By Joe Arcuri, Director of Multichannel Services, Palio

I consider myself a pretty active Instagram-user, I really dig the filters and blurring effects that are at the heart of the app.

So when Facebook released their companion camera app, I was very anxious to see how it stacked up. Especially since FB purchasing their biggest competitor, Instagram prior to the camera release.

After installing it I was pretty excited to see what it’s capabilities were. One of (the few) complaints I have with Instagram is if I like a friends’ photo in the app, it doesn’t share on my FB wall.

My first impression opening the app was a good one with the design of the UI, it carried over the familiar FB blue and had some nice detail in the icons. I took some shots and added the supplied filters, which were nice. They were all pretty cool effects. Then I went to add a blur – what no blur feature, major FAIL. This is one of my fave features of Instagram. Hopefully they will be adding this in the near future. The fact you can add multiple photos is nice since the FB app doesn’t let you do this, but you can’t chose what album to upload to.

You can browse your friend’s photos, and add comments fairly smoothly; I like how you can slide horizontally through multiple images in a post.

Here’s another issue, Facebook now has 4 different apps in which to interact with your FB community. This is getting a little out of control. Why not bake in the messenger and the cam app into the native FB app??

I surveyed a variety of FB users and 4/5 had no idea there was a camera app, another FAIL. Overall I would wait on this, until they flush out the areas that need more attention.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

In this episode of #ChalkChat, Palio’s Joe Arcuri, Director of Multichannel Services, offers 4 key steps in building for multichannel brand domination.

#ChalkChat is a weekly video series that brings you insights on branding, marketing and multichannel integration within the pharmaceutical industry. Follow us at #ChalkChat. Follow up with Joe Arcuri @joearcuri.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

by Tracey J., parent of 2 Double H campers

It was about this time of year nearly 6 years ago that I drove my boys, Christopher “Chris” and Christian “CJ”, up to Lake Luzerne for their first week of camp at Double H Ranch. It would be the first of many 10-hour road trips. I expected tears, hugs, and long goodbyes, but I was pleasantly surprised. We pulled up at camp and they were immediately greeted by pleasant, excited staff singing in the parking lot. Quickly, the boys’ anxiety turned to excitement. They grabbed their luggage, met their counselors, and headed towards their cabins. Suddenly, as if they remembered I was standing there, they turned back. I received 2 quick hugs and kisses and a yell of “Bye, mom!” as they went running off. I think I was more upset than they were. They weren’t crying, or sad, or nervous. It was like they were home. And from that first day at camp, I knew Double H was a special place.  Now, 6 years later, it hasn’t lost any of the magic. Now 16, Chris and CJ will be phasing out of camp this year, but that will not change any of the experiences they’ve had, the relationships they have made, or the lessons they have learned. Nor will it change all the wonder that Double H holds for families like ours.

Double H has been an amazing part of our lives. Their mission speaks volumes about their character. At Double H, they strive to provide a safe camp environment for children and their families dealing with life-threatening illnesses. Everything is free of charge and free of worry for parents. Because Chris and CJ are living with sickle cell disease, they have certain medical requirements that make ordinary overnight camp out of the question. They have to swim in heated pools and need to take medication daily. They have to stay hydrated and need access to trained medical staff who are prepared to handle any complication that may arise. Double H provides all of that for my sons and other children like them.

Double H Ranch gives my sons a physical opportunity to experience camp. But, it also does so much more than others may realize. At Double H, Chris and CJ say they are “free to be me.” They have an opportunity to meet other children and build relationships. They don’t have to explain their conditions or their medications. There’s no probing questions or special treatment because of what they have. They get to just be “normal” in a wonderfully loving environment. At Double H, everyone understands you.

From a parent’s perspective, Double H is home away from home. It is a safety net where I can send my sons to realize their greatest potential. They may have sickle cell disease, but Double H will not let sickle cell disease define who they are and who they become. At Double H, all dreams are possible! If you can dream it, then you can become it.

