The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is a community for cardiologists around the world. With 54,000 members, it is the primary professional home for the global cardiovascular community. 

Their mission is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. This goal is strengthened and celebrated each year at the Annual Scientific Session and Expo in the spring. There, cardiologists network with colleagues and learn of the latest science, innovations, and practice-changing care. 

An annual event — and year — like never before 

However, the 70th annual event, #ACC21, had to be held fully virtually due to COVID-19. 

And, the pandemic impacted the worldwide cardiovascular community in a way that they’d never faced before. 

How could the organization celebrate the hard work of its members, and also bring together this massive community, virtually?

Enter Stories Incorporated. 

The challenge

ACC came to Stories Inc. for help in capturing the stories of members globally and virtually, and then developing an engaging, powerful compilation of those stories. It was important to ACC that the member stories communicate

• the strength and dedication of its members in serving patients in the pandemic
• the diversity of their community

Rather than use medical or membership data to communicate those two critical messages, ACC knew that real stories from the cardiologists were the best and most compelling way to do it. 

Capturing the stories (and a lightning-fast timeline) 

Together, Stories Inc. and ACC developed a plan to interview five storytellers: three cardiologists, one cardiology fellow, and one cardiology nurse. 

Challenge #1

The storytellers were located in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Shanghai. 

Challenge #2

All storytellers needed to be interviewed and their footage and audio expertly-captured in just one week in order for the video to be ready in time for #ACC21. 

However, as Stories Inc. had developed and launched its Virtual Story Session offering in response to remote story content needs, these were challenges we were able to expertly handle. We expedited our Virtual Story Session storyteller packs to ACC’s selected storytellers in the five disparate locations. As usual, we helped the storytellers set up their tech for high-quality video and audio. 

Then, we interviewed the cardiology team members individually to gather stories of their experiences in the unprecedented year of care during COVID-19, and how ACC assisted them during that time. 

The stories 

The ACC storytellers shared moving stories of resilience, perseverance, teamwork and collaboration in the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“A three year old had a heart transplant and she was diagnosed with COVID.  The great news is that she bounced back from the illness. She had antibodies that developed against her heart but we were able to treat those…” 

— Leigh Reardon, MD, ACC Member 

They also shared stories of the role they played in the vaccination efforts in their communities. And, they shared stories of how the ACC community served and supported them. 

“The ACC COVID hub was tremendous. We knew we could go there and get all the information we needed. It provided a platform for really powerful advocacy, and having the community of colleagues that ACC helped me connect with was crucial.” 

— Jae Patton, MSN, CRNP, ACC Member 

The video: The Cardiology Community: Resilient. United. Stronger. ACC21

After the interviews, Stories Inc. compiled the stories to show the collective strength of ACC’s members during a massively hard year, and how their culture supported them.

We compiled over 250 photos from members all over the globe. Then, we developed animated photo album-style b-roll to intersperse amongst the video stories. This animation and presentation of heartfelt, member-provided images enhanced the members’ powerful stories.

The result

A moving tribute to the members during #ACC21, proof of the care provided by the organization to its members, and a time capsule of this critical, historic time. 

Start planning YOUR content for the year ahead!

Interested in developing a compilation video of your organization’s stories? Start planning your content with our Stories Inc. Content Planning Worksheet and Guide! The template will help you build your content plan for 2022, and the guide’s examples will show you effective ways to share your story across your channels.