There is no better time to launch into social media than during the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference. I was first exposed to the power of social media during the HIMSS 2009 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago. I had just created my personal Twitter account but I had no clue what I was doing. A 140 character limitation? Communicating with whoever was out there? What am I supposed to say? I think I only had five followers back then.
Fast forward to HIMSS15 in Chicago. From my uncertain beginnings, I have expanded my reach as a blogger and micro-blogger across multiple brands and social networking personas, with thousands of followers and a diverse audience across the Health IT market. I now know and utilize social media as a meaningful way to network, communicate, and grow business. I also find that social media is now a go-to source for researching topics such as the recent search I did on Twitter: health apps for wearable devices. From this search I now know some of the thought leaders and businesses that are focused on this topic. I can contact them directly via Twitter or start to engage online with them through their personal blogs or other digital media content.
Are you ready for an explosion of conversations on Health IT? You can expect most of them to take place through social media. While it may seem like the entire world is composed of social media experts, there are still plenty of people trying to figure it all out. In that spirit, here are my top ten tips to help beginners engage with social media while at #HIMSS15:
- Create and update your profile with Health IT terms, such as “Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO)” or “Enabling Health Consumer Engagement”
- Post relevant Health IT-content based on presentations or exhibitor topics – but keep selfies to a minimum!
- Use a positive voice – no snarky posts
- Use the #HIMSS15 4 hashtag with all of your tweets, posts, photos, and videos. Also, pay attention to whether the educational session, roundtable, and/or meetup you’re attending has an event-specific hashtag and make sure to use those as well.
- Don’t overuse the “retweet” – it is like spamming
- Engage in conversations – don’t dominate them
- Be consistent, relevant, and diverse
- Use # control – don’t be obnoxious unless it is witty and potentially trend-worthy
- Can you interpret “FOTD?” 140 characters isn’t a lot of space, so learn and use word shortcuts – see Social Media Today’s “Top Twitter Abbreviations You Need to Know” for a useful list of common favorites. And BTW: “FOTD” = “Find of the Day.”
- Have fun. Be Social. Post, Tweet, Like.
Our devices are charged and our HIMSS15 strategy is in place. Engagement with the Health IT social media community is integrated into our goals and objectives for this amazing annual event that has evolved into more than just a large trade show with lots of educational sessions. HIMSS15 is about improving outcomes in a hyper-connected world! Segue will actively participate as contributors to trending topics in the keynote sessions, vendor presentations, and perhaps include a photo or two with the friends we meet along the way. Join in with our conversations by following @Seguetech, @SegueHealth, and #HIMSS15. BFN. CU in Chi-town!