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Podcasts have made a real comeback in my ear buds. I realize the format is not new, and I’ll admit that I’ve even been a resister because I’m more of a kinesthetic versus auditory learner. However, it seems that the quality and variety of available podcasts is both improving and increasing, so I’m making more room for them in my listening habits.

Starting in 1994, Helen Reilly spent eighteen years as a communicator for The Credit Valley Hospital – including five particularly fulfilling years as Hospital Publicist. According to Helen, she developed unique expertise from her work in an environment that was very lean, but dynamic and open to innovation.

Does your non-profit have a ‘go-to’ tactic – and you need to get out of the rut? Is your organization’s default set to ‘brochure’, ‘buckslip’ or ‘poster’? Or has new media caused a shift to ‘e-blast’, ‘microsite’ or [shudder] ‘viral video’?

There isn’t anything inherently wrong with any of these tactics (except thinking that you can plan for a video to go viral). But when non-profits fall into the trap of jumping straight to tactics, they fail to consider what might be the best way to reach a specific audience. Jumping to a tactic is an indication of not having thought about the audience for the communication at all.

One of the challenges of working in hospital communications is the decentralized nature of organizations comprised of very distinct units with distinct objectives, according to Anthony Lucic. Anthony is the Team Lead, Digital Communications at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Ontario; a large, inner-city teaching hospital with a level-one trauma centre. Anthony is responsible for communications via the Hospital’s various digital properties including web, social media and onsite digital screens. 

Next month, I’ll be attending the Content Success Summit, presented by Mike Stelzner/Social Media Examiner. When this opportunity came up, I seized it right away because I benefitted so much from attending Mike’s Copywriting Success Summit in 2008 and the Social Media Success Summit in 2009.

I’m attending the Summit for two reasons…

Yesterday, Sam Frank, Principal, Synthesis Partnership shared some of his expertise on mission statements [link back]; an excellent primer and case for the importance and value of articulating mission statements. I invited Sam to guest post because I wanted him to help me convince readers not to use mission statements as marketing messages. It turns out that we don’t entirely agree, and we decided to share the rest of our conversation with you.