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- T2B Monthly | August 2024
T2B Monthly | August 2024
T2Bmeets @ BOS / NY / SoCal, generative tension, and more
Lynnea Olivarez
August 30, 2024
As summer winds down, we’re ramping up for our …
Next T2Bmeets in NY and Boston in September and SoCal in October.
Digital storytelling Comm Convo on 9/4, which will include a case study about Pfizer’s efforts during COVID to build trust in vaccines.
Leadership Lab’s Corporate Advisor Series kickoff next week.
AI open forum mini-series next month.
NEW regional channels in T2B Slack — yup, with more colleagues joining every day from all over, we’ve added channels in Slack for NY/NJ, DC Area, RTP, Chicago, and London. Here’s how to join.
For our US-based T2B friends, enjoy the holiday weekend!
Today's email is 1,578 words, a 7.5-minute read.
In This Edition
📸 T2B Programming Snapshot 🤝 Northeast Networking 📖 Digital Storytelling 🍿 Let’s Go Backstage 🪢 Generative Tension | #️⃣ The Social in Social Media 🤖 AI Questions and Comments 📰 You Can ‘Saey’ That Again 🔅 Goodbye, Summertime (Almost) 👀 Seen on Social |
🗓️ Programming Snapshot
» September Comm Convo: Creative Digital Storytelling in Science and Biopharma Communications - Wednesday, September 4th, 1-2 p.m. ET / 10-11 a.m. PT | Zoom
» T2B AI Open Forum: DALL-E and Canva - Friday, September 6th, 12:30-1 p.m. ET / 9:30-10 a.m. ET | Zoom
» T2B AI Open Forum: Prompting and Brand Voice Training - Friday, September 13th, 12:30-1 p.m. ET / 9:30-10 a.m. ET | Zoom
» Backstage Cafe: Launches That Last - Thursday, September 19th, 1-1:45 p.m. ET / 10-10:45 a.m. PT | Zoom
» T2B AI Open Forum: Efficient Campaigns and Recycling Content - Friday, September 20th, 12:30-1 p.m. ET / 9:30-10 a.m. ET | Zoom
» T2Bmeet @ NY Networking Event - Tuesday, September 24th, 4:30-7 p.m. ET, come and go | Real Chemistry, 199 Water St., NY, NY
» T2Bmeet @ Boston Networking Event - Wednesday, September 25th, 4:30-7 p.m. ET, come and go | Third Rock Ventures, 201 Brookline Ave., Boston
» T2B AI Open Forum: Media Prep and FAQs - Friday, September 27th, 12:30-1 p.m. ET / 9:30-10 a.m. ET | Zoom
» T2Bmeet @ ICON (Anaheim) Networking Dinner - Wednesday, October 16th, 7:30-9:30 p.m. PT | Puesto Anaheim, 1040 W Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA (seats are limited)
***We’ve heard from several people who didn’t receive the cal invite for last week’s Endpoints event. If you don’t receive your confirmation for a T2B event within one business day of RSVPing, check your email spam folder. The automated Luma email includes the cal invite and if applicable, Zoom info.***
Announcing Our First T2Bmeet @ NY and Next T2Bmeet @ Boston
It’s our Northeast Networking Tour!
We’re so pleased to host our very first T2Bmeet @ NY at Real Chemistry on Tuesday, September 24th. With more than 100 T2B members in the NY / NJ area, it’s about time. Hope to see some of you there!
Our second T2Bmeet @ Boston will be at Third Rock Ventures in the Fenway on Wednesday, September 25th! If you’re in town for Biotech Week Boston, Third Rock is a hop, skip, and a jump from Hynes. Definitely come!
And, if you’re headed to PRSA’s national ICON conference or live in the area, you’re invited to our first T2Bmeet networking dinner in Anaheim on October 16th. (Conference registration not required to attend our dinner.) |  |
Next Wednesday, Let’s Talk About Creative Digital Storytelling and Building Trust
From working with the CIA, to the American Red Cross, to Pfizer and many spaces in between, Emmy winner and Webby honoree Tod Plotkin has seen first-hand the challenges we biopharma communicators encounter when pushing the envelope on creative content for our orgs and clients.
