On our Divabetic Live! podcast from 2010, Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek and his team attempt to broadcast live from the American Diabetes Association Expo floor at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.
Divabetic’s colorful, interactive, empowering and entertaining brand of diabetes education quickly took the Pittsburgh Expo floor by storm and garnered local media attention.
“Making a popular reappearance is Divabetics, an innovative program that combines pampering, music and games with diabetes education for women,” is how the Pittsburgh Patch described our Divabetic area on the Expo floor.
However, thiis behind the scenes look at one of the largest outreach events for people living with, at risk of and affected by diabetes quickly became a logistical nightmare. No one was prepared to juggle the chaos of a live scale outreach event with the needs of a live broadcast.
“Our Divabetic Live! podcast from the Pittsburgh ADA Expo floor is a ‘hot mess’! I felt like I was inside a pinball machine, running around the Expo floor, dodging people, and trying to find my team members to interview,” says Max Szadek. “But I loved every minute of it because there’s something magical in the madness. When I listen, I hear everyone’s willingness to take on a new challenge and work together as a team. And sadly, it reminds me that large outreach events of this magnitude no longer exist in the diabetes community. I get nostalgic when I tune in because I get to relive one of the many wonderful opportunities I experienced as a diabetes advocate over the past 17 years.”
“It’s a very out-of-the-box way to teach people about diabetes, but we want this to be a fun, energetic day where people learn more about the disease in an enjoyable way,” stated Terri Seidman in an interview with Western Pennsylvania Guide to Good Health. “We want to take diabetes education out of a clinical setting with white coats and put it into a nontraditional setting that people find motivating.”