n a typical year, the Annual Meeting is probably the
most important publicity opportunity for ASA. By pitching
stories about the most universally appealing or uniquely
illuminating research to the media, we can keep the
specialty of anesthesiology in the minds of reporters
and, through them, the public. In this way, we seek
to educate and inform our audience about issues of
importance to patients and to the medical community
while reinforcing ASA’s reputation as one of
the largest and most respected organizations of physicians,
researchers and patient advocates.
2005, however, was more than just a typical year.
In addition to new research, ASA’s communications
team focused on our centennial celebration as a vehicle
for bringing the good news about patient safety to
the world. We also were preparing to communicate the
outcome of the House of Delegates vote on one of the
most closely followed practice parameters in our history.
Sophisticated Approaches
In the past several years, reporters — from
trade and lay press alike — have become increasingly
sophisticated in their approach, due in part to the
information explosion on the Web. Therefore it is
no longer enough just to “spin” a story
to present your organization’s best face. Today’s
reporters know spin when they hear it (and sometimes
think they detect it even when it is not there). If
you are a communications professional, you have to
give them a story with some depth, have the facts
to back it up and have interview sources ready to
talk about it. And to wrap it all up, there had better
be an action item or at least a strong takeaway message
for the public.
Meanwhile, during the Annual Meeting, other organizations
with their own agendas are busy positioning themselves
to the media regarding their research, products and
issues. Their public relations and marketing folks
are busy trying to get their share of ink or air time.
So getting one’s name out there in a positive
light requires plenty of homework and preparation.
Teamwork
As with any successful endeavor, teamwork is key.
About two months before the meeting, ASA communications
staff, with help from numerous committees and our
public relations consultants, were preparing the traditional
media kit filled with news releases about selected
scientific presentations, awards and lectures. The
radio program, AudioLine, which is recorded from the
Annual Meeting press room each year, was lined up,
and two newspaper features — one on a century
of advancing patient safety and the other on intraoperative
awareness — were slated for distribution to
community newspapers around the country. We also were
preparing materials in support of the practice advisory
on intraoperative awareness in anticipation of its
being passed by the House of Delegates during the
Annual Meeting.
At the same time, ASA staff and the Ad Hoc Committee
on ASA’s 100th Anniversary were in the later
stages of creating a video celebrating the big event,
which was to be shown at the gala celebration in New
Orleans. Special abstract presentations, lectures
and events with historical significance were selected
for inclusion in the media kit, and we crafted a news
release about the centennial, which linked to the
special area of the ASA Web site devoted to this most
treasured celebration <www.ASAhq.org/centennial/index.html>.
Calm Before the Storm
At this stage in the Annual Meeting publicity planning
each year, the team customizes its list of media to
pitch with the featured research and events that we
hope they will cover. There are numerous trade publications
that can be counted on to send reporters to our meeting,
but capturing the interest of the lay press is more
challenging. I felt fortunate to have good working
relationships with several reporters based in New
Orleans, and this year in particular we had many offers
of help from members who have media connections in
that city. They were hopeful that the festivities
surrounding the centennial would give mainstream reporters
even more incentive to visit the meeting than in other
years. So our list was looking great, and our public
relations consultants were poised to help us pitch
just as soon as the media kits landed. This was planned
to occur just under a month before the meeting, with
general notifications about the meeting having already
gone out to our entire media list.
The Storm
And then — stop the presses. Along came Hurricane
Katrina and the terrible, tragic flooding of New Orleans,
which quickly put ASA’s meeting plans on a completely
different track. Suddenly we had a slew of plans that
needed to be changed or put on hold. News releases
needed new dates and locations, and media kits could
not be printed until these details became clear. Our
plans to pitch New Orleans media had to shift, and
trade publications that had already assigned reporters
to the Big Easy had to re-evaluate their situations.
Also we had a whole new media story to which to respond,
as it seemed every business reporter in the country
followed up on the economic angle of the tragedy.
They needed to know what would happen to ASA’s
meeting, one of the largest planned for New Orleans
in the ensuing weeks and, it soon became clear, the
largest to be relocated for the exact same week.
Relocation
But you know the rest of the story if you were able
to come to Atlanta. The communications team welcomed
12 reporters to the press room, visited with Atlanta-area
reporters in person and by telephone once on location,
and held the first-ever press briefing at an Annual
Meeting, which featured incoming ASA President Orin
F. Guidry, M.D., fielding questions about intraoperative
awareness.
Considering the late-breaking curve ball of relocating
the meeting, plus competing news stories such as avian
flu, the war in Iraq and the CIA identity leak, we
received remarkable coverage. Various online searches
and clip services turned up hundreds of placements,
among them medical or med-tech Web sites too numerous
to mention. Thanks to a largely positive and well-researched
article by the Associated Press, which was picked
up all over the country, the tone of the coverage
of the awareness issue was balanced, and it pointed
to ASA as a leader on this issue.
A particularly visible television placement was that
of ASA past president James E. Cottrell, M.D. (2003),
who, after flying in to New York from the Annual Meeting
late the night before, appeared bright and early on
the “Today” show with host Katie Couric
to explain the issue of intraoperative awareness.
“Good Morning America” also covered the
story.
The Audience
Following is a list of media that covered the “Practice
Advisory on Intraoperative Awareness and Brain Function
Monitoring” immediately following its adoption
by the House of Delegates. Other trade press followed
up on the story in the month following the meeting.
Total audience for print coverage alone is 5,650,000.
Audience numbers for network and local television
programs are not available, but “Good Morning
America” and the “Today” show combined
have an estimated audience of more than 11 million
viewers. Also covering the story were:
Associated Press
Wall Street Journal
U.S. News & World Report
Boston Herald
Washington Post
Forbes
Tucson Citizen
ABC Network, including “Good Morning America”
CBS Network
NBC Network, including the “Today”
show
CNN
Fox News
Canadian Broadcast Network
Fifty-one local television stations, including
various major markets, also ran news segments.
The following topics from the press kit were covered
by the media, including Doctor’s Guide, Web
MD, Reuters Health and others:
• “Beta Blockers May Prevent Heart
Attacks, Death During and After Surgery”
• “Anesthesia May Diminish Positive
Effects of Acupuncture”
• “New Study Shows Sedation Extremely
Safe for Children”
• “Race-Based Designer Drugs, a Help
or a Hindrance?”
• “Lavender Aromatherapy May Reduce
Need for Pain Relief in Surgical Breast Biopsy
Patients.”
Placement of ASA-Produced Features
ASA produced two camera-ready print features and
a series of radio interviews in conjunction with
the ASA centennial and the Annual Meeting.
The print features, distributed by News USA, ran
in 824 community newspapers, including the widely
read Pioneer Press newspapers and the Daily
Herald, both in the Chicago area. Total estimated
audience is 9,417,000.
The radio features, produced and distributed by
News Broadcast Network, were placed in the hometowns
of the doctors who were interviewed. These features
were used in an estimated 2,466 broadcasts representing
1,676 radio stations, with a total estimated audience
of 16,533,000.
Note: The author wishes to thank ASA’s public
relations counsel, Newell & Matthews, for their
help with placing our stories in the print and broadcast
media.
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Gina A. Steiner has been Director of Communications
at ASA since March 2004, and prior to that time,
she served as Public Relations Manager at the
American Academy of Pediatrics. |
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