Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is crucial in connecting people worldwide. Web has become such an implemented part of our lifestyles, businesses and other organizations have become extremely dependent upon it. If it no longer existed, it have a signfigicant impact to a business's order of operations. When I am web browsing, at times I find myself wanting to cut and paste paragraph snippets, pictures, or whatever I find interesting. My wish would be a sidebar fucntion/space in which I can snag a picture or text, and it stay archived in my browser window. Sometimes I am googling topics from A-Z and I stumble upon a website that I wouldn't necessarily bookmark, but there is specific info that I would want to snag. It would really help with searching topics because at times I forget what I wanted to search. This is the Google age, my friends.

Web 2.0 Wish

I completely agree with Victoria about the pop ups thing, that is really annoying! But other than that, I would have one specific preference for Web 2.0. I'm not sure if this already exists, but it would be nice to have an application that allows you to highlight, make side notes, and type all over a webpage, without changing its original format. I know there is a Wiki function, but I'm not sure if all of this would be included. This is really helpful for online research because online research requires digging up information and extracting it from resources, and this is not as easy as it seems. Also, something I would like to be featured is a paraphrasing tool. In my world, this tool would take any highlighted paragraph and with the click of a "paraphrase button", it would provide another paragraph with the exact meaning of the content, but in a simpler format. This would make online researching a BREEZE, although more cases of plagerism will most likely arise.

My Web 2.0 Wish...

Well there are plenty of tiny, obvious wishes I have for the Internet...like no pop-up ads or that things would load automatically instead of taking 3 minutes and then freezing your computer. Those aside, a wish I had would be for an ultimate analytics application that would tell you who has visited your site, their demographics, what their interests are, how long they viewed each individual page, where they came from. Of course, this takes an extremely painstakingly accuracy that is hard to come by on the web. Working with AB on HM09 web metrics showed me the long and difficult process of tracking people, whether it was matchbacks for the lists we bought or blog metrics. So I wish there was an uber program that could just calculate everything for you. Like Google Analytics...except more relevant, accurate and user-friendly. In the near future, analytics will surely improve but until then, we'll have to tally them up on paper.

My thoughts..

When it comes to Web2.0, there are tons of things that will probably happen within our lifetime that we never thought would happen. That being said, I think it is safe to say that many of our "wishes" will one day be reality. Right now, my wish that I believe can be or will soon be obtainable is tracking what type of people are looking at our website, facebook page, twitter, and for how long. Yes, it is great to know how many times someone searches our name, but if 50% of the time, it is SHM employees, that is not very beneficial. I am not saying that this is the case, but you never know. With facebook, we are able to look at all of our friends, so we can in a way see what type of person they are, whether they are a doctor, or someone that has no relationship to SHM. However, we can't see who looks at the page the most. If there are a few people that look at the page often, I believe it is safe to say they are very interested in SHM.

For now, those are my wishes. Like I said in an earlier post, I think face-to-face video chatting would be an awesome tool, and allow us to really connect with our supporters. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, this has not been implemented into the world of Web2.0 yet.

Web 2.0 Part 2

Thanks everyone, for your thoughts about web 2.0...I think you all made some valuable, and interesting points.

This week, I'm curious to know, if you had one wish that would automatically be granted, relative to web 2.0, what would it be? Would you add a new application? Would you get rid of an existing application? Would you do something that no one has thought of yet?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Todd

On a side note - Em, Victoria, Sam, Natasha...glad to see your thoughts about organization in the workplace...here's hoping that's the start of a turnaround :->

Maintaining Organizational Integrity

It is important keep your belongings in order, not just here but in LIFE. It is a refelction of your character. It also is a reflection of your mental processes. When I was younger my grandmother used to come in my junky room and say , "Your room is a reflection of how your life is going." Those words always stuck and I have lived by them ever since. (If my gram saw my room she would be proud). Keeping your personal items in order in a professinoal setting, IS what attritbutes to making it professional. At SHM, things are run in a very orderly manner, and all things contained within it must fall in line. Humans by nature are not orderly, and it keeping organized is a habit we must acquire and consciously practice each day.

