Like most of us, this last year has been unlike any other for college students. From spending our 21st birthdays popping champagne in our childhood homes to having our college activities and events upended, we’ve managed to power through the previously unimaginable.

When it comes to our professional lives, the coveted “perfect internship” also looks a lot different than in years past. As we close out the semester and more offices—including Reservoir’s—begin to transition to in-person work, we now have an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which the unique challenges of interning during a pandemic have helped shape us into the resilient young professionals we are today. Here are some key lessons we’ve learned while interning remotely:

Know When To Speak Up

Interns at Reservoir benefit from a great support system, including regular manager check-ins, team meetings, and lunch and learns. But communication is more difficult in a virtual environment—you can’t stop by a teammate’s desk if a quick question comes up. This generation of pandemic interns has learned to speak up and ask for direction when needed, a critical skill in any profession.

Stay Organized

No one is looking over your shoulder as a remote intern, so organization is key. You might begin the day sifting through emails and Microsoft Teams messages to create an itemized to-do list of the day’s tasks. That list is valuable and will guide you through the workday…that is, until you’re faced with an additional last-minute deadline. Learning to juggle your regular duties—from morning news media scans to research projects—and adjust when a new deliverable pops up is a valuable skill for any work environment, especially if you’re working remotely.

Take Breaks

While working on a variety of different projects from the comfort of your own home, it can be easy to get swept into work and lose track of time. With pandemic workforce burnout creeping up on professionals in all fields, we’ve learned the importance of taking breaks. It’s not always easy to take that time, especially when you’re just starting out and trying to become more acclimated to a new work environment, but research shows that breaks actually make you more productive. A recent study from Microsoft found back-to-back meetings can decrease your ability to focus and engage, causing a measurable buildup in the brain of stress-related beta waves. Incorporating walks into your routine is one way to add breaks into your day, and it may even boost your brainstorming ability. A recent study from Stanford University examining mental tasks that require imagination found walking boosted creative thinking among participants.

Connect with Teammates

Connecting with colleagues is a critical part of any internship—but that can be challenging in a virtual environment. Fortunately, our team at Reservoir has taken the time to form connections with each of us, while also giving us a feel for the company’s culture. Every day at Reservoir is an opportunity to learn and meet new people, each with their own unique experiences across the media and healthcare continuum. “Sitting down” with teammates a quick coffee chat has helped simulate those key water cooler conversations from the comfort of our own homes.

In a year of many challenges, the shift that we’ve all been forced to undertake has made us more resilient, driving us to develop key skills faster than previous generations before us. From shuffling between online classes over Zoom to joining client calls on Microsoft Teams, we’ve all been able to learn and grow in ways we didn’t think possible. Starting an internship during a pandemic has made us the young professionals we are today and we’re grateful for that experience—even if that means missing out on the delicious snacks in the office kitchen.

In this era, you’re lucky if you’re going up against just one tough news cycle. The reality is more complex – it’s an always evolving media landscape that seems to ask “what have you done for me lately?”

During my time at the House Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I saw first-hand the power of Uncle Sam’s megaphone. When the government acts, it literally creates news. But while their reach was (and is) tremendous, getting reporters’ attention in a busy news cycle still meant following the basics – no matter how large or small the story.

Those same lessons can be utilized today regardless of what industry you’re in or what premier listservs may or may not be at your disposal. Here are my tips for thriving in the non-stop news cycles that dominate the Beltway and beyond.

1. Show – don’t tell – a compelling story to put something memorable in those inboxes.

All of my journalism professors were right. The “why” is always more compelling and allows your audience to experience what you’re conveying, instead of just hearing it.

When E&C began working on additional legislation to combat the opioid crisis in 2018, it was paramount to show the heartbreaking impact the epidemic was having on our communities. By working closely with families that been robbed of a loved one or aiding one on the road to recovery, the committee was able to help them share their stories, and impact the narrative and legislative process around it.

The committee built relationships with these families and captured their experiences with on-camera, documentary-style interviews. Those stories became the root of legislative priorities, many of which were included in the final policy package. By sharing compelling – and often relatable – stories, the back and forth among lawmakers and staff was different. There was little push and pull on the actual policies, and instead broader conversations on the extent of specific provisions and the funding mechanisms.

