The old adage that “time flies when you’re having fun” really hit home for me this morning. As I was reflecting on the last ten years I’ve spent in the professional working world, I realized that one of the common denominators in each of my positions has been healthcare. 

I began my career on the public relations side, working with healthcare systems and big pharma. That interest has carried over into my role in the recruiting world. In the last four years at Paladin, I’ve worked with nearly 30 healthcare associations, providers, insurers and pharma companies, providing a vast array of talent for marketing, creative, programming, membership, training, event and communications departments.  Working with marketers and creatives in this space has allowed me the opportunity to stay abreast of trends, pressures, challenges and nuances in the field.

To get an even deeper understanding of these trends, I launched a survey of my healthcare association clients last month. The goal was to better understand the marketing, membership and staffing trends within these organizations.  I think you’ll find the survey results interesting.

A few key findings:

- The healthcare association world is a “healthy” one, despite the turbulent U.S. economy. The majority of respondents noted that their overall membership base in continuing to grow and that from an organizational perspective, they plan to continue expanding in other markets.

- As with many organizations, healthcare associations are embracing the new social media movement and offering new online and interactive forums to help their members and employees communicate. Facebook and Linked-In are becoming the top social media tools in the communications arsenal of these organizations.

- In order to remain competitive, healthcare associations are expanding their product and service offerings in 2009, including e-learning programs, online conferences, and social  media tools.

I encourage you to review the full survey findings in the hope that you’ll be able to leverage them as you continue to build marketing and communications campaigns and products for your members this year.

http://www.paladinstaff.com/promo/survey-results/

I also welcome your insights and hope you will help create a larger dialogue on this topic.  Feel free to comment here, or to contact me off-line with questions, ideas, suggestions, requests or additional resources: elise@paladinstaff.com.

Eating, drinking and networking your way to a new job for $25.00 a day!

I have developed notoriety among my friends and colleagues for attending a record number of networking events over the years. I’m addicted to meeting new people and learning about different industries; I love to hear about a ‘day in the life’ of someone else within the marketing or creative field.

Meeting people face-to-face is the key to developing or maintaining any successful business relationship. While you might discover a new lead or uncover some useful information via the web, the majority of meaningful interactions take place in person according to Keller Fay which is a leading full-service marketing research and consulting company dedicated to word of mouth marketing.

“Around 3.5 billion word-of-mouth conversations take place in the U.S. on a daily basis, of which just 7% take place online via instant/test messaging, chat rooms, email and blogs. The remainder take place offline either face to face (75%) or on the telephone (17%).”

If you are developing a personal brand for a new job search; looking for speaking engagement opportunities to amplify your company’s thought leadership presence within any given industry; or to learn from your peers, there is nothing more effective than face-to-face meetings.

The majority of these events have a nominal fee of $25.00- $45.00 for you to attend and they always feed you! Due to the increasing level of marketers out of work, there is a growing number of candidates and a dwindling number of positions. Employed marketing and creative executives also attend these events. I have heard from numerous very talented marketers I wish I had attended more events while I was employed to expand my network, and I agree.

Within the marketing and creative associations alone, there are a never ending stream of events, luncheons, breakfasts and cocktail hours across the city. Following is a brief list of the events I typically attend.

Marketing and Creative Associations:

CIMA: Chicago Interactive Marketing Association

AMA: American Marketing Association

BMA: Business Marketing Association

CADM: Chicago Association of Direct Marketers

IABC: International Association of Business Communicators

LMA: Chicago Legal Marketing Association

ANA: Association of National Advertisers

Illinois Technology Association

Chicago Executive Leadership Association

Young Professionals Group of Chicago

Marketing and Social Media “Meet-Ups”:

Chicago Interactive Design Development Meet-Up

Chicago Web 2.0 and Social Media Marketing Meet-Up

Chicago Social Media Club

AMA Meet-Up

MBA Alumni Business School Marketing Events

University of Chicago Booth School of Business Marketing Roundtables

IIT Stuart School of Business