POZ Community Forums

Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: 100proofBrandy on September 26, 2008, 12:27:47 pm

Title: calling all Poz
Post by: 100proofBrandy on September 26, 2008, 12:27:47 pm
hello fellow pozzies
I am getting ready to speak to my school about HIV/AIDS education, treatment, awareness etc it will be my first large group, I have spoken to classes done meeting and broads but this is my first guest speaker thing "yicks" anyways I would like to run a slide of pictures of people with HIV/AIDS including myself of course with the age and how long they have been poz etc no names I want to have faces of real everyday people to bring to life this disease I'm in the bible belt and this disease gets pushed under the rug way to much.
here's what I'm asking anyone who would like to be a apart of the slide please send me a picture with age and how long poz to HIVadvocate@digitalpobox.com I will be having it taped so everyone can see how it turned out!
Title: Re: calling all Poz
Post by: Queen Tokelove on September 26, 2008, 02:12:09 pm
Wow...Please let me know how that turns out, your speaking engagement. I may start speaking some time in the near future and could use some advice. Good Luck.
Title: Re: calling all Poz
Post by: 100proofBrandy on September 27, 2008, 10:30:09 am
I will I'm going to tape it I'll post it on my home page I drop the link when its there :) I not speaking until DEC 1 ( perfect day huh) I still have alot to put together the slides being what will take the longest to do if I get enough pic the biggest issue being that no one from here wants to do it so I have my feelers out but i will be talking regardless and I have 2 pic myself and my best friends uncle, any way I'll let you know how it turns out 
Title: Re: calling all Poz
Post by: bear60 on September 27, 2008, 11:05:46 am
Hi
There is also a HUGE number of famous people who have died of HIV/AIDS and many of them are listed in this wikipedia source.  I think its a pretty good source. ...as these things go. Maybe someone else has a better link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HIV-positive_people


Good luck with the presentation.

Joel
Title: Re: calling all Poz
Post by: 100proofBrandy on September 27, 2008, 06:03:58 pm
thanks Joel
maybe I use some but what I'm trying to do is show these college students that this can happen to anyone! I am looking for the everyday kind of person I want to bring this disease "home" to them and famous people are surreal know what I mean anyways thanks for the idea
love Brandy
Title: Re: calling all Poz
Post by: emeraldize on September 28, 2008, 08:51:07 am
Hi Brandy

I hope you can understand why you're not getting much feedback in the form of photos from forum members. I have made several presentations on HIV, never with a slide presentation, just testimonial-style or on a panel with others. However, there are lots of great reasons to have a slide presentation to enhance your message and hold some audience members' attention.

I'd like to suggest you contact POZ magazine and ask (I don't think there's a copyright violation as you would not be doing this to make money, yes?) if you could show numerous examples of the people portrayed/featured in POZ as your everyday subjects. If they say yes, you could ask for back issues, photograph the pages, OR, perhaps POZ would send .pdfs of a variety of first-page photos in articles.

The beauty of POZ is that it is not a celebrity mag, its intended audience is directly reflected in its content. Because of your intentions, the potential for spreading a prevention message, and operating on an assumption that you would acknowledge/credit POZ mag (and perhaps even take copies of the most current issue with you to distribute) I can't imagine that POZ wouldn't work with you to make your presentation colorful, informative and what you desire most...credible.

The other thing you could do, is try to have a live link to that program (the name is escaping me) that was linked for a while to AIDSMEDS (may still be...I can't check for it while writing this post) that allows the viewer to guess whether the person they are looking at is poz or neg. THAT could be a highly interactive, memorable and pivotal part of your presentation, maybe even if used near the end introduced after you've given some of your story and FAQ type info.

" Now that you know more about HIV, I invite you to participate in this nationally (or internationally) -launched program which shows it is virtually impossible to gauge who has it and who doesn't based on looks alone. "

Then, at the very end, encourage the audience to think in broader terms and about testing...

"Wasn't that an interesting exercise? Now, all of the people whose faces you saw and status you guessed are people who know their status because they've been tested.  You need to know that the CDC estimates 250,000 (get recently revised stat, if one) people in the US don't know they are HIV positive. And, they, too, look just like you, like me and all of the people you've seen in the slides and online program.   So,why not get tested and get protected and help spread the word, not the virus?"

Wishing you a great outcome.
Em
Title: Re: calling all Poz
Post by: 100proofBrandy on September 28, 2008, 02:30:18 pm
yes I understand I was never depending on getting pictures from just here I just thought if anyone wanted to be a part of the slide that's all it was 8 years before I started opening up about my status and I still don't wear a sign or anything like that, so I haven't taken it to heart that only a few have answered, and that's a great idea about contacting poz I'll do that actually more have replied then I thought would  and I'm grateful to them,
thanks Brandy
Title: Re: calling all Poz
Post by: bear60 on September 28, 2008, 03:11:47 pm
Hi Brandy
I think the reason I gave you the idea to look up some famous people whio have died from HIV/AIDS is because to some extent, it wasnt until AFTER Rock Hudson died of AIDS that the subject became a serious dialogue on TV and in the media. I think there is something very wrong when the media does not give proper attention to a disease like HIV.  So, some celebrities who were able to talk to the media, like Magic Johnson ( even if what he said was not always to our liking),  were an important part of educatuion that HIV is not just a gay disease, it affects everyone.
And since people often pay more attention to celebrities names than to the names of everyday people, it is a way of getting the audiences attention. 
Just a thought.
Not that the message you are trying for isnt an imprortant one...that everone can be/ is affected by HIV.