The result? The Support for Patients and Communities Act, the largest legislative effort to address an epidemic (at the time), became law.

2. Shine a spotlight on the patients to detail the impact of the policy.

All politics – and policies – are local. It’s easy to get lost in complex data sets and wonky regulations. While these elements are essential components of any policy discussion, they don’t need to be the focus of your media outreach.

Instead, share the patient’s story – what makes them unique and what makes them just like you and me. By marrying compelling personal narratives and visuals with data, it makes a disease – for example – more tangible and the related policy ultimately more impactful.

This was the nexus of our approach communicating with the press and key stakeholders about the 21st Century Cures Act. And while there might be some debate about whether or not we sent too many emails spotlighting individuals and their stories, no one doubts the impact the law will have on unleashing new cures and innovative treatments for our families, friends and neighbors. #CuresNow lives on (and is right on cue for tip #3)!

3. Use your subject line strategically – and don’t forget to have some fun with it.

While often an afterthought, the subject line is your first and typically only shot to get noticed. Even if you have a large megaphone, your subject line is literally up against dozens of others vying for attention – and all are one click away from the trash. Before you hit send, craft a subject line that shows why your email is a must-read item.

During my time on Capitol Hill, I was notorious for my subject lines – often making a pop culture connection to complicated policy and utilizing alliterative state nicknames or mottos. It helped ensure emails were opened, but it also helped maintain friendly relationships with reporters.

Using subject lines strategically was especially important as we worked to get the 21st Century Cures Act over the finish line. The bipartisan effort was declared dead on numerous occasions over the two-year period, but by continuing to push out important patient stories and resources that no one else had – with notable subject lines – we remained a must-read entity. As a result, the press continued to report on the effort, and pressure mounted for a deal to be reached. In a sea of endless press releases, E&C wasn’t just driving the policy – E&C was driving the news. And all too often, that started and ended with an e-mail that was opened because the subject line was just that clickable.

4. Quality over quantity (of reporters).

The most successful pitch isn’t necessarily the one generating the most coverage, but the one generating the right coverage. Worry less on the size of your media lists and more on whether each contact is in the right place.

When was the last time you updated your media contacts and their beats? If it hasn’t been this year, now is the perfect time to do so. It’s a daunting task, but you’ll thank yourself in the long run. Having accurate information for your media targets will ensure your pitching gets to the right places – to those most informed on your issue. The coverage will speak for itself.

All eyes have been on the biopharmaceutical industry for nearly a year as the world followed the journey towards the development of an effective COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, the good news of FDA’s decision to allow emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine candidates also revealed the gravity of persistent public misconceptions regarding vaccines that rely on messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology. This education gap continues to threaten the uptake of these life-saving vaccines today.

The past year has shed light on the dangerous repercussions of a fractured channel of communication between scientists and the public. Widespread misunderstandings about infection, viruses, masks and mRNA have raised barriers that harm our ability to confront the pandemic. The need for effective healthcare communication is more apparent now than ever before.

Without strategic efforts to bridge these gaps, we are at risk of suboptimal utilization of life-saving innovations—both now, and in the years to come. As my colleague Greg pointed out in a previous blog post, healthcare communications will play a pivotal role in the successful adoption of innovative cell and gene therapies. But what exactly does that look like?

A solid grasp of the high-level science behind these new-to-consumer therapies will bolster our efforts by giving decision-makers a comprehensive understanding of how to best harness the potential of the many cell and gene therapies on the horizon.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the public reception of RNA therapeutics—from the COVID-19 vaccines to novel cancer treatments—it’s that communicating the science in a clear way can help to strategically reshape the scientific narrative and optimize public understanding and trust in these monumental achievements.

Current hesitancy about adequate coverage, reimbursement, and utilization of RNA therapeutics stems in large part from uncertainty around clinical benefits and durability of a new, unfamiliar product. The lesser-known fact, however, is that RNA therapeutics are far from unfamiliar—these therapies have already been around for decades, as RNA therapeutic experimentation began roughly 70 years ago and the first therapeutic hit the market in 1998.

