This morning I was on a healthcare social media panel up in Madison, at Social Media Breakfast. (Wow! Good crowd…Madisonians like to think early.) It was a healthy discussion (pun…sorry) of overcoming the barriers to social media integration in healthcare organizations.

Recently, we’ve done a lot of learning here at Jigsaw about the Affordable Care Act and accountable care organizations. So it occurred to me in the process of putting this presentation together that social media, strategically used, *could* actually help not only improve patient experience but also potentially improve outcomes and facilitate accountable care. I discussed this hypothesis with three leaders on the front lines in the healthcare social media space and was happy to hear that I’m not crazy.

Many thanks to these brilliant three: Dana M. Lewis, Swedish Medical Center and founder of #HCSM; Ed Bennett, University of Maryland Medical System; and Chris Boyer, Long Island Jewish health system. The presentation includes their thoughts on this topic as well as mine, along with current examples of how they are using social media to drive their businesses.

Many thanks to Social Media Breakfast Madison, in partnership with the American College of Healthcare Executives, for having me. Let me know if you have any questions about this information or would like to continue the conversation.

Mmmmmm peanut butter

Our friends at Hunger Task Force here in Milwaukee are encouraging people to have peanut butter drives. At the time I’m writing this, Milwaukee has stepped up in a HUUUUGE way, donating 95,156 jars. Yep. Milwaukee pretty much rocks.

We caught wind of this on Twitter, thanks to Julie Larsen other local organizers of #PBrally, an event at AJ Bombers next Monday, February 25, 5PM-8PM. So we’re collecting jars here at Jigsaw, to take to the event. Join us!

Not only is this obviously a great cause…it is also a super smart strategy for Hunger Task Force…focusing people on one simple, attainable item that is very tangible and loaded with happy associations for most people. “Oh, peanut butter? I love peanut butter. And I can do that.” Sticky…memorable. And therefore brilliant. Super smart nonprofit marketing strategy…50 thumbs up (from all of us here).

Props to Hunger Task Force in every way, for all they do, and to all those like Julie and AJ Bombers who are helping organize the community to respond. We’ll see you at #PBRally!

Last night, Social Media Club Milwaukee welcomed our friends at Visit Milwaukee to share their social media successes and challenges and highlight their new DearMKE campaign. The discussion was held at the beautiful Historic Best Place at the Pabst Brewery, so it was a nice touch that we got to drink Pabst and Schlitz while discussing the fact that, according to Milwaukee’s Mayor Tom Barrett, “Laverne and Shirley don’t live here anymore.”

Jeannine Sherman, Bill Prange and Carrie Woods made it clear that they are a brand on a mission and everything they do ties back to the Milwaukee brand promise: A vibrant community on a great lake. Textured and real. A naturally beautiful and entertaining city with an easy attitude. Major props for being strategically driven.

Social media nerds love data, too, of course, and Visit Milwaukee didn’t disappoint. They share the results of their popular weekly Visit Milwaukee Facebook features, Where Are We Wednesday and Freaky Food Friday, as well as their quarterly social media promotions aimed at building both social communities and email database, increasing site traffic and ultimately, putting heads in beds. Measuring ROI was listed as a challenge, as it is for so many businesses; because a majority of Milwaukee hotel bookings happen off their website, Visit can measure proven increases in site traffic which can not always be tied directly to bookings. And they acknowledged that conversation and engagement matter, too.

The group was eager to hear more about the recently launched DearMKE campaign, which is very unique among destination marketing organizations. Jigsaw is proud to be a part of this campaign, having created the DearMKE website; many local creative organizations came together to make the DearMKE films and campaign happen, with Jack Turner as Executive Producer and About Face Media producing the films. The recently-released introductory DearMKE film makes us all stand a little taller as Milwaukeeans; we have so much to be proud of. Check it out…and turn it up.

The song is “Love You ‘Til I Die,” recorded in the early ‘70s by Milwaukee musician Bennie Cole. (Thank you, Jeff Sherman.)

