There are many innovative ways to make condom usage more appealing. Exotic flavors, ultra-thin latex, and textured condoms “ribbed for pleasure” all make condoms more exciting.

However, their rate of usage remains inconsistent.

Launching the Condom Design Contest

Faced with this challenge, Say It With A Condom partnered with Frannie Peabody Center to help make condoms more fun.

Frannie Peabody Center, a nonprofit in Portland, Maine, invited a class of students at the Maine College of Art to design condom packaging that raises awareness of testing and prevention on World AIDS Day.

Donna Galluzzo, the Executive Director of Frannie Peabody Center, sees World AIDS Day as an occasion to honor those lost during the AIDS crisis while raising awareness for modern prevention methods.

Creating the Condom Designs

For the graphic design class, this was an opportunity to gain real-world design experience. “This class treated us, Frannie Peabody Center, as their client,” says Galluzzo, “It’s a very real-world experience for them. We all meet together, they interview us, and they talk about what we are looking for.”

The more visually interesting a condom package, the more likely someone will pick it up to find out what it is. Frannie Peabody Center understood this, so they instructed the design students to combine positive messaging with unique patterns and colors.

After giving the class direction at the beginning of the fall semester, they had a mid-semester meeting to present their drafts and receive constructive feedback. This feedback culminated in the students’ final designs.

“We wanted the designs to be attractive and colorful, but they also had to spread the right message, respect our clients, and appeal to a large variety of groups,” Galluzzo notes, “That was a very fine line to walk, but I think the folks at Say It With A Condom really understood that. The class really got it as well, the designs all had something unique about them but they were all very respectful.”

Rocking the Vote

Once the entries were submitted, Say It With A Condom developed an online voting platform that allowed the community to vote on their favorite design. Not only did Frannie Peabody Center send people to vote online, they also went to events throughout Portland to conduct in-person voting sessions.

“It was really fun to engage the public,” says Galluzzo, “people of course were picking up the condoms and reading the messages. We got to hear what their thoughts were in real time. Some thought it was all about the style, while others thought it was more about the positive messaging. We even got to see parents explaining condoms to their kids right in the moment, so it was definitely quite the engagement!”

In total, over 850 votes were cast. The competition was close, but Hayden Jones’s “Every Connection Counts” design won!

Who Was Frannie Peabody?

Frannie Peabody, the namesake of her eponymous nonprofit, began her work as an activist at the age of eighty following her grandson’s AIDS diagnosis. “I wish that I had met Frannie,” says Galluzzo, “every time I talk to someone who did know her, she becomes a larger than life figure.”

Following the death of her grandson, she became involved in visiting support groups to meet with others who lost friends and loved ones during during the AIDS crisis. “She became an incredibly staunch advocate for people living with HIV and AIDS in the state of Maine,” Galluzzo says, “she went on a longstanding community campaign to raise awareness, to engage her personal community, to give, and to help.”

Asked what Frannie Peabody would have thought of the contest, Galluzzo says that “I’m sure she would have loved it.”

Visit Frannie Peabody Center’s Website, Facebook, and Instagram

Email contest@sayitwithacondom.com to Launch Your Own Condom Design Contest!

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Brandy described the office as a resource center for students that provides education that encourages students to make low-risk decisions. Their purpose is to empower students to make informed decisions regarding their health and wellness by providing evidence-based education, inclusive resources, and non-judgmental support.They have a number of professional staff in the office as well as student peer educators who do a lot of the outreach and implementation of events. Some of their services and events for students are:

• • Health Huts: Monthly awareness/tabling events that focus on a different health and wellness topic each month
  • Gotcha Covered: Volunteer-based condom distribution program
  • Be Wise Party Packs: Party packs for students who live off-campus and throw parties
  • Stress Less Fest: Stress relief events held fall and spring semesters; the week before finals week
  • Safe Spring Break: Programming the week before spring break; topics usually include sexual health, alcohol, sun safety, and travel safety
  • Tobacco Cessation: Free tobacco cessation classes
  • Peer Financial Coaching: Free one-on-one financial coaching sessions, led by a trained peer educator; focuses on making a budget, credit, saving money, etc.
  • Sexual Assault Awareness Month
  • HIV testing: Free, rapid HIV testing for students
  • Free products in the office, including internal and external condoms, lubricant, bandaids, dental floss, chapstick, hand sanitizer, and more!

The Student Wellness Center was founded in 1992 and has evolved over the years. The professional staff members tended to be generalists and were able to educate students on a variety of topics, but in 2017, they hired a Program Coordinator for Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs, and also a Sexual  Violence Prevention Program Coordinator. Now their staff members are able to focus on a specific topic, and give more attention to student needs.