Reframing the narrative surrounding RNA therapeutics to incorporate their robust history has the potential to increase stakeholder confidence in these therapies and quell concerns about clinical benefits and durability. Simultaneously, a continued spotlight on their novel characteristics and vast potential to transform medicine can be a powerful tool to drive excitement and investment. Getting this narrative right has the potential to shape the landscape, drive awareness among key stakeholders and ultimately change and save patient lives. It’s why we do the work we do at Reservoir every day—and as the RNA therapeutics space continues to grow and evolve, this work will be all the more important.

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout presents a meaningful learning opportunity for scientific and health communications. Not only does the development of these mRNA vaccines draw attention to the burgeoning field of RNA therapeutics, but it also sheds light on the need for clear communication. With new therapies and technologies on the horizon, now is the time to learn from our experiences and prepare for the challenges to come.

If you aren’t familiar with TikTok by now, you should be. The social platform was the most downloaded app in 2020, boasting 850 million monthly active users. While TikTok is most popular among younger generations, the platform isn’t just for kids – 18-to-24-year-olds make up just 42% of its users, and the Wall Street Journal even recently profiled a handful of senior citizens going viral on the app.

TikTok trends have key implications for the healthcare industry. Recent research suggests demand for healthcare-related voices on the platform outpaces the current supply – demonstrating a real opportunity for health professionals and others to weigh in on important topics, and potentially reach millions.

Recently, physicians, public health organizations and others have been using the platform to spread awareness about important topics such as women’s health, debunk myths about vaccines and encourage positive behavior changes like quitting vaping. But TikTok isn’t just for influencers—some of the most established brands in healthcare use the platform to amplify important public health information. For example, during a surge of new COVID cases ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Cleveland Clinic used a now-viral TikTok to encourage followers to wear a mask, practice social distancing and hand-washing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The video earned 280,000 likes and used a popular hashtag, #MaskUp, which has gained more than 400 million views on the platform to date.

If you’re ready to take the leap and integrate TikTok into your healthcare communications strategy, the tried and true rules of healthcare communications still apply. Here are some key considerations before you take the leap:

1. Listen to trends

At Reservoir, we have a pulse on a wide range of issues facing healthcare clients, leveraging our expertise to identify the right voices to deliver the right messages that will resonate with key audiences. This often includes research, stakeholder mapping, and a deep understanding of the shifting policy and regulatory challenges facing our clients.

In the same vein, “going viral” on TikTok does not happen by chance – it’s strategic. Videos that tend go viral leverage the use of popular hashtags and sounds, short and simple messages, and strategic timing for uploading the final product.

Staying up to date on TikTok trends will give you an advantage because there could be a trending topic that your organization has the expertise to weigh in on, like vaccine awareness or COVID-19 precautions.

In addition to tracking these trends on the app homepage, following established creators within your industry can help you anticipate what’s next and keep your message relevant on the platform. Popular creators in the healthcare community include Dr. Austin Chiang (@austinchiangmd), Dr. Rose Marie Leslie (@drleslie) and Dr. Jennifer Lincoln (@drjenniferlincoln), all of whom have reached millions of users with their videos. You may also find inspiration from the World Health Organization (@who) and the CDC Foundation (@cdcfound), accounts with pioneering educational content.

2. Information is king

In established healthcare communications strategies, “Myth vs. Fact” one pagers are often developed as part of a suite of materials to support proactive and reactive communications opportunities alike. The same tactic is also well-suited for reaching audiences on TikTok.

Providers and other public health experts have gained notoriety on TikTok for dispelling myths and common misconceptions. For example, Dr. Austin Chiang, self-identified as the “Medical Mythbuster” is one of several famous TikTokers whose mission it is to debunk medical myths. Dr. Chiang’s TikTok video responding to misconceptions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine received 180,000 likes and thousands of shares. With more than 13 million likes on his videos, Dr. Chiang represents a strong example of successfully fact-sharing important health information via TikTok.

3. To build champions, make it personal

Creating, building and maintaining champions is critical to a successful public affairs campaign. Even before the dawn of TikTok, advocates have been pushing the envelope to creatively engage audiences and build community through challenges. In 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge raised $220 million for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and powerfully raised awareness of the disease across the globe.

