The Wonderful World of Widgets

By Michelle Samplin-Salgado

Widgets . Gadgets . Call them what you’d like, but there is definitely a lot of buzz around these small applications that you can embed in a social network site, blog, or website. Our Federal colleagues have developed salmonella, flu, and HIV test widgets. At AIDS.gov, we’re starting to use widgets, too. We used a widget to ask for your suggestions for our National HIV Testing Day Initiative. And we’re working with the CDC to develop a widget for National HIV Testing Day that will highlight stories of people who have taken an HIV test.

Some widgets allow you to embed a photo or video viewer, conduct polls, and solicit donations. Others allow you to incorporate news or headlines from other websites. Widgets can deliver dynamic content. In other words, if you have a photo or news widget, once you update the information going in to the widget everyone who has the widget will automatically receive the updated information.

Widgets can be a great way to share information and repurpose content. Some ways to use widgets in response to HIV include to:

• Share content from your blog or website about HIV prevention, testing, treatment, or research.
• Share photos or videos from HIV-related events and activities, like an AIDS walk or benefit.
• Conduct polls or surveys about your HIV services.
• Support and track HIV-related fundraising efforts.

Turning Compassion into Action for National Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

By Deb LeBel

Today is National Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NAPIHAAD). This year's theme is “After a quarter century of HIV, compassion isn't enough—Take action now!” I spoke with David Stupplebeen of the Banyan Tree Project (“BTP” - the partnership that plans and implements the day) about what you can do to turn compassion into action for NAPIHAAD and beyond.

David told me that BTP is continuing to use new media to communicate their NAPIHAAD messages. The big news this year is that BTP did a video with Dr. Sanjay Gupta which talks about stigma in the Asian and Pacific Islander (A&PI) community.

Capitol Hill Conference: Future Directions in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS

By Miguel Gomez

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of speaking about new media during the “Capitol Hill Conference: Future Directions in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS” co-sponsored by amfAR and Research!America . This event brought together international HIV experts, celebrity advocates, and government officials to talk about the importance of HIV research and a National AIDS Strategy. The day started with information from the recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey showing that Americans' sense of urgency about HIV has fallen and that we need to reinvigorate ourselves in the fight against AIDS.

Quest for an HIV Vaccine Continues: HIV Vaccine Awareness Day

By Deb LeBel

Wear the upside-down AIDS ribbon to create a “V” for “vaccine” and the vision of a world without AIDS.

Recently I talked with Kathy Stover from NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) -- the lead organizer for HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD) - May 18. As HVAD approaches, I wanted to learn more about HIV vaccine research and HVAD.

I learned that in 2009, the U.S. is still engaged in a steady effort to find a safe and effective vaccine to prevent HIV. This work is a key focus of the comprehensive HIV prevention research that will help reduce the impact of the epidemic.

2009 National Technology Conference: Highlights for the HIV Community

By Michelle Samplin-Salgado

Last week, Jennie Anderson and I attended the Nonprofit Technology Network's (NTEN) 2009 National Technology Conference (NTC) . Because many AIDS service organizations are non-profits, the conference provides us with an opportunity to gain invaluable insight into how non-profit organizations across the country and around the world are using new media to inspire, connect and collaborate with their audiences. It was inspiring for me to learn from and share experiences with people who really care about what they are doing and believe in the causes they represent. And there is so much we, in the HIV community, can learn from people working to promote their own causes. Here are a few highlights: