Professional Milestones from 2012

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As I think back across the last twelve months, it occurs to me 2012 was a good year from a professional perspective. (It wasn't bad personally either, but this post is primarily focused on professional reflections.) I'm very achievement oriented and always like to look back at what I've accomplished. This practice of reviewing achievements and unmet goals from the prior year is something I think everyone should do. The years go by so quickly. It is important to pause and reflect upon what went well, and what didn't. Last year was unique because some of the accomplishments were years in the making. Below is a list of some of the achievements I'm reflecting upon as we enter 2013. The one glaring shortfall in 2012 was not finishing my book on schedule. I had set a date of June 2012 and it just didn't happen. Now it goes on my 2013 list!

• In August 2012 my business partner (Paige Zinn) and I bought Jennings. It was the fulfillment of a succession planning process that we had been working on for years. Paige and I have both worked for Jennings for nearly two decades and are so excited to have officially taken the reins.
• Hand-in-hand with our acquisition of Jennings was the decision to focus exclusively on healthcare - moving forward. It is hard enough being an expert in healthcare and keeping up with the many changes taking place. Trying to focus on a number of industries no longer makes sense for us. I celebrate this decision and appreciate my team's willingness to drive a stake in the ground and commit to being the preeminent healthcare marketing firm in the country.
• The followership for my blog, The Healthcare Marketer, continued to grow. I put a lot of energy into my blog so it is good to see that it is well received. It has now garnered a total of 189,000 views. 97,000 of those views happened in 2012. September was the blog's best month ever with nearly 17,000 views. I wrote 200 new blog posts in 2012 although my production really tapered off in the 4th quarter.
• In 2012 I was fortunate to present at a number of conferences including the National Healthcare Marketing Strategies Summit, the AAMC GIA National Professional Development Conference, the Physician Strategies Summit, the Spring Symposium of the New England Society for Healthcare Communications, and the Spring Conference of the Virginia Society for Healthcare Marketing and Public Relations. Whew!
• One of the professional activities I love to participate in is writing for industry publications. In 2012 I contributed a number of posts to Ragan's Healthcare Communication News, and columns and articles to a list of industry pubs including Healthcare Marketing Report, Spectrum (SHSMD), Healthcare Marketing Advisor, and eHealthcare Strategy & Trends.
• In August, David Harlow and Joan Justice gave me the opportunity to host the Healthcare Social Media Review #11 - a new blog circus. It was incredibly challenging putting it together - and equally rewarding.
• In August I was appointed to the board of directors for the New England Society for Healthcare Communications (NESHCo). I've been serving on the membership committee and have thoroughly enjoyed my association with this organization. Since joining, perhaps five years ago, they have welcomed me with open arms. I am honored to now serve on their board.
• My team at Jennings led the launch of the new Vidant Health brand in eastern North Carolina. This was a huge undertaking and I'm proud of what we were able to achieve.
• My firm's client, Lexington Medical Center (West Columbia, SC), won the national Pink Glove Dance Video Competition for the second year in a row. This was a stunning achievement for the team at LMC. With the LMC marketing team there is only one relevant question: What's next? They never fail to astound me with their vision and drive.
• Finally, I was appointed to the editorial board for eHealthcare Strategy & Trends magazine.