As Tryon Medical Partners’ agency of record from the inception of the practice, Kcomm has played a pivotal role in brand development, messaging, patient communications and public relations. Even before the practice opened its doors on September 5, 2018, Kcomm has worked with physicians and leadership staff to differentiate the independent practice, founded on the principle that stronger relationships lead to better health. From the Tryon Medical Partners logo to the website photography and award-winning digital strategy, all communication and content is rooted in honesty, warmth and encouragement. As we faced the unprecedented challenge of communicating in a pandemic, we stayed true to these ideals – thinking first and foremost of how to strengthen and support the patient-doctor relationship.

In the early weeks of coronavirus communication, we released information via Tryon Medical’s “Health Hacks” email newsletter and dedicated a page of its website to COVID-19 updates and FAQs, updated daily, with relevant links to the CDC and NCDHHS. As we told patients to “put aside panic and prepare,” Tryon Medical’s coronavirus task force was stockpiling PPE, troubleshooting “drive-through” testing and drafting protocols for staff to follow. We defined and continued to refine what patients and the public would need to know in worst-case scenarios. By the time coronavirus was confirmed in Charlotte on March 12, we had patient-facing email drafts ready for review and a press release prepared to announce Tryon Medical’s first remote testing site to keep COVID-19 out of the offices, and healthy patients safe.

Four days later, Tryon Medical opened one of Charlotte’s first satellite COVID-19 testing sites at an abandoned Rite Aid. Again, an early-morning patient email dropped hours before the media was notified that patient testing would start at noon. We knew the media would be hungry to localize this global story, with easy outdoor shots of people “getting swabbed” in a parking lot. It was important that we helped the media tell the story of COVID-19 testing, without divulging patient privacy or contributing to the anxiety of the sick and scared. In two hours, we filmed, edited and distributed an electronic press kit of Tryon Medical’s first remote testing clinic. 

In the weeks that followed, in-office visits for well patients converted almost entirely to virtual visits in compliance with North Carolina’s stay-at-home order. With so few office staff needed and no COVID-19 end in sight, Tryon Medical made the gut-wrenching decision to lay off 25% of its staff. We communicated that news to the media with transparency and industry insight. When the doctors determined it was safe for patients to return to the offices for their annual wellness checks, we changed gears immediately telling the story of Terry Brown, a patient whose annual wellness check revealed an asymptomatic and potentially life-threatening condition. Terry’s story and “Five Reasons to Schedule Your In-Person Annual Wellness Check” have registered more than 10,000 pageviews.

Our communications team continues to respond to countless requests from the media on everything from antibody testing to COVID-19 pool safety. We earned more than 200 media placements and registered in excess of 100,000 pageviews on our COVID-19 webpage. Our email communications average open rates around 50%, and patients often post messages in appreciation of our communications balancing the honesty and reassurance they have come to expect from their Tryon Medical care teams.

As the pandemic progressed, it became challenging to discern whether or not it was appropriate to communicate non-COVID-19 topics. We surveyed doctors to see what issues were of most concern to their patients. The results were clear: patients were struggling with their mental health, depression, anxiety and isolation. We worked with a Tryon Medical physician double-boarded in internal medicine and psychiatry on a May 19 Facebook Live event titled, “Tryon Talks: Mental Health in a Pandemic.” Feedback was extraordinarily positive and the broadcast earned 1,100 views on Facebook alone. 

Throughout the summer, our communications have balanced keeping patients updated on COVID-19 with helping them find a new normal. From “Face Mask 101” to COVID-19 safe travel tips, our resource articles, patient profiles and social media content continue to receive thousands of pageviews. 

This fall, we eagerly await confirmation that our next message will be welcome news to the whole world: that Tryon Medical and their clinical partners will have found a COVID-19 vaccine.

The post Communicating From the COVID-19 Front Line with Tryon Medical Partners appeared first on Kelso Communications.

Marty Kelso, Partner/Creative Director

A 678-page novel about the origins of a superhero comic book?

Yes, please.

Finally digging into “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.”

Michael Chabon packs more gorgeous, evocative language and imagery into one paragraph than you’ll find on an entire library shelf. 

Dee Grano, Vice President of Public Relations

Though a great student in performing arts, math and science, I never enjoyedsocial studies or geography. I find historical fiction to be a great way to study an imaginative snapshot in time and motivate my own research. The “Narcos” series on Netflix is the best of both worlds. The original series about the rise of the Columbian cartels and spin-off of the Mexican cocaine trafficking machine is endlessly fascinating. Of course, one should never watch a TV show and take it as fact; for me, reading the real history, context and backstory is part of the fun. 

