 |
|
|
|
|
| Client Case Study: |
|
|
 |
National Institute of Health (NIH)—The Fellows Project |
Challenge: |
NIH is the primary government agency working toward important medical discoveries that improve human health. In what is considered one of the most prestigious and competitive fellowships in the American medical community, each year 250 of the nation’s brightest medical students are chosen as NIH fellows.
In order to facilitate a richer experience for the fellows, NIH needed an online community to support the culminating program of the fellowship—a three day conference at NIH’s Bethesda, Maryland headquarters.
In addition to serving as a virtual welcome area, NIH wanted the online community to archive conference presentations, offer areas for announcements and continued discussion, and ultimately serve as a post-conference professional networking community for the fellows. |
iCohere Solution: |
To promote the networking and educational potential for the fellowship’s conference, NIH enlisted iCohere to build an online community to meet the program’s networking goals and to serve as an educational tool for fellows to reference before and after the face-to face event. Fellows were invited to visit the online community several weeks in advance to introduce themselves and get to know other fellows.
During the conference itself, the site served as a virtual home with announcements, bulletin boards, calendars, and other information. Face-to-face presentations were made available on the site, along with discussion areas for continued dialogue and networking tools to help maintain relationships developed during the event. |
Summary of Success: |
The iCohere platform helped NIH fellows develop a working knowledge of each other prior to the conference, which, in turn, led to a more productive experience—fellows began collaboration and networking immediately.
The NIH staff was pleased with the streamlined communication and ease of use of the iCohere platform, and fellows responded positively to having a virtual home base for their conference experience. Users could access presentations, discussions and networking areas.
Once the face-to-face event was over, fellows used the iCohere site for continued networking and to reference archived presentations. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| back to top |
Copyright 2008 iCohere, Inc. |
| |
|
|
| |
