Wondering where we’ve been?  Planning contests and Sex::Tech 2009!

We asked people “what would your undies say if they had the last word” in
safe sex and STI prevention.  As it turns out our undies had a lot to say
because the 500+ entries to the campaign gave them a voice.  These undies
have spread across the Internet and along with them ideas of safe sex, STI
prevention and all around healthy attitudes toward sex are reaching viral
proportions. The 500+ entries have gotten over 650,000 engagements through
votes, views, reviews and content created and entries can be seen in close
to 700 different places online.

With the success of this contest, we at ISIS, were again reminded of the
need to talk to young people about sex and sexual health.  We see that the
Internet and mobile technologies have strengthened youth networks, provided
new avenues for expression, and increased youth access to tools and
information designed to improve their sexual health.  ISIS would like to
announce that the second Sex::Tech conference will be held March 22 & 23 in
San Francisco.   Sex::Tech will explore available tools and methods for
reaching youth with culturally appropriate STD/HIV prevention and sex
education interventions from a youth perspective, with input from public
health professionals, educators, researchers, and technology developers.

Here is a little bit about the winners of the inBrief underwear design
contest:

Grand Prize winner Tina Nguyen (Pomona, CA) designed Riding Safely, a
line of men’s and women’s underwear that lets partners know they need a
ticket to ride. Ms. Nguyen will receive $1000 (scholarship or cash
equivalent) and 12 pairs of women’s underwear with her design.

Image Buzz winner Dan Brown (Corvallis, OR) designed The Real
Reason Dinosaurs Went Extinct, that ponders what if dinosaurs knew about
safe sex? Dan will receive $250 (scholarship or cash equivalent) for the
best entry among the top 100 generating the most attention across the
Internet as determined by the ISIS expert selection panel.

Community Sweepstakes winner Chrissy Olsen (Muncie, IN) will
receive $250 (scholarship or cash equivalent) from among everyone
participating in the contest in any way (whether viewer, reviewer, or voter)
as selected by Brickfish.

InSpot.org has exploded around the web but now it time for our other resource, SexINFO to grow legs and crawl around the world wide web too, but we need your help. SexINFO is the future of on-the-go sexual health. All you need to do is text a simple message to a number for information on what to do if the condom broke, help deciding if you’re ready to have sex and more. It’s convenient, anonymous and FREE (though standard text messaging fees may apply)! We have entered SexINFO project into the NetSquared Mashup Challenge and would love your vote. This could give us some much-needed development support in growing the project. Trek on over to NetSquared, register and vote till your fingers go numb. Thanks for the support.

Vote. Vote. Vote.

Because sometimes you just can’t find the words or space to tell someone something important, (like you might have an STD) ISIS Inc has taken care of some of the hard stuff. All you need to do is use responsibly and click send. InSpot.org lets you send a free, anonymous e-card to lovers past and present to let them know they need to get tested for potential STD’s. How great is that? A service that takes the stress out of dropping that uber embarrassing bomb.

After some praise from the Mayor of NYC InSpot.org is blowing up all over the internets:

Reuters!

Heybeus.com!

SF Weekly!

Mistress Maeve!

Wondering how you can really use SMS texting technology to promote public health? Well even if you’re not mark your calendar for Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab’s Texting 4 Health conference, the first conference focused exclusively on how mobile text messaging can promote better health. The conference is on February 29^th, 2008 with optional workshops on February 28^th and March 1^st. Check out the full schedule here. SexInfo will be highlighted so keep your eyes peeled and fingers poised.

If you’re still coming down from that Fresh Focus Contest high or are bummed that you didn’t get a chance to submit, fear not. There’s a new contest brought to our attention by the lovely people over at Watercooler Games.

The Life. Love. Design Game Challenge asks you to design a Flash game on teen dating violence prevention without violent content or violent themes. The contest ends April 15, 2008 and 1st prize is $1,000. Check out the full rules and criteria. The list of judges is pretty sweet too … definitely people you’d want to show your developing and creative skills to. A interactive Flash game would be an exciting, cutting edge way for educators to engage and educate teens on such a complicated, touchy issue.  We can’t wait to see the submissions!

Hear that? That’s the sound of the internet exploding with news of InSpot.

Last week the Mayor of New York praised our service InSpot as a solution to the cities mounting syphilis outbreak. How bad ass is that?

Check out the coverage from the gossip bloggoshere to the mainstream academia. And if reading isn’t your thing, catch this snippet of KOKH Oklahoma’s TV news coverage.

So we’ve shown you the Sex::Tech blog love we’ve received. Now its time to see what the media thought of the sex tech web 2.0 revolution.

• The San Francisco Chronicle : Sex education goes online to reach teens; SexTech conference first of its kind to look at Web 2.0 tools to teach youth
• The Oakland Tribune : Videos give teens new view of sex ed
• The Golden Gate [X]Press Online : Sex educators discuss youth and technology

And if text just doesn’t do it for you, here are some video and radio interviews and coverage to get you going. Enjoy!

• KTVU Television - Sex-Tech: Conference Looks At How Technology Impacts Sexual Education of Teens
  
• KCBS Radio – Sex Ed Teacher Tells Students, ‘Text Me about It’
• AP Video – Teens and Sex; Web Show Gives Advice
  *The video was one of the most watched AP Videos on January 23 and was chosen as one of the top 5 Editor’s Picks as well. It includes an interview with Kylee Darcy and a Sex::Tech t-shirt is in the background of the interview with Nikol Hasler. The video was featured on KGO AM 810 NewsTalk website. See KGO World and National News Video.
• KQED Radio News - Teen Sex Education and Technology

There you have it. Our up to date media coverage. Keep checking back for more updates and don’t forget to get your Sex::Tech fill by downloading the presentations you weren’t able to see at the conference here and here!

Even though the Sex::Tech Conference has concluded, the buzz has not died down. If you couldn’t make it and are still thirsty for more fear not. Quench your thirst by taking a few minutes to browse through conference coverage provided by some of our attendees. Drink up and don’t forget to share!

• NowPublic : Sex, Technology, and Youth Converge at Unique National Conference
• Health News: Sex educators discuss youth and technology
• MySexProfessor.com : AMAZING young women & men who make sexual-health-videos/
• Ypulse : Push To Pull
• Virtual Mystery Tour : Back from Sex::Tech!
• BoundNotGagged.com : Who were those hot b*****s talking about BoundNotGagged.com at SF State?
• Waking Vixen : Sex::Tech - Generation Gaps
• Ypulse : Who Rules Your Community Roost?
• Ypulse : Sex ed On gURL.com
• SexRev2.0 : Sex Tech Conference Focus on Youth
• User Generated Content: Travels and Sex::Tech
• Shake Well Before Use : Sex::Tech Starts Today
• CondomMan.com : Sex::Tech Conference 2008 at San Francisco State
• Health News : Sex::Tech Conference 2008 at San Francisco State
• Virtual Mystery Tour : Cyberbullying and sexuality
• Attempted Recluse : Be sure to wear a flower in your hair
• The Blog that Ate Manhattan : Why Is Sex So Interesting and Sex Ed So Boring?
• Urban Science Adventures : Teens, Sex, and Technology

Wow. That’s a lot. All this attention has us feeling like internet heart throbs. We revel in the high fives and blog love being sent our way. We finally know what it’s like to be the popular kid on campus.

If you still can’t get enough Sex::Tech or want to link up with someone you met at the conference, head on over to the Sex::Tech Ning. Ning is a user created, customizable social network where you can congregate and bond over just about everything.

As promised the presentations from the conference are now available to download at Sex::Tech, and are organized by day. You’ll never be thirsty again.

So if you didn’t make it to the conference you’re in luck because we’re going to break it down for you day by day:

Day #1’s theme was all about embracing technology to reach youth where they already are, in their language. It is fair to say that the most effective ways to reach young people is to utilize the venues that they already inhabit, like social networking sites, forums and blogs to market your organization or project. Podcasts, Instant Messaging, video games, and text messaging are just a few of the tools you can use to get your sexual health message across. But before employing these techniques it is important to understand your demographic and how they use the internet. Peer led sex education also seems to be a viable way to reach young people, even though they’re not really technology based (unless you’re lucky enough to get android interns). But young people can help you master your technology and provide an authentic youth voice and a wide array of relatable experiences for youth seeking your services.

Day #2’s theme centered on tools and methods to use technology to reach youth where they are in their language. Here are just a few examples of the ways people are integrating technology into sexual health programs to get you started:

• HOTGIRLS & FIREGRL – volunteer led organization dedicated to improving the health and lives of young women.

• MyStudentBody.com – a confidential web-based interactive risk assessment tool.

• Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernadino County’s text and chat lines – users can ask sexual health questions and get answers via text and online real-time chat.

• The Hear Me Project – a writing and video scholarship contest about the effects of HIV and AIDS has on the population.

• MyBlackBook – confidential, secure place to store info about ones sexual history.

• Midwest Teen Sex Show – a great example of podcasting. Need we say more?

Pen and paper are dead. So is snail mail. But never fear! Web 2.0 is just stretching its legs and preparing to take its first steps, so now is the time to pounce. New media provides inexpensive ways of marketing your organization or projects, disseminating info and connecting with others that share your cause! Stay tuned for links to download Sex::Tech presentations!

From the steady stream of attendees and teens, panel moderators, to the unflappable volunteers who braved the elements in yellow shirts, we at ISIS thank you all for making the inaugural Sex::Tech Focus On Youth Conference such a pleasure. A special thanks to our diverse group of presenters who put it all on the line, sharing trade secrets, program successes and near misses with candor and humor to an audience eager to learn.

Hopefully everyone who attended the conference will return to their roost with a head full of fresh ideas and new ways to apply all that technology and its trappings to their projects. We also hope that you were able to make some new friends by forming partnerships with the other organizations at the conference, while hearing from youth on what they need from an effective sex education program. I think it’s safe to say that fun was had by all, now just don’t forget to show off those sporty Sex::Tech tote bags.

Speaking of ‘fresh ideas’… The Fresh Focus Video Contest was a resounding success. The three finalists attended the conference and spoke eloquently about their sex education experiences and their motivations for entering the contest (besides that cash). It is fair to say that they had a message that they wanted all attendees to leave with:

Adults, listen to us, respect our opinions, and tell us EVERYTHING, not just what you think we need to know.

Ok, we’re paraphrasing but essentially to make programs and teaching tools more effective, organizations should involve young people in the creative process. Think of it this way, its like subscribing to all the blogs we’ve been listing here and always having someone around that can program your cell phone and tell you what’s cool.