Vet Times - now part of CVS?

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Glenn Hodgson — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 16:28:50 GMT

You'll hurt her fealings with all that negative talk Martin.

First person to scald themselves here is going win a prize. They will also be banned from scalpels, scissors and cautery.

She's mounted on the wall away from the taps. We are about a year in and nothing in the accident book yet. She's brought us so much happiness..

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Mark Hedberg — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 14:36:14 GMT

I am seriously loving this thread right now

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 14:26:23 GMT

[quote user="Glenn Hodgson"]We got a boiler and mounted it on the wall. On tap immediate hot water for tea any time of day![/quote]These systems that allow on-tap boiling water sound like a recipe for potential disaster to me. How long before the first person sues for being scalded when accidentally turning on the wrong tap?

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 08:14:38 GMT

[quote user="Utlendigur"]But you do have to be careful about the spin on these coffee machine stories

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/cash-strapped-gwynedd-council-under-12795726[/quote]

OMG that's priceless. I get calls from time to time from PR people who want advice about the sorts of stories that will get considered for VetSurgeon News. I usually kick off by saying: "Don't bother sending me anything about the installation of your new coffee/fax/photocopying machine."

I've never before actually seen a news story about the installation of a new coffee machine!

In case anyone is interested, the criteria I use for VetSurgeon.org news is:

No 'coffee percolator stories'
No 'hired-a-new-member-of-sales-staff-stories' (unless they've hired the Pope, or something).
No 'competition-winner-stories' (unless they won a Ferrari)
No 'cheque-presentation-to-charity-stories' (unless it's at least half a million quid, or in some other way remarkable)
No 'this-is-what-will-be-on-our-stand-at-[insert-name-of-veterinary-congress-here]' (unless it's a fireworks display or a troupe of dancers doing the can-can).
No 'FB-found-in-dog' stories (unless the FB is the size of a garden tractor).

Being online only, I don't have to 'fill' pages in order to surround advertisements, so I can afford to be selective.

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Utlendigur — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 12:45:30 GMT

[quote user="Catherine Williams"] Waiting for "practice gets new coffee machine"...won't be long at this rate![/quote]

But you do have to be careful about the spin on these coffee machine stories

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/cash-strapped-gwynedd-council-under-12795726

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

bob lehner — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 11:55:10 GMT

[quote user="Catherine Williams"]Waiting for "practice gets new coffee machine"...won't be long at this rate![/quote]

Yes - I was thinking along exactly the same lines the other day - except my headline was 'Heroic vets de-sex young male cat to save him from a lifetime of fighting and fornication'.

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Anthony Todd — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 19:47:51 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]CVS send a nicely composed press release, it gets used.[/quote]

And CVS pays for another full page ad....

It may be that these two things are related....

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Glenn Hodgson — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 18:12:09 GMT

We got a boiler and mounted it on the wall. On tap immediate hot water for tea any time of day! It is amazing! It does deserve a press release. Moral and productivity (mainly my own) has increased alot%.

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Martin Atkinson — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 10:10:19 GMT

[quote user="Mark Hedberg"]

[quote user="Catherine Williams"]

"practice gets new coffee machine"...won't be long at this rate!

[/quote]

The nurses have been after me to get a new tea kettle, does that count?

[/quote]I put an article in our newsletter about our new digital X-ray processor - does that count?

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Mark Hedberg — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 08:55:26 GMT

[quote user="Catherine Williams"]

"practice gets new coffee machine"...won't be long at this rate!

[/quote]

The nurses have been after me to get a new tea kettle, does that count?

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Catherine Williams — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 21:21:46 GMT

I think that's the case more & more. I often seem to spot stories in there that I look at thinking "really that counts as news?"; pets having foreign bodies removed, strays rehomed etc...things that are not unusual at our surgery and I assumed many others out there. I'd assumed that some people are just more media focused & that Vet Times gets very short of news sometimes. Waiting for "practice gets new coffee machine"...won't be long at this rate!

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 16:17:41 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"] poor 'journalism'![/quote]

That's all it is. They have to fill all those pages every week. CVS send a nicely composed press release, it gets used.

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

grumpyoldman — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 11:39:34 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]Well you need look no further than here then need you?[/quote]

We do.

I cant complain too much ,in the last 15 years this area has gone from 0 to 80% corporate, the last two other medium sized independents going in the last year. In that time we have grown10- 20% year on year. It slightly worrying when they start to control various suppliers and the media. And it does make you slightly apprehensive if they start getting too differential with discounts and charges. If we end up with 3 or 4 huge national ones and one form gets more than 26% of the market maybe someone will give the competition commission a prod, they may actually have something to investigate this time.

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 13:18:30 GMT

[quote user="grumpyoldman"]There had been some odd snips of someone with a grateful client making a massive song and dance over a CSF tap revealing SRME as it does, ordinary day to day things suddenly becoming newsworthy, happy client goes to vets pays some money and gets diagnosis and treatment ............................ looks like practice manager press releases to local rags that somehow find their way into the vet times?. [/quote]That's already been said in another thread.

[quote user="grumpyoldman"]We will soon find out ,as recruitment ad costs will rise for none CVS practices. [/quote]Well you need look no further than here then need you?

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

grumpyoldman — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 13:14:27 GMT

There had been some odd snips of someone with a grateful client making a massive song and dance over a CSF tap revealing SRME as it does, ordinary day to day things suddenly becoming newsworthy, happy client goes to vets pays some money and gets diagnosis and treatment ............................ looks like practice manager press releases to local rags that somehow find their way into the vet times?. Suggests two things ,either readership and target audience has widened or the journalists do not have enough time to write their own copy and are just reprinting advertising feeds. We will soon find out ,as recruitment ad costs will rise for none CVS practices.

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 13:12:04 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]

They have managed a real take over of the Vet Times!

Front page this time is an advert for the CVS group!

No news, no independent comment, just a glorified 'poodle' for the corporates![/quote]

Think you're being a bit harsh here! It's not advertorial, it's just a news story about an independent financial institution producing a report predicting strong growth for CVS over next five years, which, however you look at it, is an interesting news story.

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 12:36:25 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]

Gone in the bin but not an advertorial (they must be labelled as such) just pure CVS speak!

Front page generally has news on it!

Not actually suggesting they have been taken over but CVS must have some clout to put their propaganda on the front page! Alternative would be the most incredibly poor 'journalism'!

[/quote]Paranoia.

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Bob Russell — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 12:34:57 GMT

Gone in the bin but not an advertorial (they must be labelled as such) just pure CVS speak!

Front page generally has news on it!

Not actually suggesting they have been taken over but CVS must have some clout to put their propaganda on the front page! Alternative would be the most incredibly poor 'journalism'!

RE: Vet Times - now part of CVS?

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 12:28:03 GMT

What evidence do you have that they have 'taken-over' Vet Times? They've possibly paid for a front page advertorial but AFAIA that doesn't mean anything.