Bonus pick: As a working mother of a two-year-old and a special needs child, balancing everything is hard on a good day, let alone during a pandemic. I highly recommend the series “Workin’ Moms” for other mothers who need a 30-minute laugh. It’s raunchy and ridiculous, but rings totally true. An episode with a cocktail after a bubble bath is like a little vacation!

Amanda Fowler, Digital Strategist

Something has died during quarantine and it isn’t just your social life. I’ve been playing Hunt a Killer, a game where you join a detective agency and sort through evidence to solve a murder. Each “episode” in a series of six comes in the mail and you work to eliminate suspects. Your evidence locker might include police records, maps, witness statements and phone records.

My husband and I work the case together and, dare I say, we’ve been watching less TV during the stay-at-home order than we do on a regular basis. You can also order all six episodes to come at once so instead of binging “Tiger King” you can binge an entire murder case. If you’re a true crime fanatic like I am, this is a fun way to play along, rather than just listening to a podcast.

Karen Barrett, Brand Strategist

I’ve had Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere” on my reading list for years now (it came out in 2017, after all) and yet I could not resist watching the newly released eight-episode miniseries on Hulu, starring and produced by Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington (among others).

The show follows the life of these two mothers of different backgrounds in 1990s Ohio, and is so perfectly cast and bingeable. I feel like it’s always a good sign when the author signs on to the project and Ng is a producer here. With two episodes left to go, I’m trying to savor it before moving on to the book. I know, I know, you’re supposed to read the book first and then watch the movie (or show) but I can’t resist a Reese Witherspoon production (“Big Little Lies,” anyone?! And that is one where I did read–and love–the book first!).

Kcomm looks forward to seeing our friends and clients in person again soon. Until then, happy reading and watching and playing. We are hoping everyone is safe and healthy. And now, just a little less bored.

Carrie Hunt, Art Director

Coincidentally like Karen, I’ve also had Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere” on my reading list. It’s been sitting on my nightstand for almost a year now, desperately wanting to be read. I had every intention of reading it before it came to the small screen. But even now with all of this time at home, I haven’t picked it up or even looked at the ten other books stacked up with it. I haven’t updated my watch list on Netflix or even really indulged in my old lunchtime favorite, “Days of Our Lives!” No, I have been channeling my inner Martha Stewart and Bob Villa.

For my birthday in March, I bought a 12″ sliding miter saw and a pneumatic brad nailer. I’ve built myself a new workbench and plan on refreshing my house, starting with my powder room. Board and batten measurements, check. New light fixture, check. Fresh paint, check. Sketching out plans for the rest of the downstairs, check check. 

Pretty sure I’ll be a shoo-in for the next HGTV show where they rescue poor DIYers that have gotten in over their head. 

Marcie Kelso, Partner

The phenomenon of the virtual happy hour has allowed me the opportunity to continue a 40+ year conversation with some of my best friends. Every Thursday, Kempsville High School’s finest are talking about current events, politics and life, just as we have since the eighties around a lunch room table.

Yes, we were the nerds, and we’ve stayed close. We are college English, African American lit and gerontology professors, a K-12 teacher, an attorney, a newspaper editor, a leader of drug distribution in Africa, and an agency partner. I am grateful for the gift I’ve had of great friends throughout my life and for the ability to maintain close friendships over time.

Kristi Sweeny, Account Supervisor

Now that our kids are getting a little older, we’re always on the hunt for fun family games –  especially these days. Thanks to a friend’s recommendation, we discovered our newest fam fave: Not Parent Approved, a hilarious, kid-friendly take on Cards Against Humanity. It’s perfect for kids ages 8+ and doesn’t take forever to play (I’m looking at you, Monopoly). I mean, whose kid doesn’t love an opportunity to say booger juice, fart and grandma in the same sentence? We’ve been laughing our way through quarantine after this gem showed up! 

The post Gimme Shelter – Kcomm Recommendations for Quarantine Survival appeared first on Kelso Communications.

Art also defines cities and Charlotte is home to vibrant, talented artists and organizations creating and developing work that is uniquely ours. As Charlotte has difficult conversations about how we’ll fund the arts in our community, we’ve thought more about how art has impacted each of us. Members of Team Kcomm asked ourselves the question, “What does art mean to you?” We hope you’ll ask yourself the same and share your own thoughts.

Marty Kelso
Partner/Creative Director, The Greaser and The Pirate 

What does art mean to you?
“The only way for me to answer this is to picture a world without art. And the only picture that emerges is drab Soviet Bloc architecture with everyone shuffling around zombie-like in the same shapeless uniform. Real 1984 stuff. Sure, you may be alive, but are you living? 