Guilty by association

Personal organization has been a problem for me since I was young. I clean my room and then I can't find anything for a week so it just gets messy again. This has been the way I am for a very long time now. Coming to college however I think by having a room mate I was forced to become more organized. Not only that when people are walking in and out of your room on a constant basis you don't want them to walk into a mess even if it is "organized." I think that it reflects you and how you present yourself. I know at time it gets busy and I fall prey to this- but things do get messy. I think the other day we all got called out on this and it makes sense: just like I wouldn't want people coming into my room and thinking i'm a slob, we shouldn't let people walking into SHM see our table and assume that the company is a mess! I do subscribe to an organized mess because that's how I function but I realize that it is not all that matters. I think that taking a step back is important, and it helps you reorganize your life and get things in order once again.

Personal Organization

I think that personal organization is very important, but I always had a different view on it. When I am home, my parents always yell at me because they tell me I have clothes all over the place and I am a slob. However, I always point out that if they asked me to find a specific piece of clothing, I could find it, because my room is organized to me. So in a way, yes, I believe people have their own sense of "organization". For the first few weeks at SHM, I guess I was kind of the same way, leaving things all over my desk and just knowing where they were in my mind. Now, I realized that although leaving my clothes around may not be a big deal, leaving credit card numbers, or personal information, is a big deal. With that being said, I think I learned a valuable lesson: at work, you need to be organized because you are not only risking your own things, but other people's as well. Also being messy and unorganized makes it seem like you don't know what your doing, and we all know that isn't true! :)

In three years.....

Three years ago, Facebook was just becoming popular, and I don't think anyone really knew about Twitter. Now, they are both used by nearly everyone in the world - whether they are using it for business, to stay in contact with close friends, or for dating purposes, millions of people use these social networks. I think that in 3 years, there will be other websites that come out that will allow you to chat face to face. Yes, you can leave videos on people's facebook, but there is a program called Skype, where you can video chat with others. Over the next three years, I think this tool is going to become even more popular, and possibly overpower the almighty Facebook and Twitter. When I was in high school a few years back, MySpace was the cool, popular site. Now, younger generations use this network and I believe in a few years, Facebook will not be essential enough for the current generation using it, and it will be passed down to the younger generation, the same thing that happened to MySpace. Eventually, it will all be over and the world will move on to the new popular site.

No matter what happens to the two most popular social networks over the years, I think that it is safe to say, there will always be another site to replace them. I believe Web2.0, whether Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, or all the others one I don't know of, are very beneficial for the society, but like everything else in the world - over time, things change. There is no exception to the wonderful world of Web2.0!

Personal Organization

Showing good professionalism is essential when working in the real world and personal organization most definitely falls under this. I feel that even if disorganized people are able to find their materials, their bad habit is not justified. First of all, being disorganized gives off a terrible impression about your personality as you might appear irresponsible to people. One example that Joy had mentioned to me was my organization affecting the next co-op filling my spot. If I was very disorganized and I passed all of my documents and materials to my next co-op in that manner, the co-op would be put in a stressful position, complicating the work. The new co-op would need organized materials that serve as good template to follow and build off of. If I were disorganized, I would also serve as an inadequate role model for my replacement co-op. So what I am trying to say is, being disorganized in a professional setting is not acceptable at all. It can very much affect the disorganized individual as well as anyone else that is involved with that individual. Being organized is a great thing, as it shows good professionalism.

