Be Fit With Biray

Despite being a bit of a techno-geek, I’m still a health educator and fitness professional first. I admit, I spend countless hours on the web exploring online tools and reading up on new technology. But I see my efforts as directly helping me better understand this gadget-driven, internet-savvy culture. I’m striving to become more effective in teaching and implementing health behavior change programs to our net-gens. (The fact that I love all this new media technology simply happens to be a bonus!)

The popularity of current internet trends aside (like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, podcasting, blogging) people are still choosing to make poor health-related decisions. How come the health status of Americans are so devastating?

I had taken a course on health promotion in grad school which had exposed me to multiple behavior change theories. But it hardly had given me adequate experience in the application of these theories. I wanted to learn more about program design, especially alongside the recent influences of new media technology. Last October I bought and read a book called Hands-On Social Marketing written by Nedra Weinreich, founder and President of Weinreich Communications. I also started following Nedra’s blog, Spare Change, which often informed me of how various organizations (government, non-profit) were creatively utilizing web 2.0 tools while still advocating good health.

While I was in SoCal this weekend, I had the opportunity to sit down with Nedra for breakfast! We had a great conversation about health behavior change and the role internet technology has been playing in enhancing these efforts. We talked about her role at UCLA’s School of Public Health, teaching a course on social marketing. And then transitioned into a discussion about health initiatives in Second Life.

Incidentally, it was also my first time meeting someone face-to-face who I’ve only known in the context of a blog, Facebook and Twitter. (Thomas L. Friedman was right - the world is flat!)

Thank you, Nedra, for taking the time to entertain a delightful conversation about health, behavior change, and web 2.0 technology! It was a pleasure meeting you!