Double H is an amazing place full of unbelievably selfless people. I could never thank the staff enough for all of the experiences, love, and memories they have given us. They are truly a blessing for the children they serve. Double H gives kids the opportunity to be themselves and live a full life. For my kids, it has provided a safe environment for them to experience camp, make new friends, and become unique, confident individuals. Double H is a place where our normal is just that: “normal.” And for that, I am forever grateful.

Palio is participating in @SocialMadness and has chosen Double H Ranch as the not-for-profit they will donate the winnings to if Palio is 1 of the 3 national champions. Social Madness, launched by The Business Review and parent company American City Business Journals, measures the growth of each participating company’s presence across LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Here’s how you can help Palio help Double H Ranch. Like Palio’s Facebook page; follow them on Twitter @paliosaratoga; and connect with their corporate page on LinkedIn. And, if you already do all of the above, vote for Palio in the medium companies category at SocialMadness.com.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

By Peter Hopper, Senior Director, Integrated Client Services, Palio

I noticed a few copies of Death by Meeting floating around the office, a book by New York Times best-selling author Patrick Lencioni. Lencioni is the founder of The Table Group, a management consulting firm specializing in executive team development and organizational health.

I was in the mood for a little professional refreshment and decided to look a little further into his work and discovered The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

Team work is one of the core values at Palio, and, as is true with most organizations and particularly an advertising/marketing shop, there is a diverse multiplicity of teams and team structures throughout our organization, with an interesting collection of minds and mind sets represented around the table. We all know about how creative and account folks are cut from the same cloth. Add in digital. Medical. Brand. Editorial. Production. Producers. Research and analytics. Finance and administration. You get the picture? A motley crew.

At Palio we have The Environment Team, a group of people organized to bring even more fun into our work lives (“Fun” is another core value here at Palio). We have our Senior Leadership Team, our Double H Team (to organize the pro bono and volunteer work we do for this wonderful camp for kids in the Adirondacks), the iPad Team, the Social Media team, and all of our department and brand teams. We have many, many teams here at Palio.

Hmmm, about that whole Death by Meeting idea…

But back to Lencioni and team dysfunction. The appeal of his writing is that he creates a fictional story line to map out his insights and advice, a leadership fable as the book sleeve describes it. The inside flap goes further: Kathryn Peterson, DecisonTech’s CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: uniting a team that is in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni’s riveting tale serves as a timeless reminder…

Got my attention. And the book got me thinking about some tough tenets of good team dynamics.

The book successively builds a foundation of five core ideas for solid teamwork:
· Trust
· Conflict
· Commitment
· Accountability
· Results

Here’s the breakdown:
Trust – for a team to function, each member has to be willing to expose their own vulnerabilities – weaknesses, mistakes – and each member has to accept those foibles. To suggest there are none is simply not honest, and therefore no trust. And to suggest there are none will quickly become exposed, counterproductive to getting the work done.

Conflict – trust allows for honest discourse, to confront different points of view – “unfiltered and passionate” debate. Let’s be honest, without conflict, something is being left on the table. A successful working team allows for and respects differences of opinion and differing points of view – it’s how you get to a better place.

Commitment – the idea of commitment is not personal commitment, it is an obligation to the objectives of the team, regardless of personal or departmental agendas. I had a client who was building a team from scratch to take on an assignment that was without precedence at his company – a measured yet somewhat risky approach to a new business model. I was the agency lead and at our first team meeting with all internal and external partners present, his first rule was simple: “Leave your ego at the door, we’ve got work to do.” Honest debate in addressing team conflict allows for team buy-in to team goals.

Accountability – the three preceding precepts create an environment of accountability, each team member holding the others accountable for their roles and contributions. Everyone carries the water, everyone does the heavy lifting. No excuses. No byes. And if there is a weak link, when the team has a solid foundation of commitment, it’s OK – and required – to get called out.

