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:
As many of you know, this week, HHS declared swine flu to be a national public health emergency. At AIDS.gov we're particularly concerned about this issue because people with compromised immune systems, including those living with HIV/AIDS, are more likely to become ill from diseases like the flu.
New media tools can help support our efforts to deliver public health messages quickly and broadly. We are using those tools to spread the word about the swine flu outbreak and to support the public health community's response to it. We ask you to join us in this important mission.
Earlier this week, Michelle Samplin-Salgado and I gave a workshop on using new media in response to HIV/AIDS at the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) annual Skills Building Institute for HIV Testing and Awareness Day Events and Campaigns. The Institute is part of NAPWA's “Mobilized to Succeed” initiative.
It was an honor to be with NAPWA, and with our colleagues from POZ Magazine, to learn alongside people who are living with HIV/AIDS and the organizations that advocate for them. There is no better voice in the response to AIDS than those who are living with HIV/AIDS themselves.
For me, our goal at AIDS.gov is to embrace, when appropriate, the use of new media in response to HIV. NAPWA offered an amazing opportunity to explore the basics of new media, and Michelle and I shared our experiences using new media tools like blogs, wikis, and Twitter. Sally Cherry from The Black Educational AIDS Project signed up for Twitter during the presentation and sent her first few tweets. From the looks of it, she's off to a good start! Other participants (including a couple of people who have been living with AIDS for nearly 20 years) were eager to begin sharing their stories through blogging.
Every 9½ minutes someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV. That’s the message behind a national campaign that was announced today by officials from the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the CDC.
Act Against AIDS is a new five-year national communication campaign that will highlight this alarming statistic and attempt to combat complacency about the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States. The campaign is using both traditional channels (e.g., radio and transit ads) and new media tools (e.g., widgets, Web badges, online videos, Twitter, blogs, social networking sites) to reach a broad audience and to target at-risk populations.
We're changing our tone here at AIDS.gov, increasing our transparency and letting you know just who "we" are. This week's post is by Miguel Gomez, Director of AIDS.gov. Stay tuned for more...and let us know what you think!
Last week was the annual South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas. Our HHS colleague Andrew Wilson attended nearly 25 panels and presentations on new and social media. I sat down with Andrew to find out what he learned - what themes emerged and how they can be applied to our HIV work. Andrew told me:
“SXSW participants reinforced the message that new media tools are only part of the conversation and that collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and customer centricity equal effective communication.
Presentations highlighted the fact that new media offers tremendous opportunities for organizations of all sizes to engage stakeholders and their own staff members, to collaborate in creative ways, and to solicit feedback that will help improve the organization.”
. 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:
