HIMSS 2015 Annual Conference runs April 12-16, 2015 in Chicago. During this three-day show you meet everyone who is anyone in the Healthcare IT market.
In posts leading up to HIMSS, we’ll share our recommendations on breaking through the clutter and getting the most out of your show attendance. Kathy Truesdell, an Executive Marketing Consultant for Clarity Quest with a specialty in Public Relations, offers the first entry.
PR Tips for HIMSS
You may be announcing the newest, most interesting product in the house, but no matter the product, editors want to hear a customer success story. We’ve had the greatest success including our clients’ customers in interviews. When you tell the story together of how you’re changing things for the better you demonstrate authentic credibility. Explain how you are disrupting the status quo and share your challenges and your success with real-world examples.
Research Your Audience
Do your homework well before you arrive in Chicago. Start following the conversations and topics now on websites and social media and work those topics into your media efforts. If you have useful information to share, join the conversations now.
Some helpful blogs, websites and Twitter feeds include:
@MichaelGaspar – HIMSS Social Media Leader
@techguy – John Lynn leads HealthcareScene.com and Healthcare IT blogs
@wareFLO – Chuck Webster MD Specializes in Healthcare IT and EMR
Build Your List
If you’re an exhibitor, request the registered press list and reach out to the appropriate editors with a good story opportunity. Tell them your booth number and what they can expect to see/hear/learn.
If you’re not an exhibitor but are still attending and seeking media coverage, start asking your key media targets who’ll be attending now. Get a mobile number for each appointment you make and DON’T ask them to leave the show floor and come to you.
Create your PR timeline now to have your story, your press release(s) and your supporting materials ready to go.
A Word About What Makes a Great Story for this Audience
The word is METRICS.
Remember these are DATA people attending HIMSS – people who understand numbers. They are skeptical by training and expect to see proof of your claims. They have sophisticated, highly tuned BS detectors, so compile your data and know how to back it up. Why? Because at the end of the day, editors want to tell a great story.
If you aren’t forthcoming with your metrics, most will ask if you have data to support your claims and the subsequent questions will be, “How was it calculated? Under what circumstances? What was the baseline?” and so on. Any editor worth his or her salary in this market space should be vetting your answers. You might state a claim, “We reduced resource load by XYZ%.” Expect to be asked, “Was this because of your product or something else?” Be prepared to share the back story of how you got there.
Create a Compelling Reason for Members of the Media to Show Up at Your Booth
If you can schedule a customer or two in your booth for an hour or longer, maximize the opportunity with media by inviting them to come by to hear firsthand how they are using your product to improve/transform their business.
If you’re a small company and you have pilot projects, foster the pilot relationships by asking for (requiring) something in return. Ask your customer(s) to collaborate with you on public relations efforts and to stand (or sit) with you during media interviews at HIMSS. Help them become an outspoken, visible partner.
Be Brief
Most editors are booked back-to-back and will give you 10-15 minutes, tops. Respect their schedules. Make the most of your time. If you have a demo to show, create a version that can be completed in 3 minutes, start to finish. If someone wants to see more, you can accommodate them with the longer version but start with a short, succinct demo that hits the high points.
Have More Than One Person Trained and Ready to Speak with the Media
Things are changing and last year we noticed an uptick in editors requesting our mobile numbers or Twitter handles so they could text us from the show floor when they were available to come by and talk. Customer conversations come first, so have multiple spokespersons ready to go.
Final Tips
All good speakers rehearse. Radiology editors are going to ask radiology-oriented questions. Editors and bloggers targeting CIOs and IT managers will ask questions relevant to their audiences. Get your story together and be prepared to tell it from different angles. Spend an hour before you leave rehearsing your story with your PR team or colleagues.
Prepare a detailed Q&A/FAQ for everything being shown on the floor and share it with your PR team. Most of us are good at vetting questions and helping you shape your story. If your company doesn’t do FAQs, create your own and have it at your fingertips to review before you go into meetings.
Make sure your people are there and ready. Take breath mints and use them. Liberally.
Have water available and offer it. Say thank you. Give editors a business card or exchange your information electronically. You can offer the SWAG but don’t be offended if they refuse it. Memory sticks loaded with your contact information, press materials, a customer case study or two are appreciated. Follow up the week after the show.
Want more planning advice for HIMSS? #HITMC is sponsoring a live TwitterChat led by Clarity Quest’s president Chris Slocumb entitled “Cutting Through the Clutter: Reaching the Healthcare C-Level” March 24, 2015 at 12pm EDT.
