Tuesday, October 7, 2014

KEY STRATEGIC ROLE FOR HOSPITAL GALA


How Special Events Can Build Your Reputation and Brand
Strategic Health Care Marketing, Sept. 2014
by Ritch K. Eich, PhD

Special events have been an integral part of health care organizations for centuries. For example, back when Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy religious order in
Dublin, Ireland, in 1831, charity functions—sermons, bazaars, and other appeals—were an integral part of social life.
In his 1955 book about that period, Catherine McAuley: The First Sister of Mercy, Roland Savage reported that charity bazaars were “a striking feature in the social life of Dublin ... and were an unfailing source of revenue for the city’s many charities.”
Today, special events continue in the health care industry, although two different points of view have evolved regarding their purpose.
The first point of view is that a special event is executed to meet a one-time goal, such as fundraising for a new service, building, or alliance.
The second point of view—one that I’ve always embraced—is that a special event has a much more expansive goal that includes underwriting key marketing and public relations initiatives, such as relationship building, reputation enhancement, and patient acquisition. This can lead to a delightful, fruitful experience for all who participate!
Special events, when properly conceived, managed, and leveraged, are a very important part of a health care organization’s overall reputation-building strategy. For example, they can:
• Help enlist strategic allies and partnerships.
• Create a forum for both new and established
     supporters.
• Provide positive media coverage.
• Build market share.
These objectives should all complement one another and lead to making the hospital, clinic, or insurance plan the preferred choice among patients and customers.
Special events must be an integral part of an organization’s overall brand strategy. Viewing them as such will help ensure consistency in both message and timing when combined with other marketing components such as social media, direct mail, advertising, media relations, publications, and online navigation, content, and design. One of the best ways to ensure all of these elements work in concert, and that their potential is maximized, is to ensure they are skillfully led.
Unfortunately, some health care executives have been largely indifferent to the impact special events can have on their organization’s bottom line. Special events are sometimes treated as a fringe activity or worse, and events coordinators are not seen as integral members of the team.
I’ve known industry leaders who have treated special events as if they were nonaligned, self-determining events with maverick volunteers. This is a huge mistake and undermines the many tangible and intangible benefits that special events can bring to an organization.
As rightful extensions of the health care entity’s brand, special events can help bring a community together, alter an institution’s image, or hone existing messages. They can provide invaluable media exposure, help grow business, build inpatient and outpatient census, stimulate philanthropy, and foster goodwill in the community. In other words, they can improve patient care, customer satisfaction, and the organization’s bottom line.
Well planned and orchestrated special events can also bolster employee pride, especially if employees are involved with volunteers in their planning and execution.
One of the notable special events I oversaw for several years was the “St. Joe’s Holiday Ball” for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor (part of St. Joseph Mercy Health System). This signature bash, now in its 39th year, is recognized by many as the premier social event in the region and signals the beginning of the holiday season in southeastern Michigan.
This annual special event has allowed St. Joe’s Mercy Hospital to expand, grow, and better serve the community, as can see from the list of themes and beneficiaries over the years: For an organization’s key constituencies, special events can represent a turning point in their decision-making process.
A special event may establish the first personal contact someone has with the institution, and cement a long-term relationship. An event can be the catalyst for transforming a visitor’s abstract interest into tangible appreciation.
A well-planned and well-executed event can convert a fence sitter into an advocate or a passive board member into an active one. On the other hand, disorganized and poorly executed events can have the opposite effect, by discouraging interest and attracting the wrong media exposure.
Enlightened health care leaders realize that if a special event is to have an impact, it takes much more than a dream or wish. It takes hundreds, some- times thousands, of volunteer hours of expertise and dedication.
Whether large or small in nature, if an event is to be successful, it must be guided by a skilled organizer who is a combination of marketer and business leader capable of ensuring that the event’s objectives—along with budget parameters—are in keeping with the institution’s mission and overarching business goals.

Year            Event
1976            St. Joe’s Goes to the Movies
1977            St. Joe’s Plays the Palace
1978            St. Joe’s Waltzes to Vienna
1979            St. Joe’s Rings in the Holidays
1980            St. Joe’s Encores Lester Lanin
1981            St. Joe’s Heralds a White Christmas
1982            St. Joe’s Celebrates a Holiday Fantasy
1983            St. Joe’s Presents a Midwinter Night’s Dream
1984            St. Joe’s Lights Up Manhattan
1985            St. Joe’s Celebrates a Dazzling Decade
1986            St. Joe’s Diamond Anniversary Ball
1987            St. Joe’s Rings in a Merry Christmas
1988            St. Joe’s Orchestrates a Musical Holiday
1989            St. Joe’s Wishes Upon a Star
1990            A Shimmering Rhapsody
1991            Heaven and Nature Sing
1992            Waltz of Yuletide Flowers
1993            La Fiesta del Sol
1994            St. Joe’s Presents a Highland Holiday Fling
1995            The Winter Palace at St. Joe’s
1996            St. Joe’s Holiday in Venice
1997            Joie de Vivre” (Joy of Life)
1998            Reflection of a Winter’s Night
1999            An Evening on the Emerald Isle
2000            The Grand Ball: Celebrating St. Joe’s Past, Present &   Future
2001            St. Joe’s 2001 Odyssey Ball
2002            It’s a Wonderful Life
2003            Under the Tuscan Moon
2004            An Evening at The Nutcracker
2005            A Journey to the North Pole
2006            Majestic Michigan
2007            As Time Goes By
2008            Winter Wonderland
2009            Paris—City of Lights
2010            Rio
2011            The Black & White Ball— The Party for St. Joe’s Century
2012            Wonderland
2013            Let It Snow
2014            Rococo

From its beginning in 1976 and continuing to this day, the St.Joe's Gala underwrote numerous important hospital priorities. They range from ED expansion to patient tower medical equipment, from cancer center initiatives to women's health issues, from NICU to adolescent services and the neuro rehab program.

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