Web 2.0 - Future QI

From what I understand, Web 2.0 is “second generation” of the web that we currently have. I did some research and found out that this web might appear on many types of screens ranging from a cell phone to a microwave! This type of advance is bound to be helpful in healthcare QI which involves hospitalists, hospital settings, patients, and more. In three years, I feel that every patient room in a hospital will have a TV featuring Web 2.0 for the patient. Also, I feel that this program would reach the PDAs of hospitalists and other health professionals. Through this web, the doctor and patient could share information through this improved form of communication. Also doctors may communicate with each other through this web on their PDAs, improving the communication of patient information between each other. This is a great advance to improve the c0-management between a doctor that is a specialist and a hospitalist, for the betterment of their services to the patient. Also, if a hospitalist is unsure of a topic, he may also easily look it up online. Considering the characteristics of Web 2.0, the information that the hospitalist will look up will most likely be updated to the max. Web 2.0 also offers secure information sharing which could really boost patient confidentiality- something that is important in QI. In terms of Pharmacoeconomics, Web 2.0 may also leave a beneficial impact because determining which drugs to include in a hospital formulary requires updated research that can be easily found through the advanced web program. Overall, I see doctors and health professionals making moves because of Web 2.0. I also see health professionals becoming very dependent on Web 2.0 in improving QI. Web 2.0 will be widely used in hospital settings and will certainly improve QI efforts.

Web 2.0 Enhancements

In 3 years I think that Web 2.0 will be more like Web 5.5 or something. With everything that is being advertised/marketed/communicated on the internet in three years I think what is now our regular base of media will be totally enhanced. One thing I think that will become more popular (and when I say popular I mean an everyday occurrence would be more video- whether as Instant message or incorporated in news articles..) I also think that more touch screen computers & enhancements will become very popular. I think that maybe not in three years but in time paper newspapers will be completely taken over by the web, and even banking. I think that with the mix of “going green” and “web 2.0” many everyday medias and communications will be completely virtual.

Office Space

In a professional setting, organization can help maintain a sort of balance. It makes sense that when your environment looks less chaotic, it probably is less chaotic. Sure, there is such a thing as “an organized mess,” but when it comes down to it, if it takes you more than five minutes to look for something on your desk (or inbox), how organized is it really? I was a believer in that little oxymoron, but I have found out for myself that when it is easier to find things, it is easier to manage and stay on top of them. For instance… I have recently organized all my papers into folders and the ones closest to me are for current projects and the ones further are for ongoing projects or papers to be filed away. (Thanks, TVD. Very handy little system I have been compelled to create for myself.) Also, it happens that once in a while someone will be absent from a Monday Morning Meeting, and organization helps co-workers collect what they need from you. Overall, organization can benefit everyone in the work environment.

The World of Web 2.0

I think that Web 2.0 will expand even further in the near future than it has recently. In retrospect to three years ago, Twitter was not even on the public’s radar. MySpace was the “it” network, while Facebook and YouTube were just rising. None of those scenarios are the case today. Facebook has made rapid and drastic developments, and many professors are using YouTube videos as supplements to standard PowerPoint presentations. Slowly but surely, Web 2.0 is being incorporated into industries all over the world. I would not be surprised if in three years there were even more social networking sites and organizations focused a lot of time and energy into improving upon their web based activity, which is clearly exemplified in our department.

I think that M&M’s efforts in working with Captiva to improve PPC advertising and SEO are phenomenal, as well as those put into re-launching the website on hospitalist.org. Having in-house graphic and web designers really have given me insight to all the work that goes into a relatively small task. An example would be that every time a short web update has to be made in the Marketing department, it has to be approved by the Marketing Lead, and then sent to Dan. Sometimes it can go through multiple rounds of edits just to get the blurb right. Having firsthand experience with managing Facebook and YouTube, I have realized the work that goes into it from an organizational perspective. As a recreational user, I would never have thought of that because the majority of the events and groups I join are for entertainment purposes or something. The statistics behind these sites can be pretty intense at times, and that’s another part that I never had to experience with personal use. This information that we collect really gives us a chance to target and reach out to members, keeping them informed in a way that was not possible before. Although there is not a large percentage that is taking advantage of it, SHM is ahead of the curve. We’ve tackled a wide variety of Web 2.0: HospitalMedicine.org, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail marketing, blogs, YouTube, and RSS feeds. And each and every day we are learning new information/tips and ways to improve, which will definitely continue within the next few years.

P.S. We just changed our Facebook address to http://facebook.com/HospitalMedicine today. It was pretty exciting... :)

P.P.S. SHM is testing out the new Beta version of YouTube. I’m SURE you’ve all checked out our sweet page before, but maybe you forgot the link… No worries, I’ve got your back: http://youtube.com/SHMLive.

