Healthcare Georgia Foundation 2008 Connections Conference

Senior Counsel Tom Wall and Creative Director Michelle Clark recently attended Healthcare Georgia Foundation’s “Connections 2008 – Strengthening the Health of Georgia through the Nonprofit Community” Conference, April 17 in Atlanta.

The conference brought together Healthcare Georgia Foundation grantees who work to advance the health of all Georgians and to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities. It was a day to participate in health care, nonprofit and related educational sessions as well as a good networking opportunity for organizations that might have natural alliances or partnerships.

Highlights from the day:

Keynote address
Dr. David Satcher, of Morehouse School of Medicine and the Satcher Health Leadership Institute addressed Health Disparities.

Emerging Health Policy Issues
A morning panel that discussed state health budget and taxes, childhood obesity and access to affordable health care.

Presented by Greg Dent – Community Health Works, Alan Essig – Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and Rodney Lyn – PLAY, Institute of Public Health, GSU

Trauma Care in Georgia: In Pursuit of a Statewide Trauma System
A morning session that focused on the failure of the 2008 legislature to pass, for the third year in a row, desperately needed funding for a statewide trauma system.

*Note: Hayslett Group has a keen interest in this particular issue as our firm has been involved with the development and support of the statewide trauma system for several years, working with the GDHR, Georgia Hospital Association and Healthcare Georgia Foundation to bring this issue to light and closure.

Presented by Dr. Art Kellerman – Emory University School of Medicine and Wayne Reece – Reece & Associates

Lunch Program
Paul Connolly of TCC Group discussed the natural lifecycle of nonprofit organizations and how to manage and facilitate the transitions between those cycles.

Business Planning
A general session on business planning and the power of the strategic plan as it relates to nonprofits.

Presented by Teri Theisen – Theisen Consulting

How to Tell Your Story: Communications Training Session
A general session on communications essentials and how to use them to further an organization’s goals.

Presented by Shana Keith and Jana Thomas – Porter Novelli

Closing Program
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequity Making Us Sick?
A panel discussion around the unnatural causes of health care inequity, particularly the descending level of health at each rung of the socioeconomic ladder.

Panel participants included Kim Anderson – Boardwalk Consulting, Dwayne Crawford – 100 Black Men of America and Natalie Hernandez – National Council of La Raza, Atlanta

Building Community Relationships Teleseminar

Overcome Opposition, Gain Community Consent

On Thursday, March 27, Michelle Clark, director of creative services, and Account Managers Kari Hilyer and Katie Little participated in a teleseminar presented by James E. Lukaszewski. Lukaszewski, chairman and president of The Lukaszewski Group Inc. are management consultants in communications.

The PRSA-sponsored teleseminar highlighted ways to gain and maintain public consent through direct communication tactics.

According to Lukaszewski, you MUST first gain trust from the community, which in turn, will lead to gaining community consent. People don’t like surprises or the feeling of being misled. The following are Lukaszewski’s five elements of trust:
1.Advance information.
2.Bring the community into the decision-making process
3.Communicate face-to-face.
4.Demonstrate that community ideas have impact.
5.Speak in community-level language.

Although these elements of trust are essential and will help you gain community consent, there are many variances of truth out there. Truth is based more on an individual’s perception rather than facts and data. While you may be presenting “terrific” supporting data, you may not be able to convince everybody of your good intentions. Lukaszewski believes you have to convince 51 percent of those who matter so focus your efforts on those audiences.

Additionally, Lukaszewski says to practice showing empathy, being apologetic, even for the small things, and being transparent.

When trying to build community trust and consent, Lukaszewski recommends anticipating conflicts and being ready to take the blame and work through it with your critics.

But in the end, he says, you deserve what the community is willing to give you.

Ethics and New Media

How the Blogosphere is Impacting Journalism and Business

The Atlanta Press Club hosted a panel discussion on March 27 at the Commerce Club Thursday evening to converse about the ethical standards of blogging and how it just may be redefining journalism. Panel members consisted of Lea Donosky, interactivity manager at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jeremy C. Garlington, managing partner at Point of View, LLC, Dr. Gregory C. Lisby, professor at Georgia State University, and David Rubinger, VP of corporate communications at Equifax Inc. Dr. John C. Knapp, professor and director for the Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility, moderated the discussion between panel members and attendees.

Dialogue centered around three general questions--which in turn, led to even more unanswered questions. The first question, how new media is redefining journalism and where it is headed in the future, allowed panel members to state their position on the blogosphere.

Before the Web, it wasn’t important to nail down ‘who was a journalist’ and it shouldn’t be now, said Donosky. Garlington admitted to having a real problem with the word ‘blogger,’ although he does feel that blogs address a real need, a “deeper knowledge and understanding of confusing topics.” Lisby commented about needing to recognize the 1st Amendment, which could be a means of ending this public debate. He feels it is personally difficult to try and define a journalist, because that would limit the 1st Amendment. Rubinger talked about the beginnings of his career at the Atlanta Business Chronicle, where he and others weren't considered credible because they weren’t a daily publication. It took a few breaking stories to gain respect. This reflects how Rubinger feels today about bloggers. They don’t need to be ignored, they do great work and are a part of the process.

As for how blogging has changed the business relationships with the media, panel members all agreed that businesses have adapted quite well to blogs and the increased degree of responsibility of working with them--or at least in a world where they exist. As for Rubinger, blogs have very much changed communication mechanisms at Equifax. Businesses want to be able to control everything said about them and blogs are the 180-degree opposite. Lisby agreed, saying it is the advantage of the Web that shifts from one-way communication to two-way.

Panel members were asked how to establish trust in the blogging environment, or how to know when a blogger's information they are presenting is indeed, true. Donosky said it may not be possible. We may have to give up that thought, and find other outlets of truth, such as social networks. Garlington compared gaining audience trust as easy as labeling something with a tag. Rubinger said trust has to be set by the community itself, not by government standards. “Truth telling creates trust and trust creates community, which creates journalism,” said Lisby.

This exchange of ideas regarding the blogosphere brought forth many similar and differing opinions. Although no one was able to nail down any concrete conclusions on the ethical standards for blogging, there were enough viewpoints put out there to conclude that the blogosphere undeniably has an impact on journalism and business.