ISIS Inc

Sex Ed Digital Video Contest is Underway – Win $3500
Text "Contest" to 61827*

The Fresh Focus Sex Ed video contest launched in September and quickly spread across the blogosphere. People are talking, and now it's time to start making films!
Here's a taste of our first 6 submissions:
• Stick Love vol 1 is an animation about loneliness and commonality.
• Heard it profiles youth in Oakland, CA talking about where they learned about sex (and it ain't from school!).
Anyone aged 15-30, can make a video. Content is more important than quality, and needs to:
1) Tell us whether your sex ed sucked or rocked and why
OR
2) Redesign sex ed for the future.

Grand Prize: $3500 scholarship or cash equivalent
Second Prize: $1000
Third Prize: Choice of Nintendo Wii, digital camera or iPhone.
Entries accepted until midnight on December 31st and voting begins January 4th, 2008.
Finalists will be featured at the Sex::Tech Conference: Focus on Youth, January 22-23, 2008 in San Francisco at a panel moderated by creators of the Midwest Teen Sex Show, a vlog for teens.
Visit the official contest page today for all the details and official rules. www.dogooder.tv/freshfocusvideocontest
* standard text messaging rates apply.

Contact:
deb at isis-inc dot org for press inquiries
andy at isis-inc dot org for contest inquiries

Partners:
Internet Sexuality Information Services, Inc. www.isis-inc.org
RH Reality Check rhrealitycheck.org
Advocates for Youth advocatesforyouth.org
SIECUS www.siecus.org/

ISIS Inc, along with RH Reality Check and DoGooderTv present the Fresh Focus: Sex-Ed Digital Video Contest. Young people will use digital video technology to explore their sex ed experiences and/or illustrate how they would redesign sex education for the future, using one or both of the following themes:

Theme 1. Share your sex ed experience so far. Show us how and why it sucked or rocked.

Theme 2. Redesign how sex ed could be delivered. Imagine that anything is possible.

The videos should be about 3 minutes long and uploaded to DoGooderTv no later than December 31st, 2007 where people can vote for their favorites. The videos with the most votes will be featured at the Sex::Tech Conference: Focus on Youth, taking place January 22-23, 2008 at SFSU's Institute for Next Generation Internet in San Francisco and presented to public health professionals, youth activists, educators and tech wizards in an effort to move youth sexual health agendas into the 21st century. First place wins a $3500 scholarship to the educational institution of your choice (or cash equivalent); second place wins $1000 cash; and third prize is your choice of a Nikon P5000, a Nintendo Wii or an iPhone. Content and creative vision will be weighed more heavily than production quality. Voting begins on January 4, 2008 and will be moderated by the Midwest Teen Sex Show. Film makers must be between the ages of 15-30. More details at DoGooderTv.

Can you think of any ways to harness technology to improve sex education? I bet you can.

We’re looking for in-depth presentations on the intersection of youth, technology and sexual health. We want to know how you would use technology to communicate with other young people about sexual health. Sexual health is a broad topic so go nuts. Talk about anything from safer sex and condom use, to healthy relationships to unplanned pregnancy. Don’t just give us a synopsis of what happened or what you saw, but a full review and content analysis including the ‘who, what, where and when’. We want to know how it made you feel, if you were inspired, if there were any problems you identified or topics you wish were covered, etc. Take all this info and formulate a different approach or a way to present sex education using technology. Technology is anything with an ‘On’ button and beyond, from cell phones, to the internet and viral videos, to iPods. Get creative and do this project in a group with friends (in person or over the web). We’re interested in your perspective and want your voices to be heard. Give us your ideas!

For many, cell phones, sidekicks, iPhones, computers, texting and instant messaging has become an extension of life and communication.  Imagine a world where you can get access to relevant, up-to-date sexual health information from these devices.  We at ISIS are making imagination into reality. 

We developed a messaging service where texters can have their sexual health questions answered via text message.  We’ve also developed an STD partner notification website where people can send their hookups an anonymous e-card if they think they’ve gotten an STD; the e-card connects them with local STD/HIV testing sites.  But these services aren’t enough.  We’re putting together a conference focused on youth and technology, where we hope young people will tell us how they use technology to communicate with their peers about sex.  This conference isn’t going down until January 2008, so you’ve still got time to send us your ideas!

So why Livejournal?  Because everyone and their momma uses it, making it the easiest way to get to know our target audience (you).  We want to know your needs as far as sexual health information goes, and get feedback on the effectiveness of our tools and programs.  We hope that using sites like this one will stimulate communication on subjects that are difficult to hash out in real life.  We want to know what you think so we can create the best sex info sites and programs around.  Please, let us know what you think!