Today, TikTok challenges are gaining momentum in the healthcare space. The Truth Initiative’s #ImmuneUpVapesDown campaign asks users to come up with their own immune-boosting drink, all while raising awareness of the dangers of vaping. The campaign has earned more than 20 million views.

“Dueting” videos is another feature on TikTok that can boost a TikTok profile, that leverages existing content. A TikTok duet is a way for a person to communicate, collaborate, or respond to another user’s video. For example, Dr. Jennifer Lincoln’s duet of an educational video on birth control allowed her to react, respond and weigh in on the content – leveraging her expertise to educate her audience and expand her reach. This duet has received more than 50,000 likes to date.

TikTok is not going away anytime soon and has proven to be a powerful tool for healthcare professionals and public health organizations to inform and engage. Today, there is a significant opportunity for thought leadership and health education on one of the most downloaded applications worldwide. Adding TikTok to a broader communications strategy may help reach new audiences, increase stakeholder engagement and amplify messages in creative, new ways.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the dire consequences of what can happen when systems, policy and society do not keep pace with the new challenges, scientific advancements, and broader trends shaping the healthcare landscape.

As we gradually progress towards a post-COVID era, we’ll also confront a different, but significant, paradigm shift in our healthcare system: the emergence of gene and cell therapies with a one-time administration and long-term durability of effects. With a single treatment, cell and gene therapies hold the promise of treating the root cause of disease at the cellular and genetic levels – with the possibility of permanently curing patients of their conditions.

The number of approved gene and cell therapies available to patients is growing rapidly, from a half dozen in 2020 to a dozen and more in the coming years. Patients, policymakers and other healthcare stakeholders will need to adapt from our current system that is based on treating disease with ongoing chronic treatment, to a new system of one-time therapies.

As the emergence of these therapies accelerates, healthcare communications will play an important role in their successful adoption – particularly for patients, policymakers and other healthcare stakeholders. Here are three key areas that communications and engagement can support.

Public Trust in One-Time Cell and Gene Therapies

Public trust in cell and gene therapies will be a gating factor to their widespread adoption. Particularly for diseases for which chronic treatments are available – such as hemophilia, diabetes and cystic fibrosis – effective communications will be critical to promote trust in these therapies, which often have less data on durability of effect.

Policymaker Awareness and Understanding

One-time cell and gene therapies will necessitate a range of policy solutions to address barriers across the healthcare system. From newborn screening and diagnostics to coverage, payment and delivery – healthcare policy communications will be critical to navigate, shape and strategize around the policy, political, regulatory and media environments.

Stakeholder Alignment on Access and Equity

All stakeholders – patients, manufacturers, payers, providers – will need to align on a shared vision for a future healthcare system built around cell and gene therapies with one-time administration and long-term durability of effect and build a system that can successfully adapt to them. Healthcare communications will be crucial to develop perspectives and evidence-based policy positions from a variety of viewpoints. Maintaining strong alliances and relationships will also be critical to the success of these therapies – which will require support from conveners like Reservoir that possess relationships across the entire healthcare stakeholder continuum.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated, paradigm shifts in healthcare have required rapid adaptation by the public and policymakers. However, public opinion and perception, as well as policymaker awareness and prioritization, have not often changed at the same pace as the surrounding environmental trends.

Cell and gene therapies are just the tip of the iceberg – and new technologies will beckon even more rapid adaptation. This is where healthcare communications will play a central role – today, tomorrow and for years to come – to help drive the changes needed across the environment to ensure our system and society can keep up with future paradigm shifts in healthcare.

Washington, D.C. – Laurie Labuda, a public affairs and communications leader with more than two decades of experience in policy and corporate communications, joined Reservoir Communications Group as a Managing Director, broadening the firm’s expertise in reputation management, crisis and litigation, policy, and corporate social responsibility.

Laurie has been a trusted advisor and senior leader for clients and colleagues alike, particularly on privacy and security related communications, including cyber preparedness and breach simulation exercises, as well as post-incident communications on behalf of clients in industries including financial services, retail, technology, and health care.

