#HEALTHYTEEN20 IS HERE!
NOVEMBER 16-18, 2020
Read a Note from Janet Max, Interim President & CEO and Rhoda Smith, Board Chair
Dating apps, sexting, user-generated media, sex toys powered by AI, viral memes, porn…and so much more. Ready to talk about sexuality in the connected age? Read more about what is happening during our three-day virtual conference…
INFO YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you haven’t registered there is still time to join us. If you’re looking for how to get into the conference platform (which means our email to you got eaten by the spam gremlin), please email Allison Tomai Felsen, Carol Partonen, or Shanise Taylor.
New Session Formats
Going virtual means we needed to do things a little differently this year. To help combat the dreaded “tech glitch,” the majority of our sessions will only feature the presenters on your screen, with the exception of the poster presentations. So no need to throw on your professional top over your comfy pants every day (although if your ‘fit is on point, post that ish up in the newsfeed). You can participate using the chat feature to talk to each other and the speakers in the session.
Each showcase session is presented three times, so you can attend three different presentations! Just click on your chosen session at 3:30 PM ET, 4:05 PM ET, and 4:35 PM ET to catch one of the 25-minute presentations.
To try to capture that authentic poster hall feel, these presentations are set up so 15 attendees can join a poster presentation at any given time. You can show your face here if you choose, or just listen in and ask questions. If a session is full, just move on to the next poster you want to check out. You might not be able to check out all of the posters, but you should be able to pop in and out of a few!
Sneak a Peak
Want to check out presentation materials before you get to conference? Just click on a session within the agenda to view posters, slides, and other materials. (Please note: some session materials are not available for viewing.)
On Demand Viewing
Fortunately, all of our sessions are live, so you can catch them in real-time. However, if you find yourself unable to choose between 1 or more sessions (we know that FOMO is hard to ignore), know that we will be uploading recordings of almost every session for viewing later. We’ll send an email out to let you know they are ready for you to dive back in and see what you missed!
Congrats to the 2020 Awardees
We have three rock star awardees this year, and even though we couldn’t hold our usual awardee lunch and give them all the snaps in person, we were lucky enough to get their acceptances on video, which will hit you right in the feels. Be sure to congratulate the awardees:
Outstanding Former Teen Parent Award: Sheila VanWert
Douglas B. Kirby Adolescent Researcher of the Year: Dr. Sheana Bull, PhD, MPH
Youth 360° Innovation Award: Power to Decide
#HealthyTeen20 & Prizes
Even though conference hasn’t started yet, it’s not too early to start using the #HealthyTeen20 hashtag to connect with other conference attendees. We will be checking out your posts in the newsfeed on the platform and on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and awarding prizes to those who are really killing it.
Virtual Exhibit Hall
Sadly we can’t beam all that great swag directly through your screens, but we do have exhibitors excited to share their latest and greatest stuff with you! You can chat with them and even set up a video meeting if you’re curious and want to have some face time.
Back in 2019 (was that only last year?), knowing technology and sexuality have become so intertwined, we wanted to explore the theme of sexuality in this “connected age.”
Today (thanks, COVID-19), our theme is more relevant than ever. Just about everything is virtual for most of us these days. And we know that is making a difference for the youth we serve.
What can you expect from #HealthyTeen20?
No, we can’t gather in-person, but you’ll still get the chance to expand your skills and knowledge while also connecting with other professionals. Much has changed, but much will be the same, including a pre-conference institute, inspiring keynotes, a thought-provoking plenary, and of course, workshops, posters, and panel sessions.
From sexting, to dating apps, and watching porn, young people are connected to technology and digital media more than ever, and this connectivity is helping shape their virtual and physical relationships with others. For some educators it’s hard to imagine intimate relationships that started, matured, culminated, and ended all through the use of digital media. For others, it’s impossible not to think of digital media as a critical ingredient for meeting and connecting with potential partners.
We invite you to join us Monday, November 16 as Andrea Barrica, sextech entrepreneur and founder of O.school and the author of Sextech Revolution: the Future of Sexual Wellness, helps us step into the world of how technology will continue to shape how we experience sexuality and relationships, and how we can take advantage of the platform it provides to promote sexual wellness for all, but mostly for sexual minorities often left out of traditional sexual health messaging.
Join adult film performer, sex worker, and sex ed workshop leader Mia Little for a provocative, interdisciplinary conversation with sex workers and sex educators on Wednesday, November 18. The topic: Pornography.
They will be joined by panelists who either produce porn, study porn, teach about it, or do some combination of the three: Mani Bleechington, King Noire, Jet Setting Jasmine, Jessica Melendez, Avry Schellenbach, Gillian Silver, and Hilary Towle.
And why not? Few topics are perhaps more relevant for understanding sexuality in the connected age than pornography. With fast connections and ubiquitous smartphones, today’s technologies make it easier than ever to interact with porn—and we know young people are. They, like people of all ages, look to it for sexual arousal, out of curiosity, and to find answers to their questions about sex.
During the course of our conversation, we’ll touch on the research we have* on young people and porn—why they use it, how they feel about it, and more. We’ll consider why sex ed should equip young people to “read” or “unpack,” porn using media literacy skills when they inevitably come across it or interact with it. You’ll be encouraged to reflect on how your values shape perceptions about young people’s porn use, and leave with tips for having effective conversations about porn.
