Social Networks
Entries related to social networks, group psychology, anthropology, and really any of the social sciences.
#MayoRagan Pre-Conference Thoughts
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 10/18/2011 - 08:46Yesterday morning, I checked the #MayoRagan hashtag on Twitter to see that @jamiesundsbak had checked in on Foursquare at Starbucks. (This morning, he's at Caribou Coffee). We've been communicating a bit online and I've been looking forward to meeting him. Unfortunately, by the time I had finished my morning tasks, he had already moved on. Fortunately, however, @drmikesevilla had checked in. I hadn't met Mike before, but I picked him out at Starbucks, sat down and had a great conversation.
This goes to one of my favorite talking points about social media. One of the old criticisms of social media is, why don't people actually meet face to face, instead of having to communicate online all the time. Social Media is a gateway drug to face to face communications. It is a great way to jump start a conversation and a friendship.
After checking in at the conference and meeting with my boss, I returned to my room to plan for the day and get a little more done online. The next big event was the tour of the Mayo Clinic. This tour deserves a blog post of its own, but since I'll probably not have as much time to write as I would like, I'll put in some thoughts here, and not feel so bad if I don't get a chance to come back to a more complete description of the tour.
The first thing that was pointed out to me in the tour of the Mayo clinic was art. Art is everywhere, from the piano in the lobby, to sculptures and paintings everywhere. It was great to see art as an important part of the healing process. This was followed by a visit to the Center for the Spirit. Our religious beliefs are an important part of our healing journey, and it was great to see the Center for the Spirit in such a prominent role.
The tour proceeded past patient intake to the labs. The tour guide mentioned that two FedEx planes arrive at Mayo each day with specimens to be tested. Patients checking in typically get their blood work done as part of intake and have results by the time they meet with their doctors.
The next key focus was history. It is communicated strongly to all employees as part of establishing shared values. This was set in contrast to innovation. Mayo prides itself for its innovations, but those innovations come out of the shared values. As an aside, when I later mentioned the historical aspects, one Mayo employee rolled his eyes. Apparently there is some 1986 book on the history of the Mayo clinic that employees are expected to spend a lot of time with.
Mayo clinic provides consulting to other health organizations, but some what makes Mayo clinic so successful are things that may be difficult for other organizations to emulate. For example, it is an physician led organization and even the CEO still sees patients. I can only wonder what other health care organizations across our country would be like if they were led by physicians. There can be down sides to this, such as a slower decision making process, but it seems to really help keep the organization centered on the patient.
Related to this, the tour guide mentioned that the average doctor at Mayo clinic sees seven patients a day. There were gasps from the members of the tour as people pondered what that would mean for their organizations. There were discussions about how many patients the average doctors in their organizations saw, and the guess was probably in the fifteen to twenty range.
Since physicians are not compensated by the number of patients they see, they are also not compensated by the number of tests they run, and as a result, Mayo Clinic ends up running fewer tests. The tour continued through the Center for Innovation and Patient Education.
When the tour was over, we all rushed back to the afternoon session. I sat in on 'Engaging Physicians in Social Media'. It was a panel of four doctors talking about their experiences in social media. @EndoGoddess really ran away with the show, and according to #MayoRagan analytics was the most mentioned Twitter personality yesterday.
During the discussion, it was asked about how to make time for social media. Should doctors be given an incentive to be on social media? All of the panelists had a passion to be on social media and did not receive time or monetary incentives. People argued that you won't get the same level of passion from someone who is paid to be on social media. I was surprised that members of communications departments didn't object to this assertion. I certainly do.
Later, I was speaking with @MeredithGould. Meredith is a great writer driven by a passion to write. As we talked about it, it seemed like the real question is, how do you find and nurture the passion to write? How do you empower doctors to be good writers? When should you have a person who loves writing write for a doctor?
In the evening, I finally got a chance to meet @jamiesundsbak as well as @jsperber, two people that I've really enjoyed communicating with online and am glad to have finally met face to face.
All of this has provided a great setting of the stage for The Third Annual Health Care Social Media Summit at the Mayo Clinic. Let's see what today brings.
Think Different In #rochmn for #mayoragan
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 10/16/2011 - 20:24Exhausted, I sit in my room in the Grand Kahler in Rochester, MN and try to write. I am here for the Third Annual Health Care Social Media Summit at the Mayo Clinic.
The day started with a drive up to Bradley International Airport in Hartford. On the way, I listened to NPR stories about birding and "The Big Year". I listened to a story about a supernova and about Steve Reich. All of this came back to a theme, Think Different.
Not only, think different, but also perceive differently. See rare birds and supernovas. Listen to music that is structured differently from what you've been trained to hear. On the plane I read Michel Foucault's The Archaeology of Knowledge. It pushed my thinking even deeper. What is the relationship between "Think Different" and "Occupy Wall Street"? There is a lot that I could write about that, and hopefully, I will find the time and energy to do so soon.
There was turbulence taking off out of Hartford, and landing in Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Yet the final leg of the trip was smooth.
At the airport, I checked in on Foursquare and found there was another person heading to the conference. We ran into each other at baggage claim and shared a cab into the city.
After unpacking and settling in a little, my boss and I went over to "Chester's", which is really a fantastic restaurant. After dinner, we wondered through the local Barnes and Noble. Neal Stephenson has a new book out, which placed my mind into a science fiction framework.
As I walked back to the hotel, I saw an elderly couple walking in the failing evening light, with the aid of one another and a walker. By boss had commented about how he wondered what this town would be without the Mayo clinic here. I looked at the art in the Peace Plaza. I followed a walkway with colored lights shining up from the ground, and I thought to myself, this is science fiction. It is a scene right out of William Gibson, where people confronted by some great difficulty, come to try and extend their lives, in an artsy peaceful plaza.
Tomorrow, the discussions begin in earnest about social media and health care. Hopefully, Steve Reich, supernovas, rare birds and art will all echo in a mind mixed with Foucault and Stephenson and will help me think different.
Five Years on Twitter
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 20:08Sometime right about now is my fifth anniversary on Twitter. One site I looked at reported that today, October 15th is my fifth anniversary, but another site placed my first tweet on the 16th. Some of it may be time zones, or it might be that I set up my account on the 15th and tweeted for the first time on the 16th. I’m not sure exactly.
However, over these past five years, I’ve sent out almost 11,000 tweets. Some are cross posted from other sites, like links to my blog posts via Twitterfeed, or tweets coming from Foursquare or other sites. Others come in bursts when I attend conferences. We’ll see how much tweeting I do this week at the Third Annual Health Care Social Media conference at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota that I’m leaving for on Sunday morning.
While social media has grown in popularity and Twitter is very significant, it still isn’t as pervasive as other sites. Over the years, various groups have dismissed Twitter. I remember going to marketing conferences years ago where people said that nothing would ever come of Twitter. I’ve been to conferences on the future of journalism where people have wondered if Twitter matters. In answer to this latter group, my wife got me a shirt that says, “I get my news on Twitter”. Often, that has been the case, as I get breaking news on Twitter first. Now, more and more news organizations post their headlines on Twitter.
This evening, I watched the Twitter feed for news about the occupy movement. That’s another topic that needs more than 140 character and I hope to write more about it soon. Yet now, I’m very tired and I should rest for the big trip tomorrow.
#ff Orlando
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 10/14/2011 - 20:56This week’s Follow Friday is a little bit different. The idea of Follow Friday is typically to list people that you follow on Twitter that you think other people should follow as well. Yet today was Orlando’s last day at work, and I went out drinking with him and a few friends. It is late and I’m tired and instead of writing a real Follow Friday post, it seems appropriate to honor Orlando.
Orlando and I might seem like an odd couple. I’m in my fifties, balding, grey beard, trying to keep the middle aged paunch from getting too large. I grew up in the country, have no tattoos and prefer folk music.
Orlando is in his mid-thirties, Latino, grew up in New York City, is covered with tattoos and plays in a hardcore band. On political and religious issues we have different viewpoints. But Orlando is smart, inquisitive and has a similar sense of humor as I do.
I’m going to miss swinging by his office and having lunch with him. I’m excited for his new job, and look forward to staying in touch. Yeah, he’s not on Twitter, but he deserves a special #ff today.
