Health 2.0 by Twitter

Here’s my version of Short Attention Span Theater (which is pretty much what Twitter is anyway), of the recently concluded Health 2.0 Fall Conference, as I reported via Twitter. Note the juxtaposition between observation, commentary and snark.

Preconference sessions on Sunday: [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118085752008622080″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118087344766193664″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118087651160109056″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118179141274189825″]

Monday plenary sessions: [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118362364071518208″] This got someone from HealthTap to misinterpret what I had said: [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/HealthTap/status/118365108513673216″] To which I replied: [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118365613512073216″] (For the record, @CHCF is not the correct handle for the California HealthCare Foundation. It’s @CHCFnews.)

I also had an important question for HealthTap, one that so far has gone unanswered. [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118363924281303040″]

I retweeted/commented on many others’ tweets, too. [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118366901800935424″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/pjmachado/status/118366688705122304″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/pjmachado/status/118384207276949504″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/ekivemark/status/118389410910846977″]

I found quite a bit of news and lack of news being announced on stage. [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118383509172793344″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118384168316059649″]

And don’t take kindly to vagueness about the word “solution.” [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118390936257560576″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118391125554892800″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/grapealope/status/118391490748743680″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118393697674067968″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/grapealope/status/118394480213766144″] (I get the sense @grapealope is among the many Silicon Valley cheerleaders who came not to a conference but a pep rally. I bet the Kool-Aid tasted great.)

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118402107702394880″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/rdesain/status/118486784484192256″]

Then came the lamest presentation of them all, in a plenary session no less, a demo of an overly cutesy “life game” called Mindbloom. The presentation was accompanied by distracting sound effects of birds chirping the entire time, and the game itself featured a guide character called the “enlightening bug.” My impression? [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118492715196497920″]

Others weren’t so harsh, but at least had questions about the purpose and appeal. [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/pjmachado/status/118492523277729793″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118492973959888896″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/pjmachado/status/118493232614215680″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118493422821715968″]

I later asked fellow realist John Moore of Chilmark Research this question: [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118498456888279040″]

At least I wasn’t the only one worn out by having to separate the wheat from the chaff. [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/familyhealthguy/status/118479710656278529″]

I did tone down my rhetoric a bit on Tuesday, though. [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118569075063529472″]

OK, maybe only a bit, especially after Microsoft’s Mike Raymer said, “It was good to have two companies create a marketplace,” in reference to Microsoft’s HealthVault and the soon-to-be-departed Google Health. [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118799888640258048″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118800555463290880″]

I highlighted what I saw as good points: [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/2healthguru/status/118706082238562305″] [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118706473646817281″]

And I asked a question that I’d love to hear an answer to: [blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/nversel/status/118801288849920002″]

I would be less likely to tune out certain sessions if there were more related to healthcare and less to personal fitness and wellness. Of course, others have different viewpoints, which is why it might make more sense to separate the two into different conferences or at least different tracks.