Meet our new employees!

With combined experience totaling more than 40 years, Dowden’s three new media dynamos—Melissa Caravella, senior project manager; Liz LaBianca, project manager; and Tuyen Teasdale, design director—bring fresh perspective to the custom media group. In an interview with Dowden’s Custom Connection, the trio details their marketing philosophies and reveals their inner quirks.

Custom Connection: Our clients want to know—how do you approach projects?
Liz LaBianca: My approach is to be as proactive with my clients as possible. With so much work on THEIR plates, I think it’s important to build a relationship where clients feel they can rely on me. Melissa Caravella: I agree. When you can proactively approach your clients’ marketing goals, the focus of the project becomes clearer and readers and users can see the value in it, too.
Tuyen Teasdale: I’ve always been a follower of graphic design pioneer Paul Rand (not to be confused with Rand Paul!). He once said, “Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” That’s a designer’s job is: to simplify the complex.

CC: So, why Dowden?
LL: By nature, I’m a people person. I really like getting to really know who my clients are, and I think Dowden is a company that “gets” the importance of that.
MC: I’m technically “new,” but I’ve actually worked with Dowden in different capacities since 2006. When I moved back into the Montvale area, I was excited to rejoin the group in person. I like getting to know my clients, and being able to see and feel the product of your work is very rewarding.
TT: I enjoy working on projects that are actually helpful to people: We’re providing people with useful tools that are meaningful and valuable.

CC: Tuyen, from a design standpoint, what’s something that might help marketing managers improve their publications?
TT: Take more risks! Don’t be afraid to use more color and typographic elements … it can make technical articles more appealing. It often helps to look at a situation from a different perspective. Sometimes seeking an “opposite” solution can lead to new thinking.

CC: What else should we know about you?
LL: Fellow hockey fans should know I’m a huge NY Rangers fan!
MC: We may have been neighbors at some point—I’ve called many cities “home” over the past few years, including Seattle, San Francisco, and Columbus, Ohio.
TT: I love traveling and I’ve visited every U.S. state, except Alaska and Hawaii. Any upcoming meetings in Anchorage or Honolulu?

EBSCO Publishing and Dowden Custom Media Partnership Integrates Consumer Health Information and Website Development

~Hospital Marketers and Digital Strategists Immediately Benefit from Combining Evidence-Based Consumer Health Information with Website Development Services~

Ipswich, Mass., March 25, 2011—A new partnership between EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) and Dowden Custom Media (Dowden) now offers hospital marketers and digital strategists evidence-based health content along with website development services. This new partnership brings the expertise in website development and integration of Dowden’s in-house Web development team, eCrossings Media, together with evidence-based consumer health information from EBSCO’s Health Library™.

The Web development team from Dowden Custom Media helps hospital marketers simplify their online strategy and implementation process. The partnership with EBSCO enables Dowden to include Health Library’s valuable evidence-based consumer health information within the hospital websites being developed. Including Health Library means healthcare providers can enhance their Web presence by providing valuable condition and treatment information for patients and their families while including links to their related specialists and services.

Health Library is an evidence-based database, providing comprehensive coverage of health, wellness, and other medically related topics. Content is presented in an easy-to-understand manner that helps consumers make appropriate choices about healthcare. The database also features a comprehensive complementary medicine resource that includes an extensive range of natural and alternative treatments. All of the content is written by experienced medical writers, independently reviewed by medically credentialed experts and updated on a regular basis to reflect the most recent information and research available.

Dowden Custom Media is a leading provider of online brand development, best practices-based Web design and development, and full-service technology solutions for healthcare organizations. Dowden Custom Media President Sid Gokhale says the partnership with EBSCO Publishing brings valuable content into the website development process. “Dowden Custom Media’s expertise in building and enhancing online brands is a natural fit for Health Library website integration. By integrating Health Library with hospital websites, hospitals can promote their specialties and unique offerings while differentiating themselves from the competition. It will also drive traffic, increase awareness, and enhance wellness within a given community.”

Dowden Custom Media also provides print, content marketing, and custom editorial services offering hospital marketers fully integrated communication campaigns and initiatives. With the new EBSCO and Dowden partnership, hospital marketers will be able to further streamline their digital and print communications with a trusted provider.

About EBSCO Publishing 


EBSCO Publishing is the world’s premier database aggregator serving the content needs of corporations, associations and organizations of all types. EBSCO offers a suite of nearly 300 full-text and secondary research databases providing content from tens of thousands of full-text journals, magazines, books, monographs, reports and various other publication types from renowned publishers. Databases provide information for areas ranging from research & development and corporate learning to departmental and industry-specific topics. EBSCO’s product lines include proprietary databases such as Business Source® Corporate, Business Book Summaries™, Learning Centers™, Business Basics™, Academic Search® R&D, Nonprofit Organization Reference Center™, and Health Library™ as well as dozens of leading licensed databases. Databases are powered by EBSCOhost®, the most-used for-fee electronic resource in libraries around the world, and may be integrated into corporate intranets, portals and learning management systems. For more information, visit the EBSCO Publishing Web site at: http://www.ebscohost.com.

EBSCO Publishing is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.

About Dowden Custom Media 


Montvale, New Jersey-based Dowden Custom Media, a leading provider of marketing and communication services in the healthcare industry, is a division of Dowden Health Media, Inc. Dowden’s services include custom publications, physician education programs, content development and online solutions such as websites, e-newsletters and new media tools. Together with its in-house interactive team, eCrossings Media, Dowden helps marketers engage consumers by strengthening their brands, broadening community outreach and driving clinical encounters.

eCrossings Media uses high-end design, new media, cutting-edge technologies and a rigorous focus on building relationships to help its clients develop strong brands and drive synergies among customers, employees and partners. Dowden Health Media, Inc. specializes in online initiatives for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

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Healthcare reform to be repealed? ... in 2013?

Talk about a dog on a bone!  The GOP is out for blood, and it's got healthcare in its cross hairs.  In an age when it's virtually impossible to decipher between sincere politicking and pre-campaign posturing, born-again GOP once-runner Newt Gingrich is making some very bold, self-assured claims about the healthcare changes that are slated to be implemented within the next 24 to 48 months.  "I think it will be repealed probably by March or April of 2013," Gingrich told CNN. (READ FULL STORY HERE.)  Whether he believes it or not, he's getting plenty of play in prime time.  So if it's exposure he's after, that would make it: Gingrich 1; Healthcare Reform 0.  But just how much truth is there in the belief that healthcare reform, a concept that healthcare providers have taken months of psychological conditioning to prepare themselves for, could all just go away?  Is it possible that before they're ever officially implemented many of the reform laws could be reversed, like a do over on the playground?  After all this preparation, what would the message be? "Just kidding, go back to the old ways"?  I mean, is that really what the American consumer wants?  Is that really what healthcare providers want?  Is that really what YOU want? 
Tim Craig, Editorial Director, Dowden Custom Media



We know you have an opinion on this topic.  So why not share it? 

Post a reply or send me an email to: dowden.editor@dowdencustom.com
Or you can simply post a message to our FACEBOOK PAGE. 

As Web Technologies Converge, the Internet Marketer Benefits

The rapid growth of content on the web is a double-edged sword. On one hand, highly-specific and relevant content is available. On the other hand, layers upon layers of content can make it difficult to find the most useful search results the user seeks. This presents frustration for end users and obvious challenges for Internet Marketers who are tasked with communicating their message effectively.

The good news – for both groups – is that two web technologies are converging which will make the end user and marketer happy.

Auto-complete functionality is already a popular feature on search engines like Google and even forward-thinking websites. You type and it anticipates words or phrase you might be looking for. Now search engines are combining the popular auto-complete with geo-targeting.

Geo-targeting displays search engine results based on the user’s location. In other words, the same exact search terms will yield very different results based on the location that the search engines detect. As the convergence of these technologies is perfected, relevance in search results will be a little less elusive and everyone benefits. In addition to search engine efficiency, this creates a boon for online marketers whose products, services and users are not in one place.

To learn more about these and other online solutions, visit eCrossings Media.

More about geo-targeting
More about auto-complete

Taking technology to the next level

Applying technology to the field of medicine is exciting and cool.  But it also requires getting the message out. Here's an inventive application for medical technology from a physician in Oklahoma.  Makes you wonder what you might do to market just such a development?

Local Doc Turns iPhone Into Mobile ECG

POV: Why Direct Mail Works

Here's a condensed view on the science of direct-mail marketing.  Among other things, it spells out the benefits of reaching out to consumers by way of targeted lists.  READ MORE ... Why Direct Mail Works

Health information remains high on the list of popular uses for the Internet

This article from the Washington Post was written by staff writer Nancy Szokan, and was posted to the paper's site on Tuesday, February 1, 2011.

"Seeking health information is the third-most-prevalent activity among American Internet users, according to a report being issued Feb. 1 by the Pew Internet Project. The only things more universal were …" READ MORE 

Yes, social media CAN drive clinical encounters!

Congratulations.  You've got your SM sites up and running, and your CEO is happy as can be.  That is, until she asks how many fans you have on Facebook.  Then you have to face the music: You simply have no fans.  In fact, if you're like most hospital marketers, you're struggling to make your SM sites works—really work!  You know, with a true community of 'friends' and 'followers.'  Before you give up on social media, check out these case studies that will serve as inspiration: 10 Hospital Social Media Success Stories.