Sex::Tech

More of what makes Sex::Tech the place to be March 22nd – 23rd!

• Everyone has heard of MySpace, but have you ever thought about using it as an outreach tool?  “Using MySpace to Promote HIV and STD Prevention: Program Design and Recruitment” by Lindsey Breslin of University of Colorado will show you how!

• It’s hard enough trying to get youth to do anything, so “Finding Youth in Their Space: Using Social Networking Sites to Connect Youth to Sexual Health Services” by Nancy Berglas, Lauren Ralph, and Sarah Schwartz from the University of California, San Francisco, can save your organization a lot of headaches!

• ISIS routinely uses contests to engage youth and reach them with critical sexual health info.  Hang out with our own Allegra Madsen and her presentation, “Reaching Youth with Online Contests.”

• “Teen Sex: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t & How Believing the Hype Harms Youth Sexual Health” by Ellen Friedrichs, from Brooklyn College, will break it down.  Need we say more?

There’s still time to register!

By now you’re registered for Sex::Tech, got your hotel accommodations in order and are probably pondering the line up.

“Access Sex: Engaging and Serving Youth with Disabilities” with Cory Silverberg of Come As You Are Co-operative, Bethany Stevens of Morehouse School of Medicine, Jennifer Cole Co-Founder of GimpGirl, and Liz Henry of Blogher, is not to be missed.

The session will feature a brief introduction to the social model of disability and how this model empowers both youth and service providers over a medical model.  The learning component will include a personal narrative of growing up with a disability and the experience of being a youth with a disability searching for sexual information online.

Cory Silverberg is the resident sex-pert over at About.com’s Guide to Sexuality page.

Bethany Stevens’ research focuses on the sexual issues of women with disabilities, the effects of media representation on sexual agency and transability.

Jennifer Cole is the co-director and founder of GimpGirl Community and will share her experiences running and participating in a web-based support group that deals with issues of sexuality.

Liz Henry is a web producer for Blogher, a unique online community for women bloggers that seeks to create exposure, education and economic empowerment opportunities.

Let the countdown begin!

Hi! I’m Natalie Treacy and I’m ISIS’s student intern, working to help put together the number one sex ed/youth/technology conference today!

And guess what? Sex::Tech 09 is just around the corner! I’m really excited about Sex::Tech 09 because last year, (Sex::Tech 08) I had a fabulous time being entertained with the topics of today that a lot of people have trouble even approaching, including: How to get “healthy practices”/ sex ed out to the youth through technology, how I could help out in my community, seeing what other organizations are doing for THEIR communities and how they can grow, what youth TODAY think about Sex Ed in their schools and what they want to change, and a great deal of other things.

Since I had the opportunity to be on the program committee and was a part of the program building process, I’ve gotten to select a couple sessions that I’m most interested in. They include 1) Rana Barar’s presentation called Your Voice, Your Rights: Promoting sex ed activism online, because it’s about figuring out what teens want or their sex education and how to improve sex education in schools. 2) PASSHEN Peer Educator presentation called What’s more youth-friendly than the youth themselves?: Sexual Health Peer Education In Action, because it’s a presentation by youth and will include an “innovative approach to sexual health education through open discussions, interactive games, skill building activities and class participation.”

Plus, you get to meet with all the presenters and gain resources!

So get ready to explore, discover, and for your brain to explode with some of the most key information for today.