You’ll find a familiar face in this month’s issue of Medical Marketing and Media.  It’s our own senior vice president of healthcare marketing, Bobbie Montgomery, sitting in as guest writer for the February “Viewpoint” column.

As usual, Bobbie is able to see beyond the constraints of pharma marketing — including tightening regulations and slashed sales forces —  to identify real and profitable opportunities for clients in 2012.

Congrats on being published, Bobbie!  The only thing better than seeing you in print is actually seeing you in action with our wonderful clients!

Ashley Williams, SVP, Ag Practice Group

Lindsey Burke walked away a real winner at Technekes’ Annual Meeting and Holiday Event.

First, Lindsey participated in two “Technekes Idol” talent show performances.  Ultimately, her individual clogging routine took first place, beating out six other performances, including her team’s rendition of  the “12 Days of Technekes.”  The talented Lindsey is taking her first ever clogging class.  Talk about bravery!

More important, Lindsey won the coveted Breakout Award, which is awarded annually to a Technekes employee who has been with the company for fewer than two years, but has already made a tremendous impact.

The “Breakout Award” trophy is a real working clock crafted from blown out engine parts.  Pretty appropriate with Lindsey and her family being in the farm machinery auction business, don’t you think?

Please join me in congratulating Lindsey and dedicating this very appropriate song to her!

When most of us think of poverty in America, we think of the homeless, the unemployed or other individuals who somehow missed out on the American dream.  We don’t picture the poor as people we know – people living in the suburbs in households headed by married couples with fulltime jobs.  (See “Older, Suburban and Struggling, ‘Near Poor’ Startle The Census,” The New York Times.)  However, a new government measure of poverty released last month identifies the poor and “near poor” as being people who look a lot like us and our friends and neighbors.  Even the government bean counters who work on these issues every day were surprised to find that, under this new calculation, one out of every three Americans lives at or just above the poverty level.

Those of us who work with healthcare benefit programs should welcome the change from the long-criticized Federal Poverty Level, which measured financial status solely by the annual family income.  The new Supplemental Poverty Measure provides a more realistic assessment of household wealth by taking into account benefits such as food stamps and tax credits, as well as expenses like insurance and transportation costs, and then adjusts the total for regional differences in the cost of living.

This new review of the complexity of poverty in America points out the vital need for pharmaceutical Patient Assistance Programs.  Through its service provider, Technekes, the Foundation works to offer pharmaceutical manufacturers a streamlined and compassionate way to provide free prescription drugs to patients who cannot otherwise afford them.  With poverty now affecting some 51 million Americans, programs like RxMatters are needed now, more than ever.

Preston Fay, Chief Marketing Officer, Founder

Men have a 50-50 chance of developing cancer in their lifetime. I know two people diagnosed in the last six weeks. That’s why I need your help.

November is now know as “Movember,” and it is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world.

I and 15 of my brothers at Technekes are sporting a wide variety of Mo’s to raise much-needed funds and awareness for men’s health.

We’re on day 19, and so far our Mo’Rauders team has raised nearly $1,400!

I don’t often come a beggin’, but now I’m asking you to sponsor my scary handlebars and evil lower-lip thingy by making a contribution. I know it’s ugly, but Movember is a worthy cause.

Here’s how you can help:

• Go to this page: DONATE NOW!
• Enter a donation amount: $10, $25 or $10,000
• Follow the simple steps to complete your transaction
• Bask in the glow of your good deed and my nasty facial hair which is gone on 12/1!

Thanks so very much for your help!

Alex Dowlin, Director of Sales Operations, Healthcare Practice Group

As many of you know, a group of brave gentlemen here at Technekes in Raleigh and Charlotte have taken on the task of bringing awareness for prostate cancer … by growing moustaches.

Someone very close to my wife, Heather, and me has been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, and to show support for him and bring awareness for men’s health, I’ve pledged my “attempt” to cultivate a genuine 100% face grown moustache for 30 days.  It’s Movember, the month formerly known as November, which is dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men’s health. I have joined the movement and will be donating my upper lip to the cause for 30 days.

My moustache (Mo) will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for cancers affecting men.  Please join in our effort by becoming a Mo Bro or Mo Sista, or support with donations or forwarding on our progress to your networks.  You can see updated pictures of the team here:  http://mobro.co/alexdowlin.  (As of today, it looks like my lip is dirty.)  This won’t be pretty.  I will forward out progress of our team, the Midnight Mo’rauders as we progress.

Why am I so passionate about men’s health?

• 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
• A man is diagnosed with prostate cancer every 2.2 minutes
• 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
• 24% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women

Please support my efforts by making a donation to our team, The Midnight Mo’rauders, at http://mobro.co/alexdowlin.

You can even write a check payable to “Movember Foundation”, reference my name and Registration Number 1913786 and send it to: Movember Foundation, PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726

If you’d like to find out more about the type of work you’d be helping to fund by supporting Movember, take a look at the Programs We Fund section on the Movember website: http://us.movember.com/about

Thank you all in advance for supporting my efforts to change the face of men’s health.

Last night may have been Halloween, but a lot of folks here at Technekes will begin changing their appearances today.

That’s right – November 1 marks the first day of “Movember,” a month long campaign to raise funds and awareness for men’s health issues. Men (and women) around the country and in our very own offices will be putting aside their razors to support LIVESTRONG and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

According to CNN, “So far, Americans have raised $7.5 million for Movember. Worldwide, participants have raised $174 million, which, according to Movember, makes the group the largest nongovernment funder of prostate cancer research in the world.”

As the month goes on, we’ll try to capture some pix of your formerly clean (and not-to-clean) shaven team members. And in the meantime, if you’d like to contribute to the cause, visit movember.com/donate/.

And step away from that razor, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas. It’s all in good fun, but more important, it’s all for a good cause.

You don’t need me to tell you.  It’s a topsy-turvy time in the pharma world.  As brand marketers struggle getting their message to the masses, sales resources have been annihilated.  As reported in this recent article by Pharmalot (http://bit.ly/RepOnCallReaches), the good news is the rate of pharma job loss is slowing.  The bad news, however, is that reps continue to lose jobs at a record pace.

So here’s the question pharma marketers ask themselves every day:  Are physicians still getting my message?

Well, yes, if you’re working with an integrated marketing company like Technekes.  Our RepOnCall program gives pharma marketers proven tools to reach physicians with a multi-channel approach (tele, web, email or virtual detaling) to extend your sales message and create demand for your product.  It’s what we do.  If you want to learn more, give me a call.  I look forward to telling you more ways you can reach out — and sell.

Technekes’ clients have always known that Jack Ross, who founded Technekes with me in 1999, is one straight shooter.  And they’ve always known that, when it comes to accurate and relevant marketing data, he blows away the competition.

Yep.  Jack’s always on target –- both professionally and personally.  Still, it might surprise folks to know that he just won a world title in skeet shooting.  That’s right, my partner, no kidding, has earned the title “Champ of Champs,” winning the 2011 NSSA World Skeet Championships in San Antonio, Texas earlier this month.

Congrats to Jack on his precise performance – which, to be honest, is the kind of performance he provides to our clients every day.