Results – the team is measured by the collective results. Not the individual needs. Period. Achieving those results may at times require an individual or a department to step out of the spotlight, at times even making a certain sacrifice for the greater good. After all, that’s why you’re a team. Perhaps that’s where the whole “take one for the team” thing comes from.

I’ve got the book. Bought and paid for. Happy to share. Or we could set up a meeting to talk about it…

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

In this episode of #ChalkChat, Saul Morse, Palio’s VP of Multichannel Integration, shares 5 key ways to integrate your brand across multiple channels.

#ChalkChat is a weekly video series that brings you insights on branding, marketing and multichannel integration within the pharmaceutical industry. Follow us at #ChalkChat. Follow up with Saul Morse @SaulMorse orsaul.morse@palio.com.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

By Steve Toman, Account Director, Managed Markets, Palio

Imagine a meeting of primary care physicians, the kinds of dedicated healthcare professionals who serve as the backbone of thousands of office visits each day. Get them in a room and ask, by show of hands, which is preferable: An under-educated patient who knows nothing about his illness, or a highly-informed patient who walks in the door loaded with knowledge and research?

Under the warm lights of the conference room, it’s a safe bet that the majority would prefer to treat the highly-informed patient. But later, over cocktails, nearly every practitioner would be able to share at least a few horror stories about patients who walked in the door knowing – with certainty as complete as it was incorrect – what was wrong with them. In many cases, the physician probably spent more time talking the headstrong patient out of an errant self-diagnosis than explaining the actual condition and discussing appropriate treatment options.

The sheer breadth, depth, and commoditization of information available to medical consumers these days means that it is increasingly common for patients to be enthusiastic online researchers. In fact, a 2011 Consumer Reports study revealed that 61% of patients reported that they had read about their condition on the Internet. Combined with increased use of social media, that invites opportunity for medical misinformation or misinterpretation.

Doctors are not convinced that online research is truly helpful. Almost half of physicians surveyed as part of the same research said online research helps very little or not at all and merely 8% thought it was very helpful.

What’s a healthcare professional to do in a world where patients are armed with the Web, an army of socially connected armchair medics, and mobile apps sponsored by pharmaceutical or medical-device companies? Helping patients become more effective citizen scientists, and improving practitioner-patient communications starts with the basics:

Be a guide, not a naysayer. Rather than asking patients to put down the keyboard and step away from the Google, physicians should suggest ways they can become smarter researchers. For example, they should discuss the value of sticking to a few reliable sites, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for information on infectious diseases, the Food and Drug Administration for drug information, MedlinePlus for information about conditions and diseases, or the National Cancer Institute for information on cancers. High-quality academic center sites, such as those of the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic, can also ensure patients have access to accurate sources of information.

Understand how patients consume information. Are they constantly monitoring their blood sugar with a smartphone app, searching from their personal computer, or getting input from a friend or neighbor about a condition? Understanding how patients gather and consume health-related information is a key to providing crucial, authoritative care information with context and in a manner that’s most likely to be absorbed.

Applaud the effort, if not the information itself. It’s in everyone’s interest to have engaged, informed patients. So, even when the information and self-diagnosis a patient brings to the table is little more than a glorified wives’ tale, healthcare professionals should respect and even encourage the effort, even as they steer the patient to more authoritative sources. And remember, not everyone will enter the brave new world of self-diagnosis via the Internet – 37% of patients surveyed preferred to trust their doctor’s judgment on all treatment decisions.

Citizen science is here to stay, so practitioners need to guide patients to be effective partners in their own care. If patients are taking on an increasingly empowered role, the roles of the physician, healthcare professional, manufacturer, and patient educator need to evolve along with it.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

By David Messinger, Camp Counselor, Double H Ranch

Writing about the Double H Ranch – what it is and what it means to me – is a daunting task. There is just so much that happens and so many amazing feelings that are associated with Double H for me.

This is my fourth summer as a counselor and this year we are celebrating the Double H’s 20^th anniversary. We have a saying here at camp, “From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it and from the inside looking out you can’t describe it.” Despite this saying, I am going to do my best.

As I type this, I am sitting in my room at rest time during the 10^th annual Camp Inspiration. Camp Inspiration is how the summer programing at Double H begins. It’s a session for children on ventilators, and the most medically intense session we have. It’s also the most inspiring.

I was just up in the stage area and heard someone playing a guitar. Not knowing who was playing, I had to listen because it sounded so good. It was a camper, on a full ventilator, playing the guitar. Another counselor was recording it for him in order to mix and master.  Looking at this child, who is wheelchair-bound and has a machine breathing for him, you never would have guessed that he was capable of playing a guitar and drawing people in to listen, inspiring all who heard.

It’s only the second day of the session and already I have seen each of the 13 campers who are here this week smile and laugh. My camper is a first-time camper who is a little shy. He wouldn’t dance earlier – wanting just to sit in his chair and read a book. But we lifted the chair, with him in it, and danced with him in the chair. He loved every second of it, giggling and smiling – it brought him a new found joy he hadn’t experienced.

This session is a bit different than the rest of the summer because there are so few kids here and their parents also stay with them. My kid’s mom had the biggest smile and was also laughing while watching us dance with him sitting in a chair unwilling to get up and do it on his own. He also loves Bigfoot and we found Bigfoot tracks today and yesterday.

Although the official camp theme this week is, “The Beach,” my camper’s theme is finding Bigfoot. The look on his face when we saw the first tracks was priceless.

Palio is participating in @SocialMadness and has chosen Double H as the not-for-profit they will donate the winnings if they are one of the 3 national champions. Social Madness, launched by  The Business Review, and parent company American City Business Journals, measures the growth of each participating company’s presence across LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Here’s how you can help Palio help Double H. Like Palio’s Facebook page; follow them on Twitter @paliosaratoga; and, connect with their corporate page on LinkedIn. And, if you already do all of the above, vote for Palio in the medium companies category at SocialMadness.com.

I was asked to write about 500 words for this blog and I am already at 460 and have only shared about a day and a half of one session. This is why it is so hard to explain what happens here at the Double H. Too many amazing things each and every day. Hopefully I will be asked to write again and the next time I can get into our traditional summer camp and how amazing those seven sessions are during the summer.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

By Max J. Yurenda, CEO/Executive Director, Double H Ranch

As we celebrate a significant milestone in our history, we proudly recognize the community for supporting the Double H Ranch for 20 years. Charley Wood shared a vision with Paul Newman and their dream became a reality in 1992. Making Dreams a Reality for children and their families dealing with life-threatening illnesses captures the essence of our business. Ensuring that we provide the highest quality of service is paramount. As a leading not-for-profit in our community, we strive to meet or exceed the goals of our organization and we devote our resources and energies towards our inspirational kids. Providing life-changing experiences in a magical environment is an opportunity for bringing joy into the lives of thousands of children and family members each year. The key ingredients to our success include gifted staff and volunteers, our competent and compassionate medical team, dedicated Board leadership and the generosity of our community.

The Double H Ranch provides specialized year-round services that combine creativity, challenge, success and FUN. As a member of the SeriousFun Children’s Network, we are part of the largest global family of camps that are privileged to impact the lives of children dealing with life-threatening illnesses – all FREE of charge to our campers and their families.

The children that have touched our lives have reminded us of many important realities. Life is a gift that is filled with opportunities, challenges, constant change and dreams. Our team will always stay focused on what is best for our kids and we will work tirelessly to preserve and expand the legacy of our founders. We have ambitious goals ahead of us and building sustainability into the future is a priority for our kids and community. Every gift of support is important and appreciated!