We'll take a look back at the making of several of Tod's more memorable campaigns, including the work he did during COVID to build connection with the public and trust in vaccines.
He'll also divulge the rationale he's used to bring clients in conservative industries like ours on-board for nontraditional narrative development.
We’re Lifting the Curtain on Launches That Last
The T2B community was afire last spring with surprise and admiration for whoever was behind the launch of buzzy AI player Xaira. The media strategy focused on exclusives – an anomaly, straying from the typical playbook.
We set out to find who was behind it.
Fast forward several months, and now, we’re pleased to bring you backstage with FGS Global Managing Director Morgan Warners, who’ll highlight for us the considerations he and his team weigh to set companies up for long-term success.
Note- unlike most of our other events, this session will NOT be recorded. The only way to catch it is live.
It’s Not Just You; Reporters Seek Out That Tension!
Have you ever thought about the concept of tension being “generative?”
That’s how Nicole Wetsman, a deputy editor at Endpoints News, put it during our Press Pass Panel earlier this month. So, whether you’re pitching for coverage or for an event, next time consider what kind of tension your angle or sources can bring to the story.
If there is advice on the client side, I'd say any ability to … embrace and accept that [tension] is part of an interesting story. … It's just being able to sort of lean into an argument, right? And to have a comfortability in making the case for something, and saying, ‘I disagree with this point because of x, y, and z.’ …
I think that's what makes for the most interesting panels. That makes for interesting Q&As. It makes for interesting features. It doesn't really matter what medium it is. … If people are willing to mix it up and exchange ideas and sort of move the conversation forward, that's what I'm looking for.
“Social Media Is One Giant Network of People”
⬆️ That’s according to Nia Patel, our Comm Convo guest speaker this month.
We talk a lot in our industry about patients and human-centric storytelling. But when mired in the thick of the monthly social media ed cal’s seemingly endless reviewer comments, the easiest way forward is often to click “accept change” over and over again. Often, that means losing that personal touch and those nuances that blunt the corporate speak. Remember, at the end of the day, everyone on social wants to connect with, learn from, and laugh with… people. |  |
AI Open Forum Miniseries for Biopharma Comms
The #1 request we got following last month's Comm Convo on AI was for specific sessions on tools and use cases.
Introducing the AI Open Forum — Each session in our four-part mini-series will highlight a bite-sized, real-world AI application for biopharma communicators. Tune in for a quick demo, examples, and Q&A with T2B founder and AI early adopter Lynnea Olivarez.
Register for any or all of these 30-minute virtual forums on Fridays in September via these individual sign-up links:
This series is free and open to the T2B communicator community.
Engineering Parasites to Deliver Protein to the Brain
… is up there on Tina Saey’s list of most bizarre news she’s reported for Science News.
From opioid treatments, to sex and gender, to eugenics, Tina has myriad fascinating interests. But what she also has are the scientific and reporting chops that enable her to go deep in her coverage of these and other areas across her life sciences beat.
In the August edition of Biopharma Beats Bulletin, catch Tina’s full profile, and learn how to “say” her last name… well, we actually just gave that away.
Unofficial End of Summer
Though Labor Day is here in the US this weekend, we still have three more weeks of summer!
However, the end of August means that T2B’s summer intern, Emilie Fierle, has wrapped up her internship. Read her reflections, and be sure to connect with her on LinkedIn as she embarks as a fresh college grad on her journey as a biopharma communicator!
If you have any students or recent graduates in your network who might be considering a comms career in our industry, send them over to join our community.
We live in a land of insights… Insights gleaned from data. Insights shared in meetings. Insights read in newsletters like this one.
Not sure about you, but we hadn’t really ever stopped to characterize the types of insights we’re consuming — and dispensing — every day, until we came across this post from creative strategist Joe Burns.
Considering the Endpoints commentary about tension (see above), we were especially intrigued by Joe’s insight type #4: “The Tension Point identifies a conflict between our desires and current experiences.” Hmm… we’ll have to think about that one!
#7 also caught our eye: “The Open Goal spots a gap in the market or an unmet need.” Well, T2B’s goal of convening biopharma communicators from all over the world is definitely in process, so perhaps that’s more of a partial goal now, rather than a wide open goal. Thanks for helping us close the gap! 💙💚