athenista Spotlight: Meet the Marketing Events Team
They’re responsible for athenahealth’s presence at national tradeshows, they run the athenahealth Institute, and manage the entire User Conference. How do these athenistas pull it all off? Meet Maria Chow and Cheryl Kaufman, this month’s featured athenahealth team.
athenaPulse: Tell us about the Marketing Events Team at athenahealth.
Maria Chow: We’re responsible for athenahealth’s national and regional tradeshow strategy, the athenahealth Institute and the annual User Conference.
Cheryl Kaufman: Maria is in charge of the overall strategy of each event I am responsible for the day-to-day execution and project management.
aP: What is the athenahealth Institute?
MC: For those unfamiliar with the Institute, it is a thought leadership seminar designed specifically for health care executives of large or enterprise medical groups. The content for this event is a case study written by our very own Todd Park and is facilitated by a Harvard Business School professor. The three-part case focuses on organizational performance challenges born from the turbulent landscape of health care, imperatives of effective leadership, and driving forces impacting large medical groups.
aP: Any reflections on this year’s User Conference?
MC: The best moment was the official kick-off on the first day. I love seeing all the clients – both the familiar faces and meeting new ones.
CK: My favorite part is meeting people you otherwise have only spoken to on the phone. I also enjoy seeing how excited folks are to see friends from other practices and to learn about aspects of the application that are new to them.
aP: What was the most challenging project you worked on at athenahealth?
MC: The annual User Conference. It’s a huge undertaking that involves virtually the entire company!
CK: I agree. The most challenging and exciting project is to coordinate all the moving pieces of our User Conference. When we are gearing up for an event it is not uncomment to see us in the office bright and early and then be the last ones to leave at night. During an event such as the User Conference we have been known to log 18-hour days.
aP: If someone gave you a million dollars, how would you spend it?
MC: Lots of shoes.
CK: I would buy a house in Duxbury, MA.
aP: Your favorite “athenahealth moment?”
MC: When we debuted our new exhibit property (30’ x 40’ booth) at the 2006 MGMA Annual Conference [see photo to the right]. It was subsequently graded an “A” for overall booth appearance at the 2007 HIMSS Annual Conference by HISTALK Blog.
CK: My favorite athenahealth moments in general are the fact that our job allows us to travel, and work with many departments throughout the company; this always makes for fun and unique experiences.
aP: Your tips for good teamwork?
MC: Listen!
CK: Be patient and try to see things from other perspectives.
aP: Favorite way to unwind after work?
CK: Work out at the Boston Sports Club downstairs.
MC: A giant plate of spaghetti with meat sauce and a nice bottle of Italian red.
