Follow Spot on Teresa Wagner PROLOGUE: Teresa and I have known each other for years as we were both dairy council dietitians but in different regions (she was based in Texas and I was based in Chicago). Most of our work together was as national media spokespersons for the National Dairy Council which we both had the privilege of doing for many years.  During that time, we were fortunate enough to have some of the best media and communications training in the business, including crisis communications training (which is like media training “on steroids”)!  When I found out that Teresa actually conducted a crisis communications workshop for New Mexico Homeland Security, I just had to interview her for my blog.

They Blinded Me With Science! Does it seem like you’re always hearing about a new study that reports the opposite of what another study recently reported?  When you hear where the research was conducted, or who funded it, does it influence you one way or the other?  Where can you turn to make sense of what might seem like a lot of nonsense? You’re not alone.   The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ “Nutrition and You” public opinion surveys  show that the percentage of people who actively seek information about nutrition and healthful eating has more than doubled since 2000 from 19 percent to 46 percent in 2011.  But at the same time, nutrition, and the science behind it, seems to be getting more complicated from farm to fork. The devil is in the details.  Let’s take a deeper dive into some challenges and solutions.

PROLOGUE: There are only a few people you meet in life and think “is it possible this person is really this nice?”  Vicki is one of those people.  So I was more “pleasantly” than “surprised” when she was one of the first dietitians to respond to my request for guest bloggers.  Not only have I known her for years and really want to get some guest bloggers going – but what a bonus that she’s such an amazing writer!  I remember meeting Vicki back when I was the retail dietitian for Jewel-Osco in the early 2000s.  She was a fairly “new” dietitian and wanted to pick my brain about my career path and communications.  She was very sharp and professional and had great questions.  I could see she was very passionate about nutrition and wasn’t surprised at all when I started seeing her name pop up in the nutrition world around Chicago and beyond.  

With a unique RD B2B approach, Amy Sowards provides a variety of free webinars to help RDs build their businesses.  Check out the options here and be sure to read my interview with Amy here.     

PROLOGUE: I met Jill in person at AADE 2012 in Indianapolis.  I had heard about her new book Diabetes Weight Loss Week by Week and was excited to talk with another RD who shared my passion for diabetes.  And I was so impressed that her book was published by the American Diabetes Association! We met up at the Irish Coffee Social on Thursday night and I enjoyed talking with her so much that I ignored my curfew for the 5K run the next morning.  It was well worth it (and I still made good time at the race)!

PROLOGUE: I first noticed Amy Sowards and her company AES Nutrition Education (which is an RD B2B) on the NE DPG listserv (which if you are not a member, stop reading this blog right now and go sign up!  It is an incredible resource for any dietitian!).  I attended one of Amy’s free business webinars and found it very informative.  And, I was very impressed when I saw that she was compiling a list of RDs and their various services on her website.  Since we clearly shared a passion for supporting other RDs in their career goals, I knew I had to interview her for my blog.  When I did, I was surprised to see how although we have different backgrounds and experiences, they shaped both of us in similar ways.  I’m excited about what Amy is doing and love the fact that she is supporting RDs in similar yet different ways than my biz.  Keep an eye on her – she’s going places!

PROLOGUE: I met Manuel when I became an Academy Spokesperson last year.  He’s a very likeable guy – lots of fun to be around.  When he told me about his new book, Eating Free, I knew I wanted to check it out and knew it would probably be good, solid, evidence-based.  But I didn’t know I would love it.  

PROLOGUE: I met Hope briefly in person years ago at an annual conference for the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE).  Any RDs who are involved with diabetes should be very familiar with her and her impressive work in the field.  I was thrilled at the opportunity to interview her and even more impressed with her work after learning more about all the great things she’s doing in the name of diabetes.

To encourage her diabetes educator colleagues, other RDs and HCPs, to encourage their clients with diabetes and their loved ones to open the door to the DOC, Hope developed a resource. It’s available as a printable pdf or as a web-based version with clickable links. Please use it and connect HCPs and people with diabetes to the DOC!!                             You can also check out the slides from AADE 2012 presentation: Power Your Practice in Our Socially Networked World. To read Hope’s interview click here.

DiabetesEveryDay is a web resource that helps people with diabetes stay focused between face-to-face visits with educators, and provides practical tools like a weekly menu to make self management easier.  Diabetes itself is 24/7, but patients have limited access to their educators.  Toby’s website, DiabetesEveryDay, can be there every day.  Click here to read Toby’s interview.

PROLOGUE: I met Sharon Palmer when she contacted me to help her prepare for her book tour (for her new book The Plant-Powered Diet).  She had tons of public speaking and writing experience, but had never been on TV, and she knew her book tour would require that.   Sharon was so easy and fun to work with!  She already had wonderful communication skills that, with a little guidance and insight, were transferrable to doing on-camera work.  By the time we were done working together, she was ready to rock her book tour and I was ready to share the exciting story about her new book.

Thank you to Sharon Palmer for sharing this wonderful piece she created for a Writing Workshop she conducted for the California Dietetic Association!            

All the really hard work is done – you’re in the home stretch now!  Here are my top ten tips for the big day.  Be sure to check out Act I here for all the preparation tips for before the big day!

Thank you to Stephanie Cundith for sharing these valuable communications resources on MidwestDairy.com. The retail dietitian toolkit highlights dairy’s nutrition and economic value and includes talking points, educational handouts, a template newsletter article and an in-store sampling guide. In addition, be sure to check out Midwest Dairy Council’s many recipes featuring milk, cheese and yogurt on DairyMakesSense.com.  These are useful tools for your nutrition communications outreach efforts!

PROLOGUE: I met Stephanie when she came to work for the Midwest Dairy Council back in 2006, where I was working as a Nutrition Communications Manager.  I was based in Chicago and she was in the Kansas City area, so we only saw each other in person a few times a year, but she quickly became a dear friend and valued coworker.  We held the same position, just covered different regions.  And we both served as National Dairy Council spokespersons for several years together.