Interviewing Process--Design Interns

I think that the structure of my interview was very efficient. The first question was the classic "Tell us a little bit about yourself". I think that is a very good question, becasue it allows the interviewee to just freely speak about themselves both professionallyand personally. After I answered the question, I proceeded to showcae my portfolio, giving brief explanations of each as I went along. I do think that the prospective interns should be a few mroe design specific questions like, "How would you describe your design style?", "Are you familiar with corporate identity and the its language?", "Are you familiar with designing for a very specific audience?".....I think questions like these would gived them some more insight to what their role would be as a designer here at SHM. My favorite part hands down, is the on-the-spot ad creation. I love the surprise, and it is actually quite relevant because there will be times where you will be be designing/creating things that you don't expect. It shows who can think on their feet. There have been many times where I had to be creative in a very short time period. The only thing with the on-the-spot-ad surprise is that every designer can not draw! (which in my eyes is sinful). For the non-drawers, I think allowing them to hop on Illustrator is just as effective. I also think that having the current graphic assistant in the interview is great because it creates a sense of ease (being that most of the graphic design students at Drexel are somewhat familiar with one another).

I'm Back....

That's right...after an all too long hiatus, I'm back...

Thanks for your posts in absence of a question of the week...and for those who, on a occasion, posted a random blog about something that happened in the office (hint to everyone: you should be posting about a random happening at least once a week...you don't want it to come back and get you on your review, do you? :-)

So...for the next couple of weeks we're going to talk about web 2.0. This is a series of discussion questions put together by a former MA - Jill Patel.

Here's the first question (please post by Thursday)...

"Based on what you know about web 2.0 - what do you think it will look like in 3 years? How do you think web 2.0 will impact marketing (Em, Victoria, Sam, Natasha) or QI (Reshma)?"

And a bonus question for the Membership and Marketing Crew...

"Why is personal organization and keeping your materials in some sort of an organized and easily understandable fashion beneficial in an professional setting? Do you subscribe to the belief that some have that if it's your stuff, and you know how to find it, that's all that matters?"

That's all for today - talk soon...

Todd

New MA's...

When the interview process comes around for the next group of MA's, I think that you should ask the same things that you did in ours because we are the BEST! Just kidding, but I think the most important factor is to stress how this job is not going to be a sitting around- making copies kind of job. From my experience on interviews, I got that impression from a lot of different places, and SHM was the only one that emphasized that you will be treated like a full timer. In the group discussion, I think it is important to ask a bunch of different questions, and get peoples opinions and perceptions on things. When I came to this interview and had to answer questions on facebook, and not only on myself - it made me think and put more effort into the interview, and I think it shows how people can think on their toes. The one on one conversation will get good information about people personally, but the group should be used more to see how people work professionally. Have a good weekend everyone!

Incominggggg

First off in reading Victoria's post I completely agree with the Facebook idea in the interview. I think that it makes people comfortable because it is something many people our ages utilize on a regular basis, and it shows who is really thinking and trying to lead in a group interview situation. It is also important because it’s how we work for the most part here at SHM. I think in order to find what SHM needs however there are certain questions that should be asked in order to see what type of person each candidate is. For example certain questions involving one’s values and work ethic are essential. I think the interview is what made me take this job in particular so I wouldn’t change that much on how mine went, I think remaining constant is key in finding the right fit.

Describing SHM

Members: Through SHM, members have the benefit of meeting people with different career interests to make a difference in hospital medicine. SHM is open to a spectrum of areas relating to healthcare because the company’s goal is to ultimately improve hospital medicine in any every way it can. Being a member is being a part of a team of over 6,000 hospitalists. Together, members are able to contribute ideas and work to keep hospital medicine a field of healthcare enriched with value and quality.

Non-members: SHM invites professionals and professionals in training to become members. These people include: physician members, resident/fellow-in-training members, medical student members, affiliates, allied health professionals. To be a part of SHM means to be a part of society dedicated to the field of hospital medicine and quality healthcare.

