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The American Society of Hematology has an extensive media approach during its annual meeting that includes access to experts and facilitated media briefings. (Adobe Stock photo)
Bill Reed, FASAE, CMP, chief event strategy officer at American Society of Hematology (ASH), emailed Convene after reading “Health Journalists Prioritize Content Generation at Industry Conferences,” a Medical Marketing and Media article on what health-care reporters say they prioritize at medical conferences published in our News Junkie newsletter. He wrote:
Bill Reed, FASAE, CMP
“I think this article is interesting from [the] perspective [of] what journalists want from conferences…. However, most medical meetings are designed for physicians and researchers as the primary audience, and the journalists will participate in the meetings with the most newsworthy content and most notable sources in attendance.”
Reed shared that ASH has “quite an extensive media approach during our annual meeting that includes a qualification process to get credentialed based upon their past publications and focus upon hematology and oncology. Only about 40 percent of the applications are approved, which ensures that we have the cream of the crop present. ASH shepherds this cohort’s experience from start to finish as part of the media delegation.
“In a typical year, we will have around 400 outlets that are approved to be at the meeting, [and those writers have] access to a dedicated block of rooms at the press hotel, our press headquarters with work stations, meals, interview rooms, access to our leading experts, and facilitated media briefings with key opinion leaders about the most newsworthy presentations that are planned to be presented. In these briefings, our hematologists will explain in lay terms what is coming and share the context of why it is important and what the long-term impact of the breakthrough is likely to mean. This is early access granted only to the credentialed media, and they are mandated to adhere to the embargo until the moment the presentation happens. This allows them to write their piece before the embargo is lifted, so that it can be published immediately after the session ends.
“We provide remote access to the presentations streamed from the headquarters to watch as it happens live, and we have a fleet of vehicles that transport the writers from HQ to the building where the session is going to happen so they can get back and forth quickly.
“Our KPIs include articles published and impressions made, and then our press releases are generated to get the word out to those outlets that were not present at the in-person meeting or virtually. The intent here is to reach the adjacent outlets that do not focus upon hematology exclusively or are outlets on a global basis. It also helps ensure that the ASH brand and objective scientific perspective is included out there.”
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