Endocrine News Editor Talks Twitter in NYC

Endocrine News editor Mark A. Newman spoke to members of the New York Society of Association Executives (NYSAE) in New York City on September 7 about how effectively the magazine has used Twitter over the last few years.

Held at the headquarters of the American Heart Association in the historic Chanin Building, Newman was asked to speak after a NYSAE member saw him as part of a similar talk at the Association Media & Publications annual conference in Arlington, Va., last June. “I was amazed to see how few association magazines are using Twitter,” Newman says. “The thing I stressed to both groups is that Twitter is such an easy way to communicate with members as well as the world at large. The time commitment is minimal and, most importantly for cost-conscious associations, it’s free!”

Aside from discussing how Twitter can be used to disseminate information, Newman also discussed the importance of using it as a resource to find information. Many of the groups, associations, and individuals that Endocrine News follows on Twitter post links to interesting articles and other content that would be of interest to Endocrine Society members and others who follow Endocrine News on Twitter, Newman explains. “It’s been an ideal source for the magazine to find a variety of interesting studies that we can use in our feature articles as well as statistics, charts, and other data that we can retweet to our followers and even use in the magazine,” he says.

“Giving members a voice is vital for any association magazine and Twitter is a unique way to do this.”

Endocrine News currently follows over 200 various twitter users that range from Endocrine Society members such as past-president Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD (@teresakwoodruff), Daniel J. Drucker, MD (@DanielJDrucker), and Kristen Vella, PhD (@kvellaENDO) to a number of other science and medical associations such as ACOG (@acognews), JDRF (@JDRF), the American Thyroid Association (@AmThyroidAssn), and many more. It has also been helpful to follow entities such as Harvard Medical School (@Harvardmed) and the National Institutes of Health (@NIH) and the World Health Organization (@WHO), as well as various medical journals, health and science writers, and a range of media outlets in order to receive links to the latest endocrine research that would be of interest to anyone who follows Endocrine News.

Endocrine News editor Mark A. Newman with Amy Geffen, PhD, director, Professional Development, Council for Economic Education, in the American Heart Association’s Manhattan offices. Photo: Denman Wall

Newman also discussed another benefit to using Twitter that occurred quite by accident at ENDO 2017 in Orlando. While Newman and senior editor Derek Bagley routinely “live tweet” from various medical conferences, Newman noticed that others in attendance were doing the same thing, made obvious as people used the hashtag “#ENDO2017.” As that hashtag would show up in the Endocrine News twitter feed, Newman followed up with the “tweeters” to see if they would be interested in contributing to the magazine.

“I actually found two international early-career members who were very interested in being a part of Endocrine News,” Newman says. “These were members whose paths I would not normally crossed but they have both not only contributed comments to the ENDO 2017 wrap up article in the May issue, but they’ve also contributed to the ‘Why Endocrinology?’ column. Twitter has proven to be an ideal way to connect with members and have them share their stories in Endocrine News. Giving members a voice is vital for any association magazine and Twitter is a unique way to do this.”

Currently, Endocrine News has over 1,100 followers and can be found at twitter.com/Endocrine_News (@Endocrine_News).

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