Last week, in collaboration with The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), we were pleased to launch their 2011-2012 annual reports – both dynamic, online explorations into the year gone by.

High Road Communications is proud to continue working with TOH and OHRI in different areas, most recently re-launching worldclasscare.ca and tomorrowscaretoday.ca to highlight accomplishments from 2011.  The result is two functional and visually stunning sites that offer stakeholders, and the community in general, easy access to compelling content. And similar to last year’s online-only reports, which we were also happy to work with TOH and OHRI on, these demonstrate their commitment to staying green.

Building on last year’s success, for 2011-2012 we focused on taking storytelling to the next level – and the stories TOH and OHRI shared are simply incredible. 

Our team attended a truly innovative neurosurgery and learned from surgeons across many disciplines how cutting-edge technology and expertise is helping TOH’s talented team change practice and save lives through minimally invasive surgery.

We also interviewed a Canadian diplomat injured in Afghanistan and saw firsthand how TOHRC’s innovative virtual reality technology has made all the difference in her rehabilitation.

Finally, we spoke with OHRI researchers and discovered how stem cell research is making tomorrow’s healthcare possible for today.

In order to celebrate the people who power these world-renowned institutions and showcase these amazing written and video case studies, we also stepped up the design and functionality of this year’s reports with:

• Engaging design and compelling photography: the design of each report highlight some real, behind-the-scenes moments with staff, volunteers and patients using vibrant photography and captivating video to give users a glimpse of a day at the hospital.

• User-friendly, any time, anywhere experience: Accessible from any device, information in these reports can be found within just two clicks from the homepage. Background photography scales to size (eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling), and touch-friendly mobile versions are optimized specifically for iPhone and iPad—which many hospital staff depend on for their day-to-day workflow.

• Shareability: Highly social, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are baked in to the experience, allowing both reports to easily be shared across the community, instead of simply key stakeholders.

All in all, we had the opportunity to meet passionate staff and volunteers, patients with incredible stories of struggle, recovery and triumph, and researchers that are making leaps and bounds in their fields.

High Road is honoured to be a part of sharing these stories, and want to congratulate TOH and OHRI on another wonderful year of patient care, research and creating hope for the future.

Be sure to check out the TOH 2011 – 2012 Annual Report and OHRI 2011 – 2012 Annual Report.

Photo Credit: beheardaustin.com, Ed Lallo

High Road’s Katherine Fletcher teamed up with Sun Life Financial’s Darin Diehl this week, to talk about the power of content marketing at the IABC World Conference in Chicago.

If you weren’t able to attend the conference, IABC’s Ed Lallo published a great summary of some of the insights shared.

He writes:

“The digital audience is become more sophisticated daily.  Setting up a static site where the information doesn’t change, or buying advertising and clicks, is ‘so yesterday.’  Every company is now a media company.

 

‘Companies must think like publishers to strategically use social media and engage third-party influencers – all in an effort to support overall business goals,’ explained Darin Diehl, assistant vice president of digital communications for Canada’s Sun Life Financial, to more than 150 attendees at the IABC World Conference in Chicago.  To enable the company to tell their story to a wider audience, the company created BrigherLife.ca.

 

According to Diehl, and his co-presenter Katherine Fletcher, a senior vice president at High Road Communications, BrigherLife.ca is a consumer-focused portal for sharing ideas about money, health and family.  Through the use of content and tools on finances, health, family, working life and retirement, the website and its social extensions provides a forum to engage Canadians in the context of the practical challenges and opportunities they face in their everyday lives.”

On Wednesday, June 26^th, High Road Communications teamed up with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) to kick off the 100-day countdown to the CIBC Run for the Cure on September 30th.

In a sea of pink, we were joined on the streets of Toronto by CityNews reporter Cynthia Mulligan, as well as CBCF Ontario region staff, volunteers and CIBC representatives and summer interns. Colourful, loud and excited, our mission was to remind Torontonians to join the movement for the next 100 days and help surpass the GTA’s CIBC Run for the Cure fundraising goal of $7 million.

As people watched us parade from Commerce Court to the University of Toronto chanting ‘here we come, for the run’, our hope was that others would be inspired to participate, donate or fundraise.

Whether you’ve personally been touched by breast cancer, it’s never too early to imagine a life without breast cancer.

With 100 days until the run, the High Road Communications team is continuing our ‘Road to the Run’ journey. Register and join the HRC team on September 30th!

 Who are you running for?