Reflecting on NEGM20 and Looking Forward on NER Graphic Medicine Initiative

Posted by Sarah Levin-Lederer on April 17th, 2020 Posted in: Communities of Interest, Graphic Medicine
Tags: graphic medicine, resources

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When you put together an event, you don’t want attendees to know what goes on behind the scenes.  But it’s important to draw back the curtain and note that the 2020 New England Graphic Medicine Conference (NEGM20) was supposed to be an in-person conference held on MCPHS’s Boston campus March 26-28.  NEGM20 became an online event in about two weeks.

And for having to pivot so quickly from in-person to online, learning a new platform, and learning on the fly, the event went fairly smoothly.

We had a few technical issues.  Pin-chia Feng recorded her remarks since she couldn’t join live, but we weren’t able to play the recording during the session.  But our attendees and presenters were kind enough to bear with us as we worked to put on an event we could all be proud of.

And it did work.  We learned a lot, adjusting as we went.  We missed seeing people, but being online, we were able to reach more people, averaging 90+ people per session, and we reached people from across the United States and around the world.

NEGM20 organizer and host A. David Lewis, in his opening remarks, thanked everyone for staying home to attend and although we had to be apart to be together, attendees found ways to create community in the chat box and on social media using #NEGM20.  Several attendees shared sketch notes using #NEGM20, but we also contracted with Sandy Bartholomew (@SandyBee) to be our official sketch notetaker for every NEGM20 session.

NEGM20 can continue with every session posted to the NNLM YouTube Channel’s Graphic Medicine Playlist.  You can (re)watch and share with colleagues who couldn’t join us.

NNLM NER is proud to be an NEGM20 partner and to continue to support Graphic Medicine in New England and beyond.  Our continued involvement is evolving and expanding.

We’re continuing to promote Graphic Medicine to new audiences through the Graphic Medicine Book Club Kits. Kits are free to organizations in New England and to those outside of New England with some restrictions.  Book Club Kits are a program in a box that allow organizations to try graphic medicine with their staff, patrons and clients.

We also host a semi-regular webinar series, Graphic Medicine: Beyond the Books.  Find registration to future webinars and material from past webinars on the Graphic Medicine: Beyond the Books page and webinar recordings are available on the NNLM Graphic Medicine YouTube Playlist.

Finally, the NNLM NER Graphic Medicine Initiative website is getting an update that will bring together resources that address some of graphic medicine’s most frequently asked questions, such as: Where can I learn more about Graphic Medicine? And Where do I find Graphic Medicine titles?

Stay up to date Graphic Medicine announcements from NER and partners by joining the NER Graphic Medicine Initiative Listserv. And we look forward to seeing you online and in-person soon.