The arts add the color, the jolt, the joy, the danger, the comedy, the search for meaning and the brain-bending perspectives that make us question, but more importantly, make us free. We’re talking about a primal need here. I agree with Dutch philosopher, Erasmus: “When I get a little money, I buy books; if any is left, I buy food and clothes.”

Marcie Kelso
Partner/Director of Accounts and Strategy, Sarah Heartburn/Eva Green (pet names from my mother and father respectively)

What does art mean to you?
“My father was an engineer who went to college on a music scholarship. My mother was a ballerina in her youth. Sundays in my house were filled with Broadway show tunes from my father’s cast soundtracks, accompanied by my mother dancing. My first experience with theater and film was as a three-year-old on “Romper Room.” 

Film and theater allowed me to catch early glimpses of the world, gave me my closest lifelong friends, and influenced my views socially and politically. My love of the arts even led me to Marty Kelso – we met in an acting class in college, performing a scene from “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” How’s that for an auspicious first date? (If this play is before your time, Google it).”

Dee Grano
Vice President of Public Relations, Award-Winning Madonna Impersonator  

What does art mean to you?
“This may come as a shock to everyone, but I was a theater major. I discovered my love of the performing arts in eighth grade, shortly after I transferred to a Catholic school in the middle of the year. Everyone already had their friend groups and not many were willing to reach out until I was cast in a school play. I found myself on stage, in a red formal dress and blonde wig, covered in thick makeup and rhinestones, lip synching to Madonna’s “Material Girl.” (Performing this at a Catholic school was my first introduction to dramatic irony.) The next day, I was invited to sit at the cool kids’ table for lunch.  

Being in that play didn’t change who I was. It helped me see that being myself was plenty good enough. At a very difficult time in my family’s life, theater gave me a place to escape, make new friends and create something magical. I performed all through high school, college and beyond. I acted professionally here and there, and even won a couple of awards. 

My theater experience taught me confidence, teamwork, resilience and how to think critically, making a dramatic impact on my life, pun intended.”

Karen Barrett
Brand Strategist, Broadway Musical Fangirl 

What does art mean to you?
“It’s almost impossible to define what art means to me and my family in just a few words. I have loved theater all my life, performing in musical theater in high school and college and minoring in it, as well. My husband is an artist with a degree in illustration so art is something that is a vital part of our children’s daily lives, whether it be singing along to Broadway soundtracks, drawing or painting at the kitchen table, seeing live theater (which we do often) or visiting museums (also a family favorite). Art is excitement, art is passion, art is unifying, art is the element of surprise, art is open-minded, art is motivating, art is universal, art is a teacher and guide, art is impactful and art is everything to us.”

Amanda Fowler
Digital Strategist, Living Room Interpretive Dance Performer 

What does art mean to you?
“I grew up with an appreciation of art but my relationship with it deepened during a six-and-a-half-year tenure on the marketing team at Charlotte Ballet. As a bit of an introvert, my emotions are less on my sleeve and more encased in Russian doll layers of boxes. My first day on the job, I sat in a dress rehearsal of a performance showcasing new works for the company. Enthralled in the artistry, I found myself with tears rolling down my cheeks next to the boss I’d just met hours before. Since then I’ve been known to cry in public at countless performances and exhibitions.

Art has the ability to elicit emotion like little else I’ve experienced. It mutes the activity of the day, the relentless spinning thoughts in my brain and the anxieties of everyday life. It catapults me into stories, realities and relationships outside of my own experiences and my life is richer for it. 

Though I haven’t performed publicly since a choreographed routine to C+C Music Factory’s “Everybody Dance Now” in my elementary school talent show, I will continue sharing new moves with my dogs in the living room.”

Kristi Sweeny
Account Supervisor, Dancing Machine 

What does art mean to you?
“My mom loves to tell the story of my first dance recital at age two when I was petrified to walk onto the stage at the Theater of Performing Arts in New Orleans. I cried and cried but finally joined the others and once I stepped foot on that stage, I didn’t want to leave. I guess you can say the rest is history as I went on to dance for more than 20 years and never passed up an opportunity to be on stage – whether it was my debut as Diana Ross in the middle school lip sync contest (took home the gold two years in a row) or dancing with a group of California Raisins (remember those?!) in the summer camp talent show. I’ve even been known to put brush to canvas from time to time. 

During my formative years, the arts gave me a way to develop and express my creative side, helped me gain confidence, gave me a community that became like family and opened my eyes to the beauty that surrounds us – and for those things I am eternally grateful. These days, I love sharing my passion of the arts with my two children by enjoying cultural experiences of all types with them.”

The post Kcomm Loves the Arts appeared first on Kelso Communications.