While I was sitting at San Francisco International Airport waiting for my flight home to Boston, I found myself reflecting on the Breast Cancer Symposium, which I had just left (#BCS13). While I was honored to participate as a faculty member in this year's symposium, I think I am most proud of the experience of live-tweeting from the symposium. If there was a reason for physicians to get involved, following #BCS13 on Twitter should prove telling. According to Symplur, #BCS13 was more commonly used on September 8th and 9th, compared to other related hashtags.

Prior to my involvement with Twitter, I would routinely break out my laptop at conferences and take notes on all that was being presented. That way, I could summarize my take home points and share them with my patients when relevant. For #BCS13, I tweeted the findings I thought were interesting and quotes that I found illuminating. As I (and others) tweeted their impressions and thoughts, my screen would refresh as others in the twittersphere re-tweeted (RT) and sent modified tweets (MT) of what I had just posted.

I was also drawn into mini-conversations with people I'd never met--asking for a clarification and background information, and I made it my personal challenge to meet these requests in the allotted 140 characters. For one who prides himself an educator, it was both humbling and incredibly satisfying because I (as well as other highly respected voices) was engaging with them without any consideration of where they were actually located, imparting information and helping to contextualize the findings.

My experience tells me that there is a need for access to what is presented at meetings, and perhaps more importantly, to what the "take home message" is. When it comes to cancer, I am more convinced now that these needs must be met by those of us in the trenches--from the community oncologist to the highly specialized academic oncologist. What we have to say may be interesting (dare I say, helpful) to others, beyond those who have invited us in to their lives. 

Beyond this, I think others should get involved in social media even just to realize that there are deeper connections to be discovered and cherished among our peers who are themselves engaged in this online community. For #BCS13, I followed and learned from others tweeting, including Drs. Deanna Attai (@DrAttai), Steven Tucker (@drsteventucker), and Iman Mohamad (@ImmohMD), who were at the meeting; Drs. Julie Gralow (@jrgralow) and Robert Miller (@rsm2800), who were not at the meeting; and with Dr. Hudis (@CliffordHudis), our ASCO President. Indeed, though I'd never met Drs. Attai. Tucker and Mohamad prior to #BCS13, I felt as if I knew them well. When we actually met, we greeted each other as if we were old friends reuniting after a long absence--the sense of familiarity and camaraderie we shared was, quite honestly, one of the highlights of the meeting.

I will admit, tweeting became an important component of the BCS and my attendance here. And perhaps I just got carried away; maybe I should've exercised some restraint. It came to a proverbial head as I prepared to present my review of survivorship posters when I tweeted:

Survivorship session next. I am discussing great posters. Should I tweet from podium?

Just like a schoolyard dare, I got a cacophony and unanimous "Do it" from my tweeps (who shall remain nameless). 

But then, President Hudis chimed in as well: No way. Podium must be tweet-free zone!!

What else could I say but...

"Uh-Oh".*

DSD

*Though not before sending this one from the podium--Endocrine tx may be a risk factor for neurocognitive decline. UCSF Study. Julia White ‪#BCS13

Left to right: Drs. Steven Tucker, Don S. Dizon, Deanna Attai, and Clifford Hudis.