PR for science

A very unique biotechnology event took place this week.

BEINGS 2015, or the Biotech and the Ethical Imagination Global Summit, was held at The Tabernacle, a former church turned concert hall in Atlanta, Georgia. The venue was not the only unusual thing for a summit about science. Speakers at the meeting included a well known linguist, a famous Canadian novelist, and Catholic rector along with professors of bioethics, law, and, of course, biology.

The summit was not particularly about science, but about biotech in a cultural context. Speakers pursued some of the most daunting questions humans face: Should we ever try to slow science down? Is this even possible? And if it is, who should be the regulators?

Chris Gunter is an Associate Professor at Emory University, host of the event. She not only attended the meeting but was one of the delegates who took part in a session after the main conference. The delegates were tasked with arriving at a consensus on standards to guide the future of biotechnology. That’s all.

“There’s never been an event like this before,” says Chris, a former editor at Nature, at the outset of today's show.

Guest:

George Church, Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School 

Listen (6:11) Church's Law

Listen (6:45) Colbert, Der Spiegel and Regenesis

Listen (2:49) Do you have a hobby?

Listen (8:22) The promise of 3D sequencing

Listen (4:42) Is long reads the NGS story of the year?

Listen (6:02) Have you heard any good arguments against GMOs?

Listen (5:46) How much wet lab vs. coding for the new biologist?

Listen (2:57) 60th Birthday Bash

If we have celebrities in the life science industry, George Church of Harvard is one of them. Author, professor, entrepreneur, advisor—the list goes on and on. One of the special things about George is his commitment to advocate for science to the larger community. With everything else he has going on, he makes time to talk on programs like ours.

We launched Mendelspod with a George Church interview. Three years later, it’s a treat to have him on again to talk about his work, career, philosophy, and take a few questions from the audience.

Thanks to IDT for underwriting this show.

Podcast Sponsor: Integrated DNA Technologies - providing custom double-stranded gBlocks Gene Fragments of up to 2 kb, for easy gene construction.

Podcast brought to you by: See your company name here. - Promote your organization by aligning it with today's latest trends.

Guest:

Erik Clausen, Managing Partner and Vice President of Public Relations, Chempetitive Group Bio and Contact Info

Each week we produce several interviews with folks from around the life science industry. But how do these guests prepare for these interviews? Today we put ourselves in the shoes of our guests with the first installment in a series on the subject of PR for scientists.

Our guest is Erik Clausen, a managing partner and VP of Public Relations at Chempetitive Group, a company devoted to life science marketing and PR. In his bio, Erik characterizes himself as "a professional storyteller, who dabbled in public affairs before realizing there are better stories to be told in life science PR than in politics." Having spent twenty years in PR, Erik shares some tips and stories for you scientists out there who want to get your message out.

Podcast brought to you by: See your company name here. - Promote your organization by aligning it with today's latest trends.

Guest:

Gaetan Fraikin, CEO, Audacity
Bio and Contact Info

Chapters (advance the marker)

0:42 With more competition, branding helps differentiate life science companies

5:17 How do you get to first or second market position?

9:54 Secrets of brand 'Illumina'

12:30 Steps to improving your brand

17:16 As the industry goes toward consumer market, should their brands change?

The life science industry has grown up quickly around new science and innovative technologies. Breakthrough products command high dollars and propel companies to market dominance. So how important is branding to a life science company's overall marketing strategy? Do their scientific customers really care about the color of a website or style of a logo when the company delivers data and quality? Gaetan Fraikin, CEO of Audacity, says yes. As the life science market becomes more and more competitive, branding can be key to differentiation. Being number one or two in a market makes all the difference, says Fraikin in today's interview.

So how should a company go about improving their brand? When should they first think about it? Fraikin points to Illumina, whom he calls the "Apple" of their space, as an example of good branding. Find out what led to Illumina's brand success and how you might improve your market position through branding in today's show.