Laurie previously served as Founder and President of Alton Place Group, a specialized D.C.-based communications firm, and as Deputy Managing Director of the Washington, D.C. office of APCO Worldwide, a global public affairs and strategic communications firm. Prior to joining APCO, she served as the principal administrator of the Committee on Consumer Policy at the OECD in Paris and as Special Advisor to the Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where she handled online privacy and consumer protection issues. She joined the FTC from the White House where she served as Staff Director for the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs.

Reservoir also announced that Sydney Bonds and Marlee Kosakowski joined as Associates. Sydney was previously an intern and Project Fellow at the United Nations (UN) Foundation supporting global vaccine advocacy efforts for the Shot@Life initiative. Before joining the UN Foundation, Sydney interned at APCO Worldwide where she helped the Health Practice team navigate complex health policy issues for various clients. Marlee comes to Reservoir from the Cancer Study Group, where she helped Fortune 500 companies address cancer within their employee populations. Through this position, Marlee researched topics including payment reform, financial toxicity, and drug pricing. Marlee also worked with the American Society of Clinical Oncology as an international affairs intern, supporting the organization’s global health and education programs.

Policymaking doesn’t happen in a vacuum – it is a highly collaborative process between policymakers and the various constituencies they represent. Companies engage in this process to ensure the development of informed public policies that not only enable them to thrive and bring their products and services to the customers they serve, but also advance important societal goals. In this way, corporate advocacy is playing an increasingly crucial role in helping to address some of the most pressing challenges facing society today, including health disparities, climate change, and economic inequality.

But companies are ultimately just communities of individuals working together to achieve a shared purpose. As such, as companies build their public policy agendas and develop strategic plans for realizing their advocacy goals, they should consider policy-focused employee engagement as a critical component.

Below are just a few of the reasons employee engagement on public policy can bring value for companies, employees, and the policymaking process.

The Benefits of Engaging Employees on Public Policy

• • Engagement provides information that employees want. The Business Industry Political Action Committee (BIPAC), a bipartisan organization promoting the political interests of the business community, has extensively surveyed employees across the country about their views on policy-focused employee engagement programs. Their research has consistently found that the majority of employees want to hear from their employers about policy issues impacting their company and/or industry and that employees view their employer as the most credible source for this information. In fact, of the employees that had received public policy information from their employers, more than 80% said that the information was helpful in deciding how to vote in an election.

• • Engagement helps employees have a stronger appreciation for their company and their industry. Policy-focused engagement can help employees understand the value of their company and their industry within the context of the broader economy. This knowledge also helps demonstrate the various ways their company and industry are contributing to society by advocating for public policies that help address major societal and economic problems. According to BIPAC’s research, employees that receive policy information from their employers are more likely to think their company is a good corporate citizen, that the information fosters a stronger employer-employee relationship, and that they have a deeper understanding of their company’s mission and values.

• Engagement empowers employees to become advocates. By educating employees about how significantly public policies can impact the ability of businesses to succeed, policy-focused engagement can build an army of champions that can help advance a company’s and/or industry’s policy agenda among policymakers and enhance its reputation among the general public. As BIPAC’s research has found, engagement programs make employees more informed citizens, increase their likelihood of civic participation, and make them more likely to say positive things about their company to friends and relatives. Why do engagement programs have such a significant impact? As former congressman and current BIPAC CEO Jim Gerlach notes, “employees care about their jobs and the success of their companies, and they want to have their voices heard in the electoral and legislative processes.” Ultimately, employee engagement programs can encourage those on frontlines of the business to participate in the public policy process, which can help support more sound and informed policymaking.

How Reservoir Can Support Policy-Focused Employee Engagement

As health policy and strategic communications experts, the Reservoir team is uniquely positioned to help healthcare companies develop impactful policy-focused employee engagement programs. From multi-session workshops with issue-specific modules, to FAQ resources that let employees have compelling responses to common tough questions at their fingertips, to detailed speaker’s notes to facilitate engaging presentations – our team can create a full suite of materials and programming to help companies educate their employees about the public policy issues that matter most to them and their industry.

For many companies, performance reviews fall at the end of the year heading into the New Year. This can be a stressful time for employees and their managers alike. After 20 years of participating on both sides of a performance review, I’ve noticed that most people don’t like hearing “constructive feedback” and most managers don’t like giving it.

Let’s face it. Most people want to be liked, and telling people things they don’t want to hear is awkward—at best.

So, with that in mind, let me suggest a few rules for managers that will make everyone happier in the long-run.

Get your facts straight. Don’t make general observations. Offer feedback (positive and/or negative) based on specific instances of behavior and performance.
Honesty is kindness. Pulling your punches doesn’t do anyone any favors in the long run. Of course, feedback should be respectful, but it needs to be real feedback—not squishy platitudes. Feedback also has to confront the tough issues and be clear about the consequences. For this to work best, it needs to be consistent throughout the year.
Top performers need feedback too. One of the hardest things as a manager is to review top performers and find helpful, constructive things to tell them. This is for two reasons: first, they may well have fewer areas where they need to improve; and, second, there may be nervousness about alienating those top performers when things are going so well. However, without feedback, top performers may assume that they are doing everything right until years later when weaknesses become more pronounced.
Avoid surprises. If you are giving feedback, it should be generally consistent with what you’ve shared over the course of the previous year. Of course, if you unearth issues through your due diligence process that you weren’t aware of during the year, you should share those, but also figure out how you can do more to identify those issues earlier on.
Don’t focus on irrelevant weaknesses. Sometimes, reviewers spend their time focusing on relatively small areas of weakness rather than recognizing core strengths. Go into a review with a clear sense of what is important for that particular employee’s growth and hone in on those issues.
Use the review to communicate values. Fundamentally, the review is an opportunity to reinforce the values of the organization. Every manager needs to understand and embrace those values and use the review as a chance to reinforce them.
Focus on the future. Reviews are given to successfully set employees up for what happens next. While summarizing feedback on past performance is helpful for context and goal-setting moving forward, the majority of the review should focus on the exciting, new adventures that lie ahead.
With these guideposts in mind, all of us at Reservoir wish you a happy, productive, and even cheerful—review season!

Just a few weeks ago, my colleagues and I participated in our annual retreat – though this year, admittedly, looked a bit different than in years past. Instead of gathering in a hotel conference room, we spent the day over Zoom discussing opportunities to strengthen and grow the company in the coming year. While many organizations engage in similar annual planning exercises, Reservoir’s annual retreat is unique – one where everyone at the firm plays a role and has an opportunity to contribute.

At Reservoir, we take a “One Team” approach to everything we do, seeking to foster an inclusive environment across all aspects of our work, especially when it comes to business development. Prior to our annual retreat, all employees are asked to rank their top choices of “Business Development Groups” – the focus areas of which may change year-to-year, depending on discrete opportunities identified by senior leaders.

Once assigned to a group, Reservoirians begin the research, analysis and brainstorming needed to develop a strategic approach to expanding the business in the particular focus area assigned to them. This could mean anything from developing or formalizing a discrete service offering, looking inwards to identify opportunities to make internal operations more efficient, or leveraging unique subject matter expertise to anticipate forthcoming trends in the policy environment or health care market.

No matter the focus area of the Business Development Group, each team is encouraged to conduct both primary and secondary research to understand what knowledge or resources currently exist within our organization and what industry-wide best practices might tell us about successful approaches. Ultimately, the team is tasked with developing a strategy or approach that builds off of this foundation and differentiates the firm.

After weeks of preparation, teams present the findings of their research and pitch their recommendations to the rest of the company. While there are no winners and losers like on Shark Tank, the goal is to convince everyone that your approach to growth in a particular area is well-researched, strategic and worth the time and resource investment. Once aligned, Group members move towards executing on the approach they developed, which will carry on throughout the next year.

What I think is most special about Reservoir’s annual retreat is that employees at all levels participate and have the opportunity to help shape the future of the company. As a Managing Associate, it’s an opportunity for me to further develop the skills needed to identify opportunities for business growth and execute successfully. It also enables collaboration with colleagues I may not typically engage with, as well as the ability to learn about new areas of health care policy, strategic communications and public affairs. It aligns us as a team toward a path forward, with everyone helping to shape that direction. And with a lovely all-staff dinner waiting on the other end of these presentations, it’s an annual event I always look forward to!