Posted by: Zazzy | January 28, 2009

article on wellsphere

Techcrunch covers Wellsphere – acquisition by HealthCentral

Just to remind you, we’re a part of their blogging network. Not a really active part but I think we need to stay informed about what’s happening. Thoughts?

Posted in Diabetes News

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Responses

  1. We received this email on the acquisition this morning, just passing it on.

    Hi Zazzy,

    Today I have great news to share with you: Wellsphere is combining forces with a leading publisher of health information on-line, HealthCentral.

    We are very excited by this change and the possibilities it creates for each of you, as participants in our vibrant Health Blogger Network, to reach a larger audience and get more recognition for your blog. As a health blogger, a caregiver, and a physician, I’m thrilled to be able to expand our positive impact and make a bigger difference in the lives of people who need it most.

    Please take a moment to read through a message of welcome from Chris Schroeder, HealthCentral’s CEO, and Ron Gutman, Wellsphere’s Founder and CEO, on what new partnership means for each of you, and the opportunities ahead.

    Geoff
    –

    Dear Wellsphere Community Members, Health Mavens, and Health Bloggers,

    Earlier today HealthCentral, a leading publisher of over 35 websites for individuals facing specific health challenges, announced that it has acquired Wellsphere.

    This is an incredibly exciting moment for every contributor to HealthCentral’s and Wellsphere’s communities, and for the 10 million health consumers who, each month, seek and find powerful information and invaluable support from each of you. Our communities offer unparalleled insight, practical advice, and inspiration for people who want to live better and fuller lives.

    HealthCentral has built, and will continue to build in partnership with you, welcoming and supportive communities – places that reflect the natural respect between people in need, and each of you, who share incredibly moving experiences in service of a greater good. Through our new relationship, your perspectives will now reach millions more health consumers in powerful new ways. Over the years, HealthCentral has built strong relationships with its many distinguished contributors – many of whom independently operate personal blogs or communities – and it has a reputation of working openly and honestly with its community members. We will carry this spirit of partnership as we move forward together, to build new opportunities for and with you, to recognize uniquely powerful voices and the collective chorus of your wisdom.

    If you have a question about your relationship with Wellsphere, or the meaning of Wellsphere’s new association with HealthCentral, please e-mail us at community@wellsphere.com .

    We welcome your ideas, your suggestions, and your concerns, and look forward to building with each of you, a uniquely welcoming place for everyone who comes to us for help and for hope.

    Sincerely,

    Christopher M. Schroeder, CEO, HealthCentral
    Ron Gutman, Founder and CEO, Wellsphere

    By: Zazzy on January 29, 2009
    at 10:57 am

    Reply

  2. Further communication, FYI

    Dear Zazzy:

    I’m Chris, the CEO of HealthCentral and wanted to welcome you to our family and share some of what I hope we are building here. If I may, let me start with a personal introduction and a bit of an explanation as to why I am so committed.

    Like all of you, I and my family were hit by a profound and unexpected wake-up call by the uncertainty of hands life can deal. In the same year, a deeply beloved family member was diagnosed with the most aggressive metastatic lung cancer and my best friend re-entered a brutal battle with bipolar disorder. It is very hard, even years later, to talk about those days – but in that abyss there was a powerful epiphany.

    These were the relatively early days of social interactions online, and yet I quickly found gatherings of people who had, or were, going through the same things we were. The advice, counsel and just basic support of people who had “been there,” but were otherwise strangers, had the most profound impact on us all. And the greatest impact was rarely about the science – though we did receive some very good ideas of things to ask our doctors. The real impact was about the “whole person” – we all were not scientific problems seeking chemical answers alone, but folks coping with how to live normal lives when nothing was normal.

    As you can see in my bio, I am a veteran of the online world, having spent my career in the highest quality interactive news and information sites.

    In working with a wonderful team to create HealthCentral, we believed we could move online health beyond the one-stop encyclopedias of clinical definitions and news. Instead we would create a collection of separate web experiences on individuals’ terms, embracing the unique aspects of each health condition and each wellness issue. And while these experiences would absolutely offer the most trusted medical information, they would be mostly about the voices of real people, sharing real stories and support, helping those facing a health crisis to live fuller lives on their terms. In the three years since we began this endeavor, we have reached and engaged millions of people and, hopefully, given them platforms to share and that have bettered and empowered their health decision making.

    Last week, I was pleased that we joined forces with Wellsphere. I am deeply impressed by this team – in their passion and shared experiences with health, and desire to offer unique and powerful technologies and a platform to further health dialogues around the country. We hope that with their wide reach and strong technology platform that helps passionate health advocates amplify their voices, we – collectively – will change the way people approach health and wellness issues, and take action to improve their quality of life.

    As with any merger of enterprises, there are always many important questions. I have taken the liberty to aggregate some of the most thoughtful I have received in the past week here. But I welcome any further questions and any ideas at cmschroeder@thcn.com.

    I hope we are making some impact today, but there is so much more to do. As an enterprise, we are committed to being a trusted partner of everyone with a powerful story and valuable insight to provide others who come after them. The on-line marketplace is challenging, doubly so when the questions at hand involve issues as personal and emotional as health care. My commitment to you is that in every opportunity we offer our contributors, like you, or our visitors and consumers, we will be transparent about what we are asking of you and what we are providing in return. Above all, I welcome your ideas and your participation in this endeavor. Together we will build a very new way for people to become their own best advocates.

    With warm regard,

    Chris Schroeder
    CEO, HealthCentral

    cmschroeder@thcn.com

    http://www.healthcentral.com

    By: Zazzy on February 3, 2009
    at 1:40 pm

    Reply


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