This document discusses how social media tools can be effectively used in EMS and air medical transport. It begins by introducing the author and his background. It then provides disclaimers and outlines 30 theses on how social media is a powerful, consistent, and inexpensive communication tool that can transform organizations by facilitating the spread of compelling content. Specific cost-effective tools are recommended, such as blogs, YouTube, and Twitter. Case studies demonstrate how Mayo Clinic has successfully used these tools. The document concludes by encouraging readers to take practical first steps with social media.

1. Putting Social Media into Practice
in EMS and Air Medical Transport
Lee Aase
Manager, Syndication and Social Media
Mayo Clinic
#airmed
December 14, 2009

2. About Lee Aase (@LeeAase)
• B.S. Political Science
• 14 years in politics and government at
local, state, national levels
• Mayo Clinic since April 2000
− Media relations consultant
− Manager since 2004
− Media Relations/Research Comm
− Syndication and Social Media

3. A Grandpa who appreciates the
power of Facebook

4. Disclaimers
• These results not typical
• Use as directed
• Read and follow label directions
• Side effects may include vertigo, watery
eyes, crackberry thumb and iPhone
application addiction
• Social media tools are an essential part of a
balanced communications diet
• If insufficient media coverage persists,
consult your communications doctor
• Batteries not included
• Some assembly required
• Your mileage may vary

5. Disclosures
• No financial interest in any product or
service mentioned in this presentation
• Full-time salaried employee of Mayo
Clinic

6. Demonstrate that social media
tools are...
• Immensely powerful
• Consistent with your organization’s
values (or should be)
• Free (or ridiculously inexpensive)
• and...

11. Thesis #1: Air was the
original social medium

16. Mayo Clinic and Word of Mouth
• 91 percent of patients surveyed say
they have said “good things” to an
average of 40 people after a Mayo visit
• 85 percent say they recommended
Mayo to a friend
− Advised an average of 16 to come
− 5 actually came

17. Sources of Information Influencing
Preference for Mayo Clinic
Word of mouth 84
Stories in the media 57
MD recommendation 44
Advertising 27
Internet/Websites 26
Personal experience 24
Mailings to home 18
0 20 40 60 80 100

18. #2: Electronic tools merely
facilitate broader, more
efficient transmission by
overcoming inertia and
friction

20. #3: The mass media era was
a temporary anomaly

21. Evolution of Community
• Local: Pre-1930
• National: 1930-2005, made possible by
mass media
• Global: Post-2005, individuals members
of multiple communities of interest
without regard to geography
• Succeeding levels build upon earlier
stages without completely supplanting

23. #4: Social media are the
third millennium’s defining
communications trend

24. The Most Important Word
in Web 2.0

26. Intro to Today’s FREE Tools
Blogs RSS
Podcasts Social Networks
Skype YouTube
Wikis Twitter
Slideshare uStream

27. Intro to Blogs
• Just an easy-to-publish Web site that
allows comments
• Blogs in Plain English - Lee LeFever
• You read them all the time without
even knowing it

28. RSS = Really Simple Syndication
• Lets you easily track dozens of blogs
or other Web sites without surfing
• Truly opt-in “email”
• RSS “baked in” to IE 7, Safari
• Google Reader a free Web option

29. Podcasts
• TiVo for Audio (and now video)
• Don’t need an iPod to use
• Series of segments to which you can
subscribe via RSS
• iTunes free for PC or Mac
• Create your own FREE podcast (listed
in iTunes) through SMUG

30. Social Networking Sites

31. Wikis
• Collaborative editing tools
• Wikipedia the most famous
• 2.9 million articles in English
• Definitive stories quickly on
− 35W Bridge Collapse
− Virginia Tech shooting

33. YouTube
• World’s second largest search engine
• Google bought for $1.65 Billion
• “The world has voted, and we want to
watch videos on YouTube.” - Andy
Sernovitz, SocialMedia.org

35. Slideshare.net and uStream.tv

36. #9: Mass media will remain
powerful levers that move --
and are moved by -- social
media buzz.

