SEXINFO, tree on a plane, badge of honor

So, as I mentioned before, ISIS was awarded a Techie from Grassroots.org for our project SEXINFO. The money arrived, the tabel at the innovations plaza went great, the statue...well, it has a little life of it's own.

I didn't return directly to SF from the NTC in DC. I took a cab to Dulles, then a plane to Boston, then a bus, then a train, then trucked by foot to my friends house. The statue came with me. It didn't fit in my suitcase; it had to be carried. It wasn't until I walked, trained, bussed and crossed security in Boston to head home again that someone actually commented on the statue (there has been plenty of stares). An airport security guard was so excited about it that he offered his own little LCD flashlight into the tree's trunk and the security line got to see the wonderful branches illuminate.

Anyway, It made it home. I made it home. SEXINFO is more known to the world, and I am forever thankful that the tree is in the office and I never have to take it in a train, plane or cab again. Check out these additional Flickr shots of other Techie award recipients.

Technology take up is natural for "digital natives"

I was reading the NTEN blog and found a great little article about reaching low income people with technology which features Joyce Raby from Legal Services Corporation, and some words from Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet and American Life Project , a non-profit research center studying the effect of the internet on American's. Anyway, particularly interesting for public health is Rainie's idea of "digital natives," or kids born after 1985 who have basically grown up with the Internet, and who are excellent targets for technology based messaging.

With our SEXINFO project (sexual health resource guide via text message), 90+ % of youth who remembered seeing the ad campaign for the text messaging service had their own phone. This was really surprising to us because all of these youth were from one of the lowest income neighborhoods in San Francisco.

The latest report from pew is a demogrpahic report about latinos with less english proficiency remaining a disporportionatly low percentage of total Internet users in the U.S. So, while the digital divide doesn't extend to youth in a general sense, non-english speakers (including youth), still don't have adequate access to Internet resources, even if they have access to computers.

InSPOT, our online STD/HIV partner notification system will soon be translated into Spanish. Perhaps translating SEXINFO as well will extend its benefit even farther.

SEXINFO wins a Techie from Grassroots.org!

SEXINFO, ISIS-Inc's (with SF DPH support) San Francisco-based text messaging service for youth, has won a Techie from Grassroots.org. Our prize you ask? We get a $1000 travel scholarship to attend the Non-profit Technology Conference in DC next week, promotional space on both the NTEN and Grassroots.org websites, and a sculpture! We will also be showcasing InSPOT.org along with SEXINFO at the Innovations Plaza during the conference, handing out other project related print materials, giving SEXINFO and InSPOT demonstrations, and handing out condoms.

Yay.

NTEN Innovation Plaza

ISIS-Inc. has been selected to participate in the Innovations Plaza at the NTEN 2007 Nonprofit Technology Conference! We are very excited and plan on showcasing several of our projects: InSPOT and SEXINFO. We'll of course be able to answer questions about some of our other projects too: Eavesdrop, Californiamen, Massmen, Hookinguponline, STDtest.org.

So far nearly 1000 attendees are listed for NTC, along with numerous exciting guest speakers. Among others, we're excited to meet the following speakers:

Heidi J. Boisvert, Suzanne Seggerman, Benjamin Stokes, Barry Joseph, Karen Michaelson: "Video Games for Social Change: a New Movement"

Jonathon D. Colman: "Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz..."

Beth Kanter, involved in 4 different sessions: widgits, Flickr, vlogging, etc.

Dale L. Larson, "Think Mobile! More than Text Messaging"

Look for ISIS at the Innovations Plaza on thursday April 5th.