Palio is participating in the Social Madness Challenge and has chosen Double H as the not-for-profit they will donate the winnings if they are one of the 3 national champions. Social Madness is corporate social media challenge that began June 1. The Business Review, and parent company American City Business Journals, launched the challenge to identify companies with the best social media chops. Social Madness measures the growth of each participating company’s presence across LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Companies in 43 cities across the United States have signed up to compete in a national March Madness-like bracketed tournament measuring social influence. It’s all about connections, likes, and followers!

Here’s how you can help them help us. Like Palio’s Facebook page; follow them on Twitter @paliosaratoga; and, connect with their corporate page on LinkedIn. And, if you already do all of the above, vote for Palio in the medium companies category at SocialMadness.com.

Thank you for believing in our mission and for joining us in celebrating our 20th year in Making Dreams a Reality. Our children and families are grateful for this opportunity to rejuvenate, share, celebrate, laugh and grow.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Welcome to #ChalkChat! In our debut episode, Mike Smith, Palio’s Senior Brand Strategist, shares 6 key factors to telling a compelling brand story across channels.

#ChalkChat is a weekly video series that brings you insights on branding, marketing and multichannel integration within the pharmaceutical industry. Follow us at #ChalkChat. Follow up with Mike @mikesmith55.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

by Sean O’Donnell, Group Copy Supervisor, Palio

It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. As a child of the ‘70s we didn’t have access to our friends 24×7. Playing games with peers required actually going to someone else’s house or a playground. And, if you wanted to reach someone immediately, you had to hope they were home when you called or close enough that a shout out the window got their attention.

In the workplace, we were equally challenged. There was no email, video conferencing or instant messaging. We walked information to a colleague’s office or shared documents through manila interoffice mail envelopes. Top-secret information was stamped “confidential” and had the security of a string-and-button closure. And, for colleagues, customers and business partners in remote locations, we accepted having to wait days as paper traveled through the postal system.

However, as technology progressed and patience gave way to the need for immediacy, pagers and fax machines entered the workplace. There was newfound freedom as workers could leave the office knowing if anyone really needed to get in touch, they were just a few beeps away. The slick curls of paper exiting fax machines meant copy could be approved faster, invoices could be received quickly and information could be shared readily.

Technology advancement fueled an unprecedented boom in productivity, both by increasing efficiency as well as extending the typical workday. The taste for real-time information sharing created a voracious appetite for greater connectivity and collaboration, and as social and mobile technologies have entered the workplace, they’ve opened the channels of communication across borders and cultures. Looking at the people I communicate with each day (outside of family and officemates), I’ve never been in the same room with the majority of them. But, they color my thinking, influence decisions and represent a cornucopia of opinions, experiences and backgrounds beyond what I could have realized in a pre-social media world.

However, as incredible as social media and real-time connections are for information exchange and human connections, it’s not without its downsides.

While this never-having-to-wait-environment might be good for the speed of business, there is a price for it. Stress is common for workers who are compelled to work around the clock – whether that’s from managers putting pressure on employees to respond immediately, travel with Blackberry devices and iPhones on at all times or because employees feel pressured that if they don’t work 24×7, their colleagues will. Grammar and punctuation are also suffering as texting and tweeting becomes the norm, with people either truncating messages to shave time off composition or because they’re limited in character allotment.

With written communication, words are often misconstrued and tone in text is often hard to decipher. Our mistakes are now public, as is how we respond to them. And, losing some of the nuances of communication– eye contact, hand gestures, a softening smile – can also be detrimental. After all, we like to do business with people we like and it’s harder to like someone when you can’t look into their eyes or hear the smile in their voice.

Would I give up the ability to Facebook message a friend, tweet an interesting article I read to my network or make a single announcement every time I have an update to share? Not in a million years. Social media has forever changed how we connect and interact, but as nice as it is to have technology at our fingertips, there’s no replacement for sitting in the same room with someone, sharing a meal, a handshake or other human connection. After all, technology or not, by nature, we’re all social beings.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.