42. #10: Social media strategies
can’t compensate for an
inferior offering or bad service

43. United Breaks Guitars Breaks United

44. #14: Strategic thinking about
social media is no substitute
for action

45. Tips on Personal Steps to Explore
• Establish a permanent personal email
• Get profiles in Facebook, LinkedIn
• Get a Twitter account
• Get a Flip camera (or iPhone 3G S?)
• Create a personal YouTube account
• Start a personal Blog

46. Starter Steps for Nonprofits
• Claim your Twitter “handle”
• Create a Facebook “fan” page
• Create a YouTube channel

47. #17: Social media are free in
any ordinary sense of the
word (or at least ridiculously
inexpensive)

50. Total Cost for Mayo Clinic
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
$0.00

51. In England, based on current
exchange rates:
£0,00

52. In the European Union:
€0,00

53. Cost for a Standard Definition
Flip Video Camera
$149.99
HD available for an additional $50

54. podcasts.mayoclinic.org

55. newsblog.mayoclinic.org

57. sharing.mayoclinic.org

58. Yearly Cost for a
Customized Blog
$75.00

59. Cost for Your Global TV Station
and Publishing Platform
$300.00

61. #18: As I approaches zero,
ROI approaches infinity

64. #19: MacGyver is the model
for social media success

65. Mayo Clinic Medical Edge
News Media Syndications

66. First Foray in New Media
• Existing Medical Edge radio mp3s
• Launched Sept. ‘05; Downloads up
8,217 percent Oct. vs. Aug.

67. Step 2: More, Longer Podcasts

69. #20: Social media enable
authentic communication if
you don’t purposefully
complicate things

71. Key Tool: Flip Video Camera*
• Affordable
• Recording interviews (with tripod)
improves existing processes
• Authenticity without writer’s cramp
• Provides potential blog resources
− Audio of full interview
− Video excerpts
• Limited group of video editors to ease
adoption, ensure quality

72. Case Study: Simple Storytelling
• 8:45 a.m. Colleague mentions article
coming off embargo at 3 p.m.
• Interviewed M.D. via Flip at 10:20
• Edited video, had password-protected
post on blog by 11:55 for pitching
• Uploaded files to YouTube channel
• WSJ Health Blog used video

74. #24: Compelling content is
much more valuable than
advertising time or space

75. The Octogenarian Idol Story
• Alerted to interesting video of elderly
couple playing piano in Gonda atrium
• Video shot by another patient and
uploaded to YouTube by her daughter
• Video had been seen 1,005 times in six
preceding months since upload
• Embedded in Sharing Mayo Clinic,
posted to Facebook, Tweeted on 4/7/09

76. The next day...

77. Six days later...

78. April 22

79. Sunday, May 3

82. May 4

83. May 10

85. May 11

86. May 15

87. Early Morning May 26

88. May 26, 2009: Live in Studio
Good Morning America

89. Results to Date
• More than 5.2 million views on YouTube
• >1.4 million views on Sharing Mayo Clinic
• From 200 views/month to 5,000 views/hour
• Validation of Thesis #26

90. #26: Your mileage may vary,
but you’ll go a lot further if
you get a car.

91. #28: Paying for advertising
while not taking advantage
of FREE social media tools
isn’t particularly astute

92. A Story from Facebook...

96. Tamiko says...
“I’ve had lots of people ask me about the
YouTube video and I’ve told at least 30
people they should go to Mayo. ”

99. The most harmful TV show in
U.S History?
• Married with Children?
• Baywatch?
• The Survivor series?
• The A-Team?

102. “Kids will take a chance.
If they don’t know,
they’ll have a go.”
-- Sir Ken Robinson, TED 2006

103. #29: Your kids aren’t smarter
than you are. They’re just
not afraid to look dumb.

104. #34: Challenges of
introducing social media in
your work are not unique

105. Businesses Already Revolutionized
• Music - iTunes vs. Tower Records
• Classified Advertising - eBay, Craigslist
• Bookstores
• Movie rentals - Local, Blockbuster, Netflix
• All mass media
• Video cameras
• See The Innovator’s Dilemma; TI Solution
and TI Prescription - Clayton Christensen

106. #35: Social technologies will
transform your work

107. A Practical First Step: A Closed
Facebook Group

108. What Members See:

109. If not, contact me by...
• Googling Lee Aase or SMUG U
• @LeeAase on Twitter
• aase.lee@mayo.edu