Media: SHM’s many components have led to its success over such a short span of time. SHM has broadcasted itself to the public through its website which includes publications, blogs, news, and press releases. It is most recognized around a specific time of the year, when the Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting takes place. This year’s meeting completely sold out in seats, which has never happened before. SHM shows to be growing at a rapid pace as more people are recognizing the organization and contributing to it.

Competition: SHM is an organization that dedicates all of its efforts to hospitalists and hospital medicine. Being loyal to only hospital medicine, SHM is supporting one of the fastest growing specialties over time. Our healthcare in hospitals is always in need of quality improvement and rigorous interventions, and this is what SHM primarily focuses on. It has not been around for long, but its success has grown over such a short span of time of 10 years.

Benefit of SHM Brand

The most beneficial part of the SHM brand is its dedication. Without dedication, SHM would not be where it is right now. This is clearly evident from the success of HM09 as well as its general growing success. SHM’s dedication is what drives the company to reach out to other institutions to collaborate on things such as projects and events. This company also has a dedication to hospitalists and is doing all it can to provide resources for them to improve their practice. SHM is also dedicated to improving areas of healthcare, especially hospital medicine by implementing actions through projects, events, guides and many more ways. From dedication, stems the success of a brand; SHM has accomplished this and will continue to do so.

Hazing the Newbies

I think the Facebook concept was a really great group activity for the interview for many reasons. The first and foremost is the fact that it is an interactive activity, and it was easy for everyone to openly participate. The leading personalities really get a chance to shine. Secondly, working with Facebook, I know that we are currently running through a lot of ideas: merging the fan page and group, how to find our purpose, and how we can keep the members engaged; a fresh perspective could be very useful. Thirdly, it was so surprisingly - yet refreshing - to see a company using modern communication and technology. Not many organizations are active on Facebook or social media in general.

Or since our YouTube page is brand new, insight on that would also be extremely useful... :) (And totally kidding about the hazing.)

Emsavina: Out and About

"Another day in paradise..."

Describe SHM to...

Members: Since you are a member of SHM, you are probably aware of many of our benefits. However, if you did not attend our annual meeting and were not informed, we sold out for the first time in history. It is amazing and proves that hospital medicine is a fast growing specialty. SHM is proud to be the only company that works primarily with hospitalists and their movement.

Non-Members: Hospitalists are doctors that work in hospitals only, and do not have their own private practice. Over the past 10 years, hospitalists have exploded and has become the fastest growing specialty in the medical field. SHM is the only organization that works specifically with this specialty, to improve healthcare and reduce the length of stays in hospitals. We are proud to devote all of our research to hospitalists, and educate as many people as we can along the way.

Media: If you are interested in the medical field, and you were not in attendence at the Hospital Medicine 2009 event in Chicago, you missed out on a huge milestone. For the first time in history, SHM sold out this event. There were numerous courses being taught by some of the most influential people in hospital medicine. Luckily, this is an annual event, and you still have the opportunity to talk to our PR department to get signed up for our next annual meeting, and all of our other meetings in the future. SHM is the only organization of its kind, and you do not want to miss out on another event conducted by them.

Competitors: While you spend one day focusing on nurse practicioners, or primary care physicians, we are focusing on hospitalists. Within the next few years, hospitalists are going to be everywhere. Fortunately for us, we spend all day, every day focusing on hospitalists and how we can improve them. At SHM, we understand that hospitalists are the up and coming in healthcare, and proud to be the only organization that offers all of our time to them!

SHM's Brand

I think the most beneficial part of SHM is that it is the only organization that is strictly for hospitalists. That being said, the brand of SHM allows people that are unfamiliar with the ever-growing field of hospitalists to expand, and learn about it. When people think of other organizations, their thoughts are probably something in the medical field. With SHM, our brand emphasizes the hospitalist movement, and implements how hospital movement is reducing stay in the hospital and improving quality of care. Since we are the only organization of this kind, it is easy to reflect back to SHM when thinking of the movement. Educating the unfamiliar will allow our brand to expand and cause this specialty to increase even more. I think that right now, our best attribute is the fact that we are the only organization, and with the specialty increasing, the brand name will only continue to grow.