitter account and the (digital) hepatitis C disease education campaign, which includes a YouTube Channel and a Slideshare page.

Bright Lights, Big City
Having said all that, sometimes an opportunity comes along where the timing is right and you know deep inside that it’s worth changing your whole world for… including a big move from Boston to NYC. So, while I was able to rollout some cool and interesting digital initiatives during my time at Vertex, my new role at Edelman will allow me serve the industry in a greater capacity and spread my wings more broadly by challenging me to think across multiple audiences, diseases, and brands/clients. It will also give me the opportunity to use my knowledge and experience to help other healthcare and pharma companies implement/execute innovative digital and social media. Additionally, I will be involved with internal education, client strategy and development, and overall thought leadership in healthcare and social media (HCSM).

I am also looking forward to the opportunity of working alongside and tapping into the Edelman “brain-trust” of people that I have come to know and respect in the digital and health community, including my friends: David Armano, Emily Downward, and of course, Gigi Peterkin.

Moreover, as many of you know, I am passionate about the use of digital/social media within HCSM and, as such, I’ve been heavily involved in various activities that resonate with this passion, including: my Med 2.0 Blog, SocialPharmer.com, SXSH.org (Social Health), and PharmFresh.TV. Hence, the opportunity to continue to embrace these activities — together with various industry engagements (e.g. speaking events) — at a greater level, while bringing more value to the organization that I work for, is something that I am very excited about.

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow
Amidst all this excitement about the job and the big move to NYC, I also realize that I will very much miss many of my good friends that I’m leaving behind in Vertex and the Boston area, as well as the whole Boston social media scene overall. However, it comforts me to know that NYC isn’t really that far away and many people travel through NYC at some point, so I’m hoping to still see everyone quite regularly.

Finally, aside from the sticker shock that I’m getting from NYC property prices, I think the biggest challenge that I will have to overcome with this move is how difficult it will be for me to continue to be a Boston sports-fan in NYC… Go B’s, Go C’s, Go Pats, and Go Sox!!! I love that dirty water…