Society extends CBS HealthWatch™ Campaign,
Participates in Final 4 “Coaches Huddle”
The Society will extend its agreement with CBS HealthWatch™ for a colorectal cancer awareness campaign during the coming year, Public Relations Committee Chair Dr. Harry T. Papaconstantinou, Temple, TX, announced.
In addition, the Society is considering renewing its participation in the Coaches Huddle program held in conjunction with the NCAA Final 4 college basketball event.
Dr. Papaconstantinou is continuing to work with Carolé Dacey-Young and CBS HealthWatch to identify potential sponsors and co-partners for the campaign. They are also exploring new ways to improve participation, including social media, newsletters, and email blast announcements.
The second ASCRS-CBS live Webcast with a panel of member surgeons was staged in New York in March. It was very successful, Ms. Dacey-Young and Dr. Papaconstantinou report. Travis Stork, of “The Doctors” TV show, moderated the Webcast. Panelists included Drs. Bradley Champagne, Tracy Hull, Deborah Nagle, Harry Papaconstantinou, Michael Stamos, and David Stein.
Ethicon Endo Surgery is interested in sponsoring again next year. “The Doctors” TV show has expressed interest in holding the event in its Hollywood studio. Planners are exploring the possibility of including a colon cancer survivor among the panelists.
Last year’s campaign reached approximately 40% of the U.S. in 17 major markets, according to CBS. ASCRS attracted several sponsors for the campaign, including Ethicon. Hospitals in many major cities cooperated with CBS, creating TV presentations carried in local markets that were available for viewing during the Vancouver Annual Meeting. “The partnership has given the Society excellent exposure and increased awareness of colorectal cancer,” Dr. Papaconstantinou says.
The campaign also included in-market events, press releases, social media, extensive local television news coverage, custom CBS HealthWatch branded Katie Couric announcements, and a dedicated CBS HealthWatch “Colorectal Cancer/Digestive Disease” online section.
ASCRS this year became a platinum sponsor of the 2011 Final Four Coaches Huddle event hosted by Coaches vs. Cancer and the American Cancer Society (ACS), held April 1-2 during the “Final Four” weekend of the NCAA national college basketball championship. The ASCRS sponsorship included an advertisement in the official Coaches Huddle program.
As part of the sponsorship, Dr. Papaconstantinou and Dr. Walter R. Peters, Jr. Columbia, MO, participated in interviews with the coaches at the Final Four site in Houston, TX. Many of these interviews were carried on CBS-TV, and they are available to the Society for the Website or future colon cancer awareness publicity.
Dr. Papaconstantinou screened three spots developed from these interviews for Public Relations Committee members attending the Vancouver Annual Meeting.
Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide collaboration of the ACS and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. It has raised $70 million to fight cancer. One of the founders is former University of Missouri basketball coach Norman Stewart, a colon cancer survivor and patient of Dr. Peters’. ASCRS Past President Dr. H. Randolph Bailey, Houston, TX, and members Drs. Valerie Papaconstantinou-Bauer, Eric Haas, and Michael Snyder also participated in the Coaches Huddle event. 
