Sex::Tech Day #1 Sex, Phones, Fun!

Not to dog on New York, but where else can you find a combination of Fearless Sex Ed, Public Health and New Technology but San Francisco? Sending love to city of constant reinvention...

I am going to list here a few of the things I absorbed Day #1 while in San Francisco this past week at Sex::Tech Focus on Youth, Sexual Health and Technology Conference. www.sxtechconference.org. Sex::Tech is the second annual conference sponsored by the Internet Sexuality Information Service (ISIS) in San Francisco. www.isis-inc.org.

Brief disclaimer: I'm a bit of a tech-phobe, kind of halfway proficient in somethings (typing, cameras) and sucky in others (wordpressy analytics @twitters, etc) so that's the smudgy lens I was seeing everything through. What was cool to me, maybe totally obvious to you.

Another caveat, the work I've been doing over the years is about issues of sexual consent and boundaries, and less on STI/STD prevention, but I found the issues are inter-related especially regarding self-esteem and how that effects ones ability to negotiate consent/condom use, and how lack of comprehensive Sex Ed is detrimental for disease, but also to promoting sexual health that includes fun, pleasure and communication.

IN ORDER OF ABSORPTION:

- Reprolatina.org.br is a hugely successful teen-driven Sex Ed site in Brazil, with 3,000,000 members. Started by one guy -- they have since mobilized youth to enact policy changes in Brazil promoting condom use and safe sex. They have tons of anecdotal research for anyone doing case studies or curious about the sex lives of young Brazilians.

- Best way to reach youth is via mobile phone, especially if it is Sidekick-friendly (full keyboard) and/or find people on AIM.

- why sms? instant, private, accessible, cheap, effective

- some cool prevention projects using SMS: realtalkDC.org, inspot.org, "hookup365247"

- if you want youth volunteers to help out, learn and stay w/your project:
1) feed them! 2) give them transportation 3) give them mentorship and skills!

- if you want to supply information to young people on your site, answer their questions professionally, but also personally: http://www.scarleteen.com/ is a great example.

- Washington DC has the highest youth HIV Rate in the country. 1 in 100 kids in DC has HIV, that is 3% of the population, which is higher than some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. WTF?

- Good resources for non-profits: mobileactive.org, mcommons.org, textually.org

-NOKIA doing an interesting CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) project about helping young people manage their HIV meds. Their advice: design the right thing, so figure out what problem/what tool/what context/what exists before making something.
** only weird thing is that they couldn't share their idea (yet), because Nokia is a for-profit corporation and protective of what they're making.

-SMS/Mobile phones are part of a multi-pronged approach to prevention and awareness, not a replacement for drop in centers, people, etc.

- Did you know most public school libraries have major filters on their computers so kids can't really learn anything about their bodies or sex?

- Did you know the most banned book in public schools was about two homo penguins raising a baby at the New York Central Park Zoo, "And Tango Makes Three"? I guess this proves New York is the city of Sin...

- "Your Voice, Your Rights" a very cool advocacy project launched by Answer and Sex, Etc. a magazine by youth for youth coming from Rutgers, University http://answer.rutgers.edu/

---- End of Day #1 -----

Thanks to Nico and Thomas who were kind enough to be out of town, so I could luxuriate in their apartment in the Castro, toute seule!