Today is the first day of the 3rd Annual Digital Pharma conference.

I am privileged and honored to have been asked to chair this prestigious event and look forward to the sessions, discussions, and interactions with many esteemed colleagues and conference participants in the area of social media in pharma (a.k.a. social pharmers).

The official hashtag for this conference is: #DigPharm — please feel free follow the live-tweeting conversation and participate with your own questions/comments using the CoverItLive interface below:

I’m not even ready for the end of 2008 yet, never mind starting to plan for 2009. However, knowing that the new year will be upon us before we know it, I thought it might be prudent to start thinking (and budgeting for) which conferences I might want to attend next year…

One of the key conferences to kick off 2009 that looks poised to be a great event for new and social media in pharma, is the 2009 ePharma Summit which will be held in Philadelphia, PA from FEB 9-11.

DISCOUNT CODE — If you’re interested in attending, IIR (the conference organizer) has kindly offered Med 2.0 readers a $200 discount, by using the following priority code: XP1406SG.

Please contact Felipe Alexandre if you have any problems with the code or questions about the conference.

Browsing through the speaker list, there appears to be a good number of really good speakers (that I am familiar with) within the space of new/social media in pharma and consequently, lots of interesting content.

A definite highlight for me and certainly a “non-traditional, outward looking” speaker for pharma, is Josh Bernoff (co-author of Groundswell), who will be presenting “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies“. Very much looking forward to hearing him speak and meeting him in-person.

Moreover, I am also extremely pleased and honored to have been invited to participate in this conference — I’ll be part of the following panel, which will be moderated by Jack Barrette (CEO, WEGO health), whom I recently had the privilege of sharing a panel with at the recent eComm08 conference as well:

Social Media, Blogs and User Generated Content: What’s Working Today, What Will Work Tomorrow?
Back by popular demand, our panel of industry “All-Stars” with a provocative look at the dissolving walls between pharma, patients and physicians, what pharma marketers are doing about it and the obstacles and opportunities that lie ahead in a world where the consumer has more control today than ever. discussion topics include:

• C to C, Word of Mouth and Viral Marketing
• Social media – who is really doing it in pharma?
• Surprise: social media communities don’t hate Pharma
• Gain a deeper understanding of online media opportunities/social networking
• The role of Consumer Opinion Leaders in social media influence
• Web 2.0: A Tactical (and doable!) plan for pharma marketers
• User-generated content: the smart Pharma marketers don’t want you to know they are already there
• Breaking the Med Legal strangle-hold on Web Communities – getting to a Social Media “yes” within the archaic legal environment
• Case studies on using social media programs that directly support strategy, objectives and client goals. Should include social networking, video, blogs, banners, podcasts
• Using social networking to build relationships with customers
• Case studies in pharma usage of web 2.0 – Update on social networking sites identifying successful revenue models

Moderator:
Jack Barrette, CEO, WEGO Health

Panelists:
Louis Sanquini, Director, Azelastine Franchise, meda Pharmaceuticals
Kevin H. Nalty, Marketing Director, Dermatology, Merck & Company, Inc.
Raj Amin, CEO, Healthination

If you are planning on attending this conference, leave me a comment or send me an email and I’ll look forward to meeting you there. And if you can’t make it, look out for the live tweets from Steve Woodruff (who I’m sure will be live-tweeting and maybe even live-blogging) and myself. Steve’s going to be on the same panel as well.