Thank You Sarah Palin…

Who would ever think that Sarah Palin could make me think about new media, but she did!! I have to admit that I was riding Kingda Ka at Great Adventure when Sarah Palin appeared on Saturday Night Live and unfortunately, my husband and I do not have DVR. While I was really anticipating what it would be like to see Sarah Palin and Tina Fey on the same stage, I was not worried as I knew that I would find it online after its’ initial airing on Saturday night.

Needless to say, Sunday morning I ran to my computer to look for the SNL clips that I know were already available online. Lo and behold, they were uploaded and ready for viewing and I spent quite some time at the computer (with my mother, father, and sister) laughing at the antics of quite a cast of characters.

What can SNL, Sarah Palin, and Tina Fey possibly have to do with HIV/AIDS education? The answer is everything!! The fact that I missed the initial airing of that Saturday Night Live episode did not mean that I would never see it again or would have to diligently watch the re-run roster for the next year; viewing it was as easy as sitting in front of my computer. This is the true definition of new media, information at your fingertips when you want it, how you want it.

While watching videos on the computer is nothing new, the speed and efficiency with which I can now find any and all types of media content online is new. According to the Associated Press, 10.2 million people watched the season-opening “Saturday Night Live”, an additional 1.2 million people recorded it on their DVRs and the skit was accessed online more than 13 million times. Remember that these are the numbers that NBC can track, while going viral through their company website, NBC has no way to track the number of times that it has been posted or emailed through hundreds of other sites. This is the nature of information in our new media world, once posted online, information has the opportunity to go viral within a few hours.

Now imagine if just a quarter of the people that went online to view the SNL clips went online to obtain HIV/AIDS information? What if they spent time with their family in front of the computer looking at HIV/AIDS related websites, public education campaigns, and various available programming? It is plausible and more than possible for online media to be at the forefront of HIV/AIDS information and to become the newest medium through which individuals and families can sit together and talk about what they are viewing on the screen.

This is the ultimate goal of Cable Positive’s different grant programs, to provide agencies with the funds and insight to translate their promotional and education campaigns onto multi-media platforms. With the correct use of new technology, HIV/AIDS information and education can be readily available through the press of an On-Demand button or the click of a mouse; when HIV/AIDS education goes viral online, it will be something viral that we can all celebrate.

Refocusing….

Let’s face it, times are hard. CNN’s red arrows continue to point to an economy that is responding to the greatest financial crisis of our time. It is hard not to become overwhelmed by the ever surrounding news of foreclosures, falling house prices, and the looming presidential election. It is enough to make to even the most uninterested American sit up and take notice, or at least change the channel from I Love Money to Anderson Cooper 360^o for 15 minutes.

It is a tumultuous time for non-profits across the country. Funding is being reallocated and/or lost, jobs are being cut, and sites are closing down; all while agencies must continue to prove their worth to the community and their funders, while doing more with less or less with less.

While our economy and job market continue to flounder, the CDC recently updated their 2006 new HIV infection rates to reflect an increase of 16,300 people living with HIV/AIDS, reaching a total of 56,300 HIV infections in the US compared to the previously reported 40,000. What does this mean?

It means that now, more than ever, is the time for innovative and flexible HIV prevention education. With less money to go around, a real possibility in a strapped household might be to have to choose between toilet paper and milk; personal protection items such as condoms, lubricants, dental dams, etc are left on the back burner. This is a very important time within our HIV/AIDS prevention community, back are the days when you teach people to make a dental dam by cutting up a plastic glove.

Also gone are the times of 500k, multi-year grants from the city, state, or local governments. Agencies must once again look to small foundation/private grants (who will to supplement funds to provide direct service and to market these services. I bring this up because the deadline for the Tony Cox Community Fund 2008 Cycle 2 was on September 12^th, 2008 and out of all the ASOs in the 50 states, we have a grand total of 25 applications. While I understand that a grant application can be an unwelcome addition to an already overworked and underpaid staff person’s job description; the benefits of up to $7,000 worth of unrestricted funds cannot be denied.

While the initial grant application may seem taxing, the results can be tremendous, including: a partnership with a local cable system (that can only grow), increased agency clientele, agency branding, increased agency recognition within your community (and in the surround areas), increased participation in agency events, increase in potential grant monies from PSA exposure, etc. etc.

Cable Positive’s motto, “we have work to do,” has never echoed stronger or with such urgency, do your research and apply for small grants, the worst that can happen is that you are funded!!!