If you want more DearMKE, like it on Facebook, follow it on Twitter, and follow the Pinterest board.

Huge thanks to Visit Milwaukee for doing such a stellar job sharing their thoughts and experiences with us, to Best Place at the Pabst for hosting, and to Social Media Club of Milwaukee. Great stuff happening here in the MKE!

Pinterest, pinterest, pinterest. Tired of hearing about it yet? Let’s face it, the web doesn’t really need another post about Pinterest; it’s pretty hard at this point to say anything about it that hasn’t been said. But it’s on a lot of clients’ minds. So…

…in the spirit of the Pinterest tool – visual bookmarking – I want to share this infographic from earlier this week that sums up why so much attention is on this tool at the moment. I know many people who despise infographics, thinking that they dumb down information. Well, if you’re anything like me, you may like a good, deep read as much as the next person, but with the information overload that we’re all under, not mind having something summed up for you now and then. So here you go.

We can testify to the *driving more traffic* part of this. We’ve got clients who are not themselves on Pinterest yet who are seeing Pinterest suddenly emerge as a top website traffic referral source.

To the question at hand: is Pinterest but a shiny object in the social media sky? I don’t think so. The passion for it among users is too immense. And the user experience is pure, simple and unique. Kids still love having bulletin boards in their rooms. And women LOVE pinning the things that turn them on. It’s a human truth that isn’t changing any time soon.

Metaphorically speaking, it’s not Jupiter…that would be Facebook, at least in terms of size, if not gaseousness. And its certainly not the Sun (your website). But I think it’s bigger than Pluto, a distant dwarf planet. It might be more like…Earth. It’s definitely an inner, rocky planet, versus an outer, gas giant planet. (Can you tell I spend a great deal of time with a geeky six-year-old?)

Depending on what your brand is, and who your users are, we do recommend that you consider adding Pinterest to your social media repertoire. Minimally, you may want to consider building the “pin this” button into your website.

What about you? Are you a pinner? Do you see a use for it for your brand? Where do you think it fits in the social system?

We here at Jigsaw are extremely excited to announce our newest client relationship, with Dirty Girl Mud Run.

The Dirty Girl Mud Run series debuted in 2011 to a sold-out field of over 6,000 women in Wisconsin. The inaugural year also featured overwhelmingly successful events in Colorado and New York. In 2012, Dirty Girl is expanding to 12 cities. Dirty Girl differs from others in the increasingly-crowded field of mud run competitors in that it is specifically designed to be fun and accessible for women of all ages and athletic abilities.

In addition, Dirty Girl is very socially conscious. A portion of all proceeds from Dirty Girl registration fees is donated to National Breast Cancer Foundation. In 2011, Dirty Girls helped donate over $50,000 to help win the race against breast cancer. In each city of the 2012 tour, 250 cancer survivors will receive complimentary registration and special recognition.

In the two short weeks since our partnership with Dirty Girl began, we’ve completed several projects, including a home page redesign and creation of materials for promotion visits to Dirty Girl race markets, such as postcards, posters and vehicle signage. We’ve also begun collaborating on social media and blogger outreach, while planning additional ways to build registration, particularly in new markets for the race.

Jimmy Gohsman, Dirty Girl Race Director, says:

“From the first time we met with the Jigsaw team about possibly doing business with them up until now, our expectations have been exceeded time and again. They took the time beforehand to learn about our business, what we are trying to accomplish, how we are trying to accomplish it, and understood it right off the bat. Their passion shines through in their speedy and remarkably high-quality work, and it’s been fun working with them. It’s very obvious that their goal is to help us succeed by working collaboratively with us, which is very important to us. We are looking forward to a long term relationship with Jigsaw both personally and professionally.”

I, personally, cannot wait to do the Dirty Girl Mud Run here in Milwaukee (Hartland, actually) on August 18th. I haven’t run since my son was born over six years ago (gulp) so it’s going to be an interesting, challenging Spring and Summer.

Check out the Dirty Girl race locations and schedule and Go Dirty Girl!!!