Many readers of this blog may not know some of the other online venues I am responsible for that help pharmaceutical marketers stay in touch with the issues and with each other.
The newest example is Pharma Marketing Forums, which is a web-based community that features discussion boards. The Forums are a re-incarnation of the PHARMA-MKTING listserv that I have been hosting and moderating for 10 years! For those youngsters out there who may not know what a listserv is, let me enlighten you.
A listserv is an e-mail list software application by a company called L-SOFT. It allows members to send e-mail messages to the entire list. The PHARMA-MKTING list now has about 2400 members worldwide!
A listserv is a great collaboration and communications tool. However, it has limits. The main problem is that it generates a lot of e-mail and these days people get too much e-mail. I am especially guilty of sending out a lot of e-mail already in support of my free newsletter, Pharma Marketing News.
The Web-based Pharma Marketing Network Forums allow discussions like a listserv, but also includes many other neat social networking tools like buddy lists, member profiles, calendars, private messaging between members, user-generated content, polling, content rating, calendar submissions, etc., etc. Members can also decide which discussions they wish to keep track of by e-mail notification. Members can register under a pseudonym and remain anonymous. In other words, members have much more control over what information about them others see and how they interact with discussions.
So, I am disbanding the PHARMA-MKTING listserv effective February 1, 2007, and encouraging everyone to join the Pharma Marketing Forums. Note: members get some special privileges, but even guests can post threads and participate in discussions. So, check it out.
The following is an outline of the discussion boards available. This structure is subject to change.
Housekeeping
These are forums related to discussion of rules of usage, who we are, how to use the features of forums, etc.
- Rules and Regulations
- Who We Are — Tell us who you are and what you do.
- How Do I…? Ask questions and get answers about using the forums.
- Suggestions — Give the Webmaster suggestions for improvement.
News & Views
Abstracts of pharmaceutical marketing news sources, blogs, conferences, etc.
- Industry News — User contributed or generated sources of pharmaceutical news from newsfeeds, press releases, news stories, etc.
- Pharma Marketing Blog Forum — Notices of posts made to Pharma Marketing Blog and discussions related to those posts.
- Pharma Marketing News — Executives summaries of the monthly Pharma Marketing News e-newsletter.
- Join Today!
Open Discussion Forums
Open to all registered members and guests, these forums are for the discussion of a range of pharmaceutical marketing topics.
- Free for All — Any topic at all! Useful for topics that don’t fit other categories.
- eMarketing — Internet-based pharmaceutical marketing topics.
- Physician Marketing — Discussions related to physician marketing and advertising.
- Physician Education — Discussions relating to CME and non-CME physician education issues as distinct from physician marketing. Includes discussions about MSLs, KOLS, etc.
- DTC Marketing — Discussions related to direct-to-consumer marketing and advertising.
- Disease Awareness Marketing — Discussions related to disease awareness or unbrnded marketing and advertising.
- Product Manager Corner — A place for pharmaceutical product managers, brand team leaders, etc.
- Market Research — Discussions related to pharmaceutical market research.
- Pharmaceutical Sales — This forum is for the discussion of pharmaceutical sales issues and practices, including sales force effectiveness, training, etc.
- Regulatory Issues — This forum is for discussions related to marketing laws, regulations and guidelines.
- Join Today!
International Forums
These are forums for non-US pharmaceutical marketing discussions
- Indian Market Forum — This forum is for the discussion of issues specific to the Indian pharmaceutical market.
- European Market Forum — This forum is for the discussion of issues specific to the European pharmaceutical market.
- Join Today!
