2012 Blogger Summit at Lilly Diabetes
Monday, May 28, 2012 at 8:00PM Social media is a powerful communication and connection tool. A message on twitter can reach countless people. FaceBook posts receive 'likes', get 'shared' and suddenly people that you've never met know that you support a cause, watched a video or have an opinion. Being connected in these ways is the new normal to those of us that live a part of our lives online and not surprisingly, companys have noticed.
I never imagined that writing about my life as a type I diabetes caregiver would lead to being invited to Lilly's first diabetes blogger summit but that is just what happened. I didn't know what to expect but I knew that the invitation felt like an oppurtunity to represent, as best that I could, the needs of our community.
It wasn't my intention to spend the day taking detailed notes or to report back to you that 'this' or 'that' was said. I wanted to experience the day, lend my thoughts when I thought that they would add to the discussion and see what good could come from the meeting for people like us.
I believe that businesses are mainly created to generate a positive cash flow and that there isn't anything wrong with a company making a profit. That's what my head thinks about buisness. My heart wants something different. In my opinion, companies that make a living in certain walks of life should do so with as much compassion for their customers as their shared situation allows. Making insulin, lancets and other diabetes devices is one such situation. From research and development to an attractive box on your pharmacy shelf, much goes into the development of safe and effective diabetes treatments and devices. I want the company that imagines and develops those things to be compensated. I want their employees to make a fair wage and I think their shareholders should see growth and sustainability. That again, is what my head thinks.
My heart feels that people living with a chronic illness shouldn't be looked upon as a constant cash flow opportunity even though they are. Companies that make the things that keep us alive need to be respectful of the backs that they make their profits on. They also should make allowances for the people that can not, in any way, afford the medications and devices that sustain their lives. It's the right thing to do.
A cynic may say that pharma companies invite bloggers like me to visit so that I'll leave with a positive view of their company, so that I'll write on my website that they are good guys that just want us to be happy. Well, I'm not a cynic but I do think that Lilly and every other company is beholden to their bottom line. The thing is, I didn't meet with a company last week, I met with people that work at a company and these people hold geniune concern and compassion for the diabetes community and the people that make it up. I'd like insulin to be cheaper but I also need for it to remain available. Therein lies the balance that I hoped to see when I visited Lilly and I did.
The building was steeped in tradition but the people inside, the employees, they were focused on today. Something amazing is happening right now in pharma as it relates to consumers. For the first time perhaps, they see the value in us as people and that's a good thing for us. We are no longer customers, never again to be thought of as patients - we are people. We can't and shouldn't blame pharma for taking so long to come to this seemingly obvious conclusion... they didn't know us until recently. How did they finally come to make our acquaintance? Social media introduced us.
Social media is how and why this summit came to be, it gave us all a name and a face, it's how we went from being customers whose dollars were coveted to people whose health outcomes are now followed with great interest and dare I say, real concern. Lilly wants to connect with us and even though I realize that many of you will meet their interest with skepticism, I say that we should embrace this new turn. As long as we continue to ask hard questions as a community and demand that our voices be heard, this new and direct connection to the companies that produce our diabetes supplies should and will be a mutually beneficial one. I'm optimistic and interested to see where this new sensibility takes us.
I'll be talking about the particulars from the day in my next few posts.
Hope you are all well!
Disclosure: I attended an event hosted by Lilly Diabetes, who paid for my airfare, travel, hotel and meals while I was in Indianapolis.
Scott Benner
You can find my continuing thoughts from the blogger summit here.
Lilly, Pharma, Transparency, type I in Daddy's Blog 
Reader Comments (4)
thanks for sharing, scott. i was so thrilled when i found out you were invited to this event!
i agree with you on this topic, 100%. I felt the same way when i attended the medtronic forum. it's a tricky balance indeed.
Thanks for this post, Scott. Very well done. I agree with you, on just about every point. Except for the one about how and when they connected... unlike some of the others out there who've invited the D-Community to these types of events, I think Lilly had some different motivations in mind. Really, they are behind and they know that. They're going to lose market share. And it honestly, truly seems as though the company's "powers that be" aren't on board with this entire PWD-interaction through social media. Yes, I really think it's a great start and there's a lot of hope and optimism. Truly hope to see some change in what they're doing and that they they're listening to what people want, instead of what they can or can't do to comply with the regulations and their stock-holders. Was great meeting you at this summit. Looking forward to the upcoming posts!
Mike it was wonderful meeting you last week in person! I appreciate and agree with your assertion that everyone wasn't on board but I held back that sentiment because I was hopeful and interested to see if our presence would be effective and help to change some minds.
I think that it will rightly take time for those that hold old traditions dear to react and adjust to quickly changing times. Time will tell.
Best,
Scott
Jess,
I was thrilled to hear that you were thrilled! Thanks so much for the support and confidence, I hope I did well by all of us. Hope to meet one day!
Best,
Scott