We Track. You Act! A Case Study in Online Advertising from CDC (20m Lecture)

Abstract: During August 2013, CDC’s National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program launched the We Track, You Act! online advertising campaign using three platforms: Facebook, Google AdWords, and Advertising.com. Because of the highly customizable nature of online ads, limited information is available about the exact methods and efficacy of campaigns. This makes it difficult to determine the relative success of similar online advertising campaigns. In sharing our experience, CDC’s Tracking Program seeks to give others a touchstone by which to compare their campaigns and to provide lessons learned in developing and implementing an online campaign.

The goal of the online ads was to drive visitors to CDC’s We Track, You Act! webpage. The webpage summarizes how data, information, and resources on the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (Tracking Network) can be used by different audiences, including public health leaders, healthcare professionals, and parents.

CDC targeted the online ads to two main audience groups informed by previous research. The ad platforms used characteristics of the audiences, such as age, occupation, and interests to determine ad placement. Each ad platform uses different ad formats from text-only to thumbnail-sized images and banner-sized graphics. CDC designed different ads to meet the requirements for each platform.

Data collected from the three ad platforms show that the ads were seen nearly 23 million times and clicked on more than 12,000 times. While all platforms directed viewers to the We Track, You Act! webpage, Google AdWords had the greatest return on investment.

Lessons learned from this campaign will inform future online advertisements by CDC’s Tracking Program. In addition, CDC will use the outcomes from the We Track. You Act! campaign as a baseline with which to compare future campaigns.  

Reduce your carbon Footprint: Learn how to use technology in innovated ways to better your company (Drop In Learning Lab)

Is your organization heavily invested in developing a sustainable environment? Learn how your internal practices can help reduce your footprint. Learn what people are doing and how they are automating their processes and going green. Discover technological innovations for managing code enforcement in the EH industry. Use technology to make employees more efficient with Food Permits and Inspections, Restaurant Scores through a Portal, and a Citizen Connect (Complaints and Compliments).

Building Capacity through Leadership & Data Visualization (Drop-In Learning Lab)

As leaders within your organization, your staff and community are counting on you to set a strategic course that will fulfill your mission. There are so many metrics at work. How you impact the health of the community is measured by monitoring regulatory programs, costs, fees, staffing, training, trends, and responding in emergencies. How do you maintain flexibility, stay on course, and gauge your effectiveness?

In this drop-in lab, get your hands on measurement tools that leaders in the environmental health arena are using day to day and when it counts. With the help of modern data systems, leadership training, and visual dashboards, these leaders monitor and optimize the critical activities, even in the face of reduced resources. You’re invited to dive into data visualization widgets that make the most out of what you’ve got. Attendees will see how others are making the complex seem simple.

Whether its routine business or inspired new thinking, visualizing and conveying the right information helps drive outcomes. Let us help you focus on the right activities at the right time. Examples include effective inspector routing (a fantastic new green initiative), inspector effectiveness, risk monitoring, public disclosure, automation rates, elements of the FDA Voluntary Program Standards, budget monitoring, staffing levels, public/private data sharing, and many others.

 
Attendees will walk away from this learning lab with applicable ways to fuel their strategic course and mission.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CHANGE: A LOCAL EXPERIENCE OF GOING FROM FAIR TO GREAT (50m Lecture)

In the early 2000s our Environmental Health (EH) Department conducted an internal services assessment. The assessment revealed EH was lagging behind in the use of technology, policies and procedures were outdated or nonexistent, the most qualified staff was not being promoted and productivity was low. The Department embarked on a plan to rectify these deficiencies. Inspection districts were reorganized based upon times required to inspect each facility type to:

1) Establish an appropriate workload, and
2) Balance workloads across districts.

Performance measures were established. A database solution was purchased as well as laptops for field use. An Information Technology (IT) person was hired to administer the new database, create reports and train staff. The interviewing and hiring process was altered to ensure persons were promoted on skills and abilities, not just experience and longevity. Key core skills such as: positive attitude, problem solving, excellent communication, customer service orientation, work ethic, and respect for authority; things that are not easy to teach were promoted. Internal policies and procedure were written and enforced. Many staff embraced this change, but the majority did not. The majority felt threatened by this change. Fear, entitlement and complacency had to be overcome.

The management team stuck tenaciously to their goals and direction, in spite of times of intense opposition. Slowly over time, the organization began to turn and move in the new direction and over the course of several years made a complete turn. The organization as a whole now embraces this culture. Since the early 2000s, food and public pool inspection productivity has risen 152%; morale has improved; and new innovations, technology and advancements win awards each year. Customer service survey scores average 4.6 out of 5.0. Approximately 97% of staff now embraces the Divisions direction. The next generation of leaders possesses core skill sets and is prepared to lead the organization into the future. The organization is now viewed by many as a leader in the field of Environmental Health.

Enhancing Planning and Preparedness: Development of an e-learning tool for chemical incidents (Learning Lab Hands-On Demonstration)

Chemical incidents can occur at any time and any place. Incidents include chemical accidents such as fires, explosions, leakages and spills, resulting in potential widespread contamination of air, water, soil and food. This may result in community exposure, public anxiety and potential health implications as demonstrated by incidents in Seveso (Italy, 1976), Bhopal (India, 1984), Enschede (Holland, 2000), Toulouse (France, 2001), Baton Rouge (USA 2003),Neyshabur (Iran, 2004) and recently in Lac-Megantic (Canada, 2013) . Such incidents reflect huge societal dependence upon chemicals, many of which are toxic (toxic industrial chemicals, TICs) and which are produced in vast quantities (high production volume chemicals; HPVs). The toxicity of chemicals is further underlined by their deliberate release, as demonstrated by  the Tokyo Sarin incident (1995) and alleged recent release in Syria.

The presentation will provide an overview of the e-learning tool developed by the WHO Collaborating Centre for chemical incidents. Comprising lectures, case studies, audio-visual materials, exercises and self -assessment  questionnaires, the presentation will provide a practical overview of this freely-available module. It will be of benefit to a multi-disciplinary audience, including policy makers, emergency personnel, public health and emergency physicians, emergency planners , environmental health officers and toxicologists alike. In accordance with the International Health Regulations (2005) it provides a basis for enhancing capacity and resilience for chemical public health emergencies, thereby contributing to planning and preparedness and safeguarding the public. It will culminate in the presentation of an exercise based upon a true incident involving widespread air pollution and subsequent public health concern.