At the beginning of April, I had the pleasure of spending time with David Lee of CALCASA (www.calcasa.org) and Grant Stancliff of WCSAP (www.wcsap.org) talking about the value of using Twitter for prevention efforts.  David recorded our conversation and will post it in the future as a podcast on www.preventconnect.org. 

Twitter describes itself as a "communications platform" and a "rich source of instant information."  I have heard David Lee refer to it as "water cooler talk" in an online format.  Essentially, Twitter allows its users to post updates on about anything in up to 140 characters.   And the anything that is posted ranges from news to links.  People post about the serious, the silly, and the sensational.  Nothing is off limits.  In fact, many critics of the site like to joke, "I don't care that you just ate a sandwich!"

I use Twitter for both personal and professional posts and, I admit, I often become confused about that personal/professional distinction, sometimes blurring the line between the two.  So how do I find Twitter useful for prevention?  For work?  For my job?  On the personal side of things, Twitter has helped me make a lot of connections with folks who end up being partners in my sexual violence prevention work.  I can identify friends and acquaintances who are talking about sexual violence, see to whom they are talking about prevention, and interact with them all.  In fact, I can trace a growing relationship with a national expert and writer on violence against women back to a Twitter post. 

I've also learned that Twitter is a great communication tool for conferences.  Many national conferences have used Twitter as a means for attendees to communicate on what I'd call a "second level."  For example, CALCASA provided a live Twitter feed for the 2009 National Sexual Assault Conference.  This allowed participants to post their thoughts and experiences throughout the conference on Twitter, see what other attendees were posting on Twitter, and interact with each other through Twitter.  When we wanted to post about the conference, we simply had to type a hashtag, "#nsac," into our posts.  By doing this, anyone could go to twitter.com, type "#nsac" into the search, and see the up-to-the-minute thoughts of conference attendees. Don't have a Twitter account?  Try it out.  Go to Twitter.com and type "sexual violence" into the search bar.  Surprised?

The SATF provided the Twitter feed for the 2010 Adolescent Sexuality Conference that took place this month in Seaside Oregon.  Our hashtag was "#asc2010."  I was happy to hear the keynotes and others remark about the value of using Twitter at that conference.  I was even more delighted when conference organizers said they would review the Twitter feed as a part of the conference evaluation.  That was new to me - Twitter as a component of evaluation.  But it makes sense.  Depending on the user name, most folks can tweet relatively anonymously.  This provided for honest, rich comments that might not otherwise be written on paper evaluation forms. 

Ever wonder where I get a lot of the fantastic links to articles and videos for the sexual violence prevention email digest?  You guessed it, Twitter.

I mentioned that I tweet both personally and professionally.  Personally, I tweet from the user name "ashleymaier."  Professionally, SATF staff tweet from "orsatf."  While I have no doubt that Twitter may be replaced by some other newfangled, sparkly technology within the next few years, right now it is going strong, very strong.  So how about it?  Why don't you and your organization put some thought into developing a Twitter presence?  Follow us.  We promise not to Tweet about what we just ate for lunch. 

SART efforts around the state are continuing to take shape, and now the SATF has an even clearer picture of our statewide SART needs, successes, and emerging challenges.  This year, the Task Force will publish the 2010 SART Survey Report, which reveals the current status of SARTs in all 36 counties in Oregon.  We have learned a lot from the Survey, and one key request we have had from SARTs is an increase in communication and information sharing about current and emerging best practices and SART resources.  As a result, the SATF is establishing a Statewide SART Listserv that will allow for information sharing and peer support among SART members as well as the distribution of current best practices, training information, and resources for SARTs.

Members of the listserv will receive information on these topics and more:

·         SART sustainability

·         State and national trainings

·         Publications and general resources

·         State and national best practice and trends

·         peer-to-peer mentoring

·         access to sample materials

·         SATF support staff to call with questions

·         goal setting

Did you know you can support the Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force with the touch of a few buttons?  AGSATF is now registered with mGive, the same organization that raised millions for Haiti and Chile after earthquakes devastated both countries.   By sending a simple text message nearly 2.5 million people made $10 donations to Red Cross Haitian Relief.   With 262.7 million cell phone users in the United States, and 75 billion text messages sent each month, mobile giving is an incredibly effective way to raise money.   

To donate $10 to AGSATF simply text PREVENT to 27722.  You will then receive a confirmation text; reply to it by texting YES to finish your donation.  Your $10 donation is added to your monthly mobile phone bill.  Tell your friends, co-workers, tell everyone about this simple and quick way to support AGSATF's work to end sexual violence.  Help to prevent sexual assault, victim blaming, oppression, and fear: text PREVENT to 27722 today!

The LPP would also like to see the language of sex crimes re-defined (simplified, removing the use of "deviant", etc.) Christine has talked to Deputy AG Mary Williams who is talking to the Oregon Law Commission about this, as it's a very large task.