CDC's 2009 HIV Prevention Conference: “Innovation and Action to End the Epidemic”

The 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference is reaching over 3,500 of our colleagues in Atlanta this week. Thanks to conference organizers, this year’s highlights are shared to those unable to attend via Twitter, HIV.govExit Disclaimer, and others are tweeting with the hashtag #NHPC09Exit Disclaimer. CDC also provides conference participants with text message updates, and videotaped many of the presentations to broaden reach (CDC NPIN should have these posted around September 7th).

This morning, HIV.gov Director Miguel Gomez focused on how the HIV community can adopt new media tools to further their work. Miguel said, “we have a responsibility to learn about new media—to learn what clients are doing online, what new media is, and how to fit it into our overall HIV prevention planning.”

Specific new media innovations were described after the plenary during an HIV.gov-sponsored panel, moderated by Michelle Samplin-Salgado, shared his experiences using a blogExit Disclaimer: Find the balance between personal and professional commentary and keep posts regular to sustain audience engagement. Erik Ireland, Digital Content Manager, San Francisco AIDS FoundationExit Disclaimer (SFAF), discussed lessons of using podcasts to further SFAF’s missionExit Disclaimer: Take the time to think about why you are interested in using podcasts and create ways to make it easy for people to access to your podcast. David Novak, Senior Public Health Strategist, Online Buddies, Inc.Exit Disclaimer, summarized STI partner notificationExit Disclaimer (PDF) and evidence-based online behavioral video dissemination on Manhunt CaresExit Disclaimer in his presentation. Andrew Woodruff, Program Director, ISIS, presented on ISIS' experience using text messaging to reach youth with sexual health informationExit Disclaimer through SexInfoExit Disclaimer and Hookup.

These experiences added to other innovative new media programs we heard about on a panel yesterday, “Learning in Real Time: A Hands-On Approach to Using New Media in Response to HIV/AIDS.” Here, Michael LeFlam, CDC, presented a comprehensive overview of new media tool use. Alex Barros, Alaskan AIDS Assistance AssociationExit Disclaimer, presented about PowerON—an Internet HIV prevention program designed to reach MSM. Francisco Roque, Gay Men's Health CrisisExit Disclaimer, talked about a web and video campaign targeting young MSMExit Disclaimer. Dr. Marguerita LightfootExit Disclaimer, UCLA, described the process of developing and implementing HIV prevention computer games for high-risk youth.

After hearing new media presentations—are you ready to translate ideas into action for your program? If you are at the conference, check out the Social Media Lab in Hyatt Room 219—a hands-on opportunity for programs to learn about using new media for their programs. We plan to share stories from the Social Media Lab after the conference.

Send us your comments to the presentations, and any lessons on using new media to reach your audiences with HIV prevention messages.