Day 3 - Arequipa

Wow - what a full day. I was on the go all day yesterday. Everything fell into place.

Last night I had a chance to sit down with Sr. Hugo Corzo Isenrich from the marketing and PR firm "Fire 2.0 Studio." Hugo and I talked for a couple of hours about marketing, social connection and using the web to make a difference. It was a fantastic meeting.

Hugo's company (he is the owner) is going to donate their services to help HBI brand and promote the "Third Annual Arequipa Healthcare Conference and Training Symposium." One of the first things that we are going to do is re-name the conference. "Third Annual Arequipa Healthcare Conference and Training Symposium" is a descriptive name that is a bit too cumbersome to brand - as I was told by the expert (Hugo).

As such, we are going to try and launch a Blog and Facebook Page branded under the new name for the conference and a catchy/edgy logo for the event. Hugo said something last night that really made sense - he said that in order to attract our target population for the conference (young Peruvian healthcare professional who are working with the poor and underserved in Arequipa or professionals who are interested in working with the poor and underserved) we need to use a "degrees of separation" scheme.

He suggested that we advertise and promote on the internet and through Social Networking channels because of the ability of the Web 2.0 utility to create a "snowball effect." He told me of a restaurant (A Punto) that he has been working with to use Web 2.0 to promote their image and brand. He said that in a three day period - from the time of the initial launch of the Facebook Page for the restaurant, they were able to amass over 300 "friends" without any direct advertising. Just through Social Networking.

Hugo believes that we can do the same thing for the conference - and even HBI Peru. He is going to help us "snowball" our efforts. I am really excited.

Oh by the way - we met at "A Punto" last night . . . and it is fantastic. I recommend a visit when you are in the beautiful White City.