WHAT: More than 300 youth, sexual health educators, academics, and technology experts will gather in San Francisco January 22-23 for a groundbreaking conference, Sex::Tech: Focus on Youth. Organized by Internet Sexuality Information Services (ISIS) and the National Sexuality Resource Center, the conference will address the impact of technology on the sexual health of young people. Focusing on youth perspectives, including youth-led panels and presentations, the conference will examine how technology can be used for STD/HIV prevention; the successes and challenges of Web 2.0, text messaging, and video games as media channels, as well as the future of technological interventions for teaching sexual literacy to young people.
Conference sessions will include:
- Pop Culture and the Power of Social Media to Influence Sex Education
- Sex Panic, How New Technologies Focus Public Fears about Sex
- OMG!STDs: Text Messaging for Sexual Health
- Podcast This! Podcasting for Sexual and Reproductive Health
- From Hip Hop to MySpace: Using Technology to Empower Black Young Women & Girls
On January 22, the conference will also announce the winners of ISIS' national “Fresh Focus: Sex Ed Digital Video Contest,” where youth tell their own stories about dealing with the conflicting and often confusing information they receive about sex.
WHO: Key Conference Speakers and Presenters include:
- Deb Levine, M.A., Executive Director and Founder of Internet Sexuality Information Services
- Gilbert Herdt, PhD, Director, National Sexuality Resource Center
- Anastasia Goodstein, Founder YPulse.com http://ypulse.com and Author of Totally Wired: What Teens And Tweens Are Really Doing Online
- Derrick Oien, CEO and Founder, Intercasting Corp., Creators of Anthem and Rabble.com http://rabble.com , Mobile Networking for Urban Youth
- Amy Brill and Pete Griffin, MTV, ThinkMTV
- Carla Stokes, President/CEO & Founder, Helping Our Teen Girls in Real Life Situations, Inc.
WHY: Technology is central to young people's lives—87% of all U.S. teens aged 12-17 use the Internet, 48% visit video-sharing sites, 64% create their own content (e.g., virtual diaries/blogs, video, digital music), and 22% of teens search for information that's hard to talk about, such as sex and drug use. The explosion of social networking sites such as MySpace has solidified the Internet’s role in how youth communicate with each other and how they understand and express their sexuality. These sites also present new challenges and opportunities for teen sex education and risk prevention.
WHERE: Conference Keynotes will take place at the JW Marriott San Francisco, 500 Post Street. Additional conference sessions will take place at the Institute for Next Generation Internet (INGI), San Francisco State University Downtown Campus, 835 Market Street, Suite 605.
WHEN: Tuesday, January 22 – Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A full program schedule is available online at http://www.sxtechconference.org/schedule.html
To register for the conference or arrange interviews with conference participants, please contact Geoffrey Knox at 212-229-0540 or 917-414-1749 or gknox@geoffreyknox.com.
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Internet Sexuality Information Services, Inc. (ISIS) is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to developing and using Internet technologies for sexual health promotion and to prevent disease transmission. ISIS provides leadership, innovation, educational resources and research in online sexual health promotion. http://www.isis-inc.org
The National Sexuality Resource Center (NSRC) gathers and disseminates the latest accurate information and research on sexual health, education, and rights. NSRC advances sexual literacy by constructing new dialogues—both online and face-to-face—to promote social justice and to improve the quality of life in the United States. http://nsrc.sfsu.edu
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