# 2121
It is hard to be a participant in Flublogia without wondering just how we are perceived by non-flubies - particularly those who work or make policy inside the Washington D.C. beltway.
Are we minor irritants, like fleas on an elephant's back, that scarcely warrant notice? Are we dismissed as marginal, perhaps even fringe players, with nothing of substance to contribute?
Or . . . are we looked upon as a serious partner in our nation's, and indeed the world's, journey towards better pandemic preparedness.
I think the answer may surprise you.
Readers of this blog are no doubt aware that over the past year, the HHS and the CDC have reached out to Flublogia, and have invited some of us to participate in their planning and communications sessions.
Forums like the Flu Wiki and Flutrackers have been openly hailed by representatives of government agencies as being responsible, and valuable, contributors to the pandemic preparedness and education effort.
A good example of this was when HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt's science advisor, Dr. William Raub, answered questions on the Flu Wiki earlier this year. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that such a highly placed official would submit to an interview on an Internet forum.
Preparedness websites, such as GET PANDEMIC READY, are increasingly being utilized by local governments as a source of preparedness information for their citizens.
Last year, in an unprecedented move, the HHS held a 5-week Pandemic Leadership Blog, where eleven bloggers coming from various sectors of our nation produced roughly 60 blogs. Flublogia was invited here as well, with Dr. Greg Dworkin (Daily Kos, Flu Wiki) and I participating.
If you haven't read the 60 blogs, and the roughly 2000 comments archived there, you really should spend some time perusing this HHS blog site.
This year again, the HHS invited Dr. Dworkin, along with Sharon Sanders of Flutrackers, and myself to Washington to take part in a pandemic communications tabletop exercise. And since that time, we've been invited to participate in HHS sponsored teleconferences as well.
Whether you agree, or disagree, with their policies (and I've publicly done both) you have to admit that these government agencies are trying to reach out and understand the online community.
They sense that we, Flublogia, are part of the future of pandemic communications, and quite frankly, they aren't sure what to do about that.
What they do know is that many people want to hear the pandemic preparedness message from someone other than the Federal government. That was the whole point of last year's Pandemic Leadership Summit.
To engage the private sector in delivering the message.
There are now toolkits, freely available on the HHS pandemic flu site, for use by community leaders, civic, and religious organizations to help get the word out.
These were born, in part, from input from that summit.
While I've known for some time that Flublogia's importance has been growing, it was driven home to me today by a file sent to me by Sharon Sanders of Flutrackers.
In her meanderings around the Internet she uncovered, quite by accident, a power point presentation and audio file from an executive web seminar held last February.
The venue was Forum One Communication's Web Executive Seminar on February 26, 2008, and the presenters are Stephanie Marshall, Director of Pandemic Communications at the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - and Qui Diaz, one of the key organizers of the Leadership Summit from Ogilvy Public Relations.
The powerpoint presentation and audio file, entitled Using Social Sites to Engage Audiences About Pandemic Flu are posted on SlideShare.com. The audio runs about 20 minutes. There are 23 slides to view as you listen.
It is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how they put together the Leadership summit, along with some pretty encouraging things they had to say about Flublogia in general.
Flublogia is growing, and learning as it does so.
It hasn't always been a smooth ride. To some officials I'm sure we have been viewed, at times, to be caustic, impatient, demanding, and damned inconvenient.
This is, after all, the Internet. That comes with the territory.
But Flublogia is also a terrific resource; not only for ideas and public education, but for action.
We have newshounds that search for hours each day, painstakingly reading and translating foreign news reports, looking for the latest pandemic information. The work that they do is often unsung, but I can assure them it is noticed and appreciated at official levels.
Frankly, I couldn't do much of what I do here without them.
Bloggers such as Crof, Scott, SophiaZoe and the Reveres not only bring their personal perspectives to the issues, they also capture and present the latest news and information.
Much of what I know about the science of influenza I owe to the Reveres. All of what I know about the art of blogging, I owe to Crof.
We have grassroots organizations springing forth from the forums, such as the Readymom's Alliance, which has spread the preparedness word at a number of prominent national conventions this year. And projects like Students Prep America, which is taking the preparedness message to college students.
I don't think many of us in Flublogia had any idea three years ago that we'd ever be anything more than an informal gathering place where people who shared the same concerns could share information and commiserate.
We've somehow evolved from that humble beginning.
The flu forums have thousands of participants from literally scores of countries. Sure, we have doctors and scientists - but we also have housewives and retirees, nurses and firefighters, construction workers and concerned moms.
People from all walks of life. And considering the diversity of opinions and varied backgrounds, all working surprisingly well together with but one goal.
To help reduce morbidity and mortality during the next pandemic.
Sometimes the best things in life aren't planned.
They just happen.
