Flu Vaccination Digital Ambassadors Set the Stage for NIVW with Week-Long Blog Relay

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In the week leading up to NIVW 2014, seven CDC partners committed to posting about flu vaccination one day of the week as part of a “Countdown to NIVW Blog Relay.” The relay generated seven individual blog posts, 124 social media posts from participating partners’ cross-promotion, and 21.6 million total impressions—all by the time NIVW had just kicked off. Partners treated the activity as a true relay with each being responsible for publishing one blog post on each day and providing a “relay hand-off” that directed readers to the following day’s post on the next partner’s blog.

All relay partners are Flu Vaccination Digital Ambassadors, with five in this role since the 2013-2014 season and two newly initiated in the 2014-2015 season. While the blog posts served as the heart of the relay, partner social media posts added value to the initiative by widely promoting each blog. The relay activity provided a collaborative opportunity that magnified each partner’s post and, therefore, increased awareness about flu vaccination and NIVW.

Relay participants and blog posts:

12/1 – A Place for Mom: National Influenza Vaccination Week: The Importance for Seniors
12/2 – Nurses Who Vaccinate: Nurses Need to Lead the Way When it Comes to Flu Shots
12/3 – Moms Who Vax/Voices for Vaccines: What We Didn’t Miss, Thanks to the Flu Vaccine
12/4 – Shot of Prevention: Only Parents Can Prevent Today’s Children From Becoming Tomorrow’s Flu Statistic
12/5 – Healtheo360: The Importance of Flu Vaccination for People with Chronic Illness #NIVW
12/6 – Kathi MacNaughton – HealthCentral: National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) – Did You Get Your Flu Shot Yet?
12/7 – Kristina Duda – About.com Cold & Flu: When is the Best Time to Get A Flu Shot? Now!

Do you have questions about this event or about CDC’s Flu Vaccination Digital Ambassadors Program? If so, please contact Julie Yegen at julieyegen@westat.com.

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Submit the following information to fluinbox@cdc.gov to have your success story featured here!

Write a 250 word (maximum) description of your success story including name of organization, any collaborating organizations, when the event took place (either last flu season or this flu season only), and any evaluation taken from the activity.
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Include contact information in case CDC follow up is needed. Please let us know if we can share your contact information within your success story in case other organizations would like to partner with you for future events.

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