Why Is IMSH Growing So Much? YOU.

This month, I want to share a piece of pretty interesting data with you and then offer a request at the end, if I may …

So, recently, more than 600 IMSH survey participants from January’s record-attended International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare in Orlando, Florida, shared their post-event feedback. (That is a really fantastic number and provided a truckload of data for SSH staff to sift through and use going forward.)

The piece I want to share with you today focuses on the answers we received to: “How did you learn about IMSH 2023?”

Provided answer options included SSH marketing channels, the event microsite (IMSH2023.org), Google search, and a few other specific channels. While “Email via SSH” was the top selection at 55.59 percent, the second most-often used IMSH “learn about” channel at 42.40 percent? Peer/Colleague/Friend. And third at 38.73 percent? Previous attendee(s).

In other words, YOU!

This is thrilling to me as a marketing and communications professional. It means IMSH (and SSH) has a growing group of dynamic, living, breathing ambassadors out in the world talking about IMSH … and convincing others to attend. (We know that, remember, because respondents were on site. They were there!) By proxy, in my mind, this means SSH marketing in effect also is living and breathing! What an awesome thought as we continue to explore ways to feed and grow SSH!

It sure frames the conversation differently in how we approach marketing and communications going forward in a much different, more exciting light than sitting in a room wondering what kind of luck we need to go semi-viral with a random video.

This is real momentum. This is a real hat-tip from you as a community in believing so much in IMSH and SSH things that you’re out there telling your non-SSH and non-IMSH peers they should take part.

Rarely do I feel comfortable speaking on behalf of anyone, but I think I can say with confidence how thankful the entire SSH staff and your peer volunteer leaders are that you have shown and keep showing so much trust in SSH-provided education, networking, and overall professional development.

Please keep up the great ambassador work with your professional groups and coworkers. Please keep telling them why they absolutely should attend an upcoming SSH event (in person or online!), pursue SSH Certification or Accreditation, and, of course, make plans to attend IMSH 2024 in San Diego, January 20-24!

Until next time,

Curtis Kitchen
SSH Director of Marketing