June 2022
Nota Bene American Association of Dental Editors & Journalists
Helping dental organizations communicate with their members and publics The AADEJ is Proud to Present
Choosing a Zoom Background
Advocacy Communications: Engaging Members for Successful Campaigns
Since the onset of COVID, most everybody has become somewhat of an expert in all things Zoom, right? Nevertheless, the occasional quandary arises. Lately, I’ve had more than a few conversations with colleagues about what constitutes an appropriate Zoom backdrop. The topic truly hit home on a Zoom just two weeks ago, when one of the two people with whom I was meeting appeared to nothing but a floating head surrounded by a neon border against a neutral backdrop.
Join us on Tuesday, July 19, from 7 – 9 p.m. EST Format: Zoom Ensuring that media and member communications strategies are best supporting an association’s government affairs objectives is an essential part of any dental editor’s job. At the same time, what remains paramount to any good journalism is maintaining ethics and objectivity in reporting. Using the Virginia Dental Association’s recent campaign to include a 30 percent increase in dental Medicaid reimbursement rates as a case study, presenter Paul Logan will walk through communications strategies, tactics and tools to consider to align communications with policy goals and increase member engagement. Learning Objectives: (2 CE Credits) • Define advocacy communications • Identify models of communications support for government affairs
objectives • Identify communications tactics to move members to higher impact engagement in support of policy goals • Provide an overview of some tools to support advocacy communications campaigns Mr. Logan has worked in communications and advocacy roles on state and national political campaigns, as a spokesperson for Virginia’s Governor, an advisor to Virginia’s Speaker of the House, and for a Fortune 500 energy company, where he received the Chairman’s Excellence Award for establishing a successful new employee advocacy program. He currently serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives with the Virginia Dental Association. To register for the webinar, please go to https://tinyurl.com/3kkfmc9c. This course is free to AADEJ members and $100.00 for nonmembers. Having a problem registering? Please email Laura Clark Stedman at lbcs12465@gmail.com to attend. You will receive a link before the webinar begins.
While many association members or corporate representatives choose their respective logos as their background, Zoom customer service advises that a green screen “provides the best virtual background effect and uses less system resources during the meeting. This method requires you have a solid-colored screen, curtain, or wall behind you, which Zoom will replace the selected color with the image or video you selected. This method improves the sharpness and definition of the virtual background effect around your face, head, ears, and hair.” To be sure, “Changing Your Zoom Background” on Zoom Support provides very in-depth tips that should suffice for anybody. However, I wanted to get some “real world” insights from professional colleagues across the country, the results of which follow: • I always blur my background – less distracting! • I prefer a blur, or just whatever is behind me. I don’t like when people do fake living room pictures – it’s just bizarre. • Depends on the meeting, whether I use my office background or a favorite from a vacation spot. Serious topic, office backdrop. Not so serious, the Amalfi coast. • I choose whatever I want for meetings. Sometimes I put something up that is seasonal. • I blank background, preferably in a neutral color. • My company logo.
Register NOW for SmileCon 2022, October 13-15 in Houston. There is a limited block of rooms available at the Hilton Americas for AADEJ members; make sure to lock in your plans ASAP so that we can see you in Texas! Please be sure to use Group Code AADEJHOU. Register at https://www.ada.org/education/smilecon
We’re Looking for a Few Good People! AADEJ is seeking interested candidates for its Membership Committee. As its names suggests, the job of this important body is to stimulate publications and individuals to apply for AADEJ membership, which is the lifeblood of any organization. This isn’t simply a matter of growing our numbers; it’s essential to ensuring that our membership remains vibrant and up to date on issues and concerns that matter to our profession. In no other way, can we be an effective resource for our colleagues across the nation. Interested parties should send a brief cv and cover note to Laura Clark Stedman at lbcs12465@gmail.com.