American Academy Of Orthopaedic Surgeons Wins Prestigious CLIO Award

Main Category: Bones / Orthopaedics
Article Date: 17 Nov 2009 - 16:00 PST

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The first-ever CLIO Healthcare Award - a new category of the internationally distinguished CLIO Awards -- has awarded the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), a Silver CLIO for the Academy's year-long campaign "75 Years of Orthopaedic History."

This campaign -- an integrated communications campaign that celebrated the advances and innovations of 75 years of orthopaedic medicine -- gave the Academy's members, medical professionals and the AAOS staff a chance to reflect upon the specialty and celebrate advances in orthopaedic care. The anniversary and related campaign also served as an opportunity to educate the public and the media about musculoskeletal health and injury prevention.

"This anniversary provided the Academy and our members a phenomenal opportunity to commemorate the history of orthopaedics, which as a specialty has improved the mobility and quality of life of millions of people," said AAOS CEO Karen L. Hackett, FACHE, CAE.

The CLIO was accepted Friday evening at the award ceremony in New York City by Hackett and Sandra R. Gordon, Director of Public Relations, who produced the program.

From polio to war wounds, scoliosis to joint replacement, the topics and stories are varied, but the AAOS told these stories through pictures, video, books, artwork and the Web. The campaign, which won in the brand new Healthcare Award category in the subcategory of Non-Profit/ Patient Advocacy Campaign, included several Academy-wide communications initiatives to celebrate 75 years of orthopaedic achievement. The 75th Anniversary communications campaign involved the work of several agencies, including Post Office Editorial, Adventure Advertising, August, Lang & Husak, and One of a Kind, Inc. The Campaign included the following components:

- Moving Stories: a book and travelling exhibition that chronicled the lives of patients and surgeons and the history of orthopaedics;

- Moving Pictures: the film companion to the Moving Stories programs;

- http://www.aaos.org/75years: a comprehensive and interactive Web site;

- Historical interviews that were recorded and shown online;

- eMotion Pictures: an art exhibition and book featuring the artwork of orthopaedic surgeons and their patients;

- A digital timeline found on the Web site;

- Getting it Straight: a historical orthopaedic reference book documenting the specialty, the history of the AAOS and other orthopaedic societies;

- A media relations campaign; and

- Academy Chronicles: a permanent exhibition with more than 500 pieces of orthopaedic history.

The planning and execution of this campaign took four years, and involved the AAOS members, leadership and board of directors, orthopaedic industry and staff.

"When you have emotional stories of people healing, compassionate surgeons and a whole lot of written and oral history from which to pull - you have all the ingredients for a campaign that honors the profession and the orthopaedic surgeons themselves," said Gordon, who continued, "For us it was an opportunity of a lifetime to create amazing programs and tell some very compelling stories."

Musculoskeletal pain and injuries are the second most common reason people visit their doctors, and orthopaedic surgeons and their expertise are crucial to an individual's healthy life and a productive U.S. workforce. And, orthopaedic surgeons have more than a dozen specialties, from feet to traumatic war injuries, and joint replacement to joint deterioration. Learn more at http://www.orthoinfo.org and about this campaign for the 75th anniversary of the AAOS at http://www.aaos.org/75years.

The CLIO Awards

The CLIOS are produced by Nielsen Business Media, a part of the Nielsen Company, a global information and media company. The CLIOS, in 2009 celebrated their 50th anniversary, in which time the award has built its stature as one of the most sought-after communications awards, which are juried by the industry's most accomplished, celebrated and awarded pioneers, who review hundreds of entries in each category each year.

Source
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons