Thoughts from Mike Templeton

For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you probably saw one of my tweets this morning announcing that I was inbetween jobs. Several people followed up right away, looking for the details. I can’t share everything yet, but I will spell out what I can for now.

What I’ve been up to as a Director of Social Media

From March until September of this year I worked as the Director of Social Media and Web Strategies for the Iowa Hospital Association.

I was brought on board to lead developments in social media for the organization, including educating their staff on effective uses and putting into practice a strategy for IHA.

My role built upon the training and groundwork laid out by Nathan Wright and Hillary Brown of Lava Row. Our goals were to strengthen relationships with association members, highlight the successes of Iowa hospitals and promote health care careers in the State of Iowa.

As we worked towards accomplishing these goals, IHA put several initiatives into motion:

• started a blog to track legislative issues, happenings in the workforce and hospital successes
• launched a Twitter account to relay hospital-related information and to connect with hospital advocates
• hosted hospital celebrations across the state
• talked with hospital employees on camera about their careers and sought advice for interested students

IHA saw lots of positive response from individuals and hospital leaders, with many people engaging in these mediums for the first time. Overall it was a great experience for me and it gave me the chance to work in an industry I had previously known nothing about. I also had my first experience working on a Macbook Pro.

UPDATE: For some perspective, here’s my post from when I started the job at the Iowa Hospital Association.

Where my journey is taking me next

Though I can’t reveal too many details surrounding my new role, I can say that it will be centered in the social media space and that I’ll be working with several other bright minds in the area. As people starting rolling into the office and other pieces come together I will share more. Hopefully I will have additional information in the coming weeks.