Archive for November, 2007

Light to Unite

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LtuWe’ve talked this week about the need for continued communication around HIV and AIDS and how the media is rolling out special programming for World AIDS day tomorrow. Today I learned about an example of what corporate America is doing to continue dialogue on HIV and AIDS and raise money to combat the disease.

This year, Bristol-Myers Squibb will once again commemorate World AIDS Day by inviting visitors to the site "Light to Unite" to light a “virtual candle” that symbolizes support for those infected with HIV and AIDS. For each candle lit, Bristol-Myers Squibb will donate $1, up to a maximum of $100,000, to benefit AIDS Service Organizations in under-served areas of the U.S.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is not the only company donating resources and money to World AIDS Day. MTV Networks and the Kaiser Family Foundation are hosting a range of online and offline events internationally in addition to unveiling the winner of the “Change the Course of HIV Challenge,” where they asked college students to propose a viral, Web-based video game concept that educates 15-24 year olds.

It was also announced that Abbott, as part of its sponsorship of the “I Stand With Magic” program, an FH client that is part of the "Campaign to End Black AIDS," will host Cookie Johnson, wife of Earvin "Magic" Johnson, in a nationwide tour to educate women on HIV/AIDS. The program will be traveling to New York, LA and Chicago to provide free HIV testing and education in recognition of World AIDS Day 2007.

For gay specific campaigns, IBM partnered with HRC and Gay Men’s Health Crisis for research efforts to help battle AIDS using their World Community Grid on World AIDS Day in 2005. By downloading software from World Community Grid, you can donate your unused, idle computer time to power research on chemical strategies effective in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals. This unique program joins together individual computers, creating a system with massive computational power.

Instead of just donating money, these companies are prompting dialogue and consumer interactivity to raise awareness and involvement around the issue. All of these companies recognize the importance and critical need for corporate social responsibility initiatives around this topic and the tangible benefits of this PR – exemplifying another way corporate America is hearing the needs of the gay, and other diverse, audiences.

I hope you find time to visit Light to Unite before tomorrow and remember those people whose lives have been touched by HIV and AIDS.

| November 30th, 2007 1 Comment »
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HIV: Promoting a message of hope and reality

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I was born in 1981, the year the first mysterious cluster of a so-called “gay cancer” was recorded among five gay men in Los Angeles by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As a young child in the 80s I could not comprehend reality of the pain, suffering, fear, stigma, and anguish of gay communities ravaged by this unknown and incurable death sentence. It was something that was not talked about and often spoken of only in hushed tones at home and school as a gay disease, that "they" probably deserved for supposedly living promiscuous lifestyles.

Even the deaths of Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, and Kenny Everett which did much to wake up the public to the HIV/AIDS crisis facing humanity were only footnotes in the childhoods of my generation.

In our teenage years the complacency about HIV/AIDS really began to set in. Yes we received sex education lessons, including the use of condoms to reduce the risk transmission of the virus and we saw the adverts on TV, but frankly in middle-class Britain we didn’t know anyone – or didn’t think we knew anyone – with the virus or fighting AIDS.

The social stigma remained and we never thought it was something that would affect “us”. As a gay man now in my mid-20s I am confident that my peers and I are well-versed in the safe sex message which has been drummed into us.

At the same time we see remarkable stories of survival by those who are living with HIV. A few examples spring to mind, Greg Louganis, Chris Smith (former Cabinet Minister in Britain), and most recently Jack on Project Runway – an incredibly good looking, athletic 38 year old who has lived with HIV for 17 years.

It may not be the death sentence that it once was, at least in the West for those with access to drugs treatments, but it is still a virus that causes pain, misery and a tough regime of treatment even for those who battle against it and are winning. It is not something that we should take lightly as gay men but I think complacency has set in, and the figures back up this claim with HIV infections on the rise among young gay men this year in the US and UK.

I am by no means an expert on communicating on health issues or HIV/AIDS campaigns but as a young gay man I would offer this perspective.

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| November 29th, 2007 1 Comment »

Cable TV shines
on World AIDS Day

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J0321106The annual observance of World AIDS Day is Dec. 1.  Many television networks have scheduled a number of educational and entertainment programming this weekend to coincide with the observance and the issue of HIV/AIDS.

The variety of programs illustrates not only the diversity of people facing this disease but also the many perspectives our community has on observing the day, from unflinching documentaries to insightful theatrical releases, both dramatic and comedic.

Also evident is the range of networks — cable networks — with special programming connected to the topic of HIV/AIDS this weekend, including National Geographic Channel, LOGO-TV, here!-TV, Showtime and the Sundance Channel.

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| November 28th, 2007 No Comments »
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Change

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J0314327It’s been a year of change for Out Front Blog: we’ve begun podcasting, featured Q&As with community icons like Billie Jean King and added new voices to the blog. That change continues with the departure of two of our contributing bloggers and the addition of two new contributing bloggers.

Sadly, we’ve lost Patricia Archambault and Jon Garbo to new jobs. We’ve greatly enjoyed their unique points of view and their individual eloquence and will miss their continued contributions to this blog. We’re not going to miss their previous posts, however. In fact, we’re going to make a change to our blogger list to preserve them with the addition of a new “Former Contributors” category to the left-hand column of this blog. We’ll move Patricia, Jon and Mark Senak to this listing in the coming weeks so that we can keep their blog posts up but avoid any confusion about who is blogging now and in the future. 

Fortunately, sad changes often have a silver lining. In fact, the departure of two of our colleagues presents an opportunity to add two new voices to the blogging team. And we’ve found two additional distinctive voices to join us here in our little corner of cyberspace. I’m pleased to announce that our colleagues Kim West and Laura Nguyen will soon join us on the Out Front Blog. Kim and Laura are both FH colleagues from our Kansas City office. Kim is an acknowledged consumer marketing expert with two decades of diverse communications experience. Laura is an up-and-coming communicator who speaks Vietnamese and brings another youthful voice to the Out Front Blog as well as the perspective of a native Midwesterner. Stay tuned for Kim and Laura’s debut posts in December.

If you’d like to offer your own goodbyes or welcomes to our contributors, please feel free to post a comment below. We look forward to hearing from you as we continue to grow and change.

| November 27th, 2007 No Comments »
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Blogging Is Such Sweet Sorrow

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Another opportunity has come, dear readers, and I am leaving the firm. My final post for FH Out Front is bittersweet. I’m sad to leave the company of my extraordinary peers, but happy to have had the chance to work with them side-by-side.

I wish you could witness the behind-the-scenes of our practice group. You’d see dedicated PR people practicing the truest sense of teamwork. You’d see smart and funny people who enjoy each other’s company as much as the work they do. And you’d learn how supportive FH is of its practice group, right down to the CEO himself, Dave Senay, who recently contributed a post to honor the first anniversary of this blog.

These factors — teamwork, dedication, humor, an intelligent approach, and support from above — make FH Out Front a force in the LGBT communications space, and reveal a picture of a firm where entrepreneurial spirit is recognized and rewarded. I hope you’ll call on the group for your LGBT communications needs.

All the best to my colleagues, including our practice group’s fearless leaders: Ben Finzel, Steve Kauffman, and Eddy Evans.

| November 26th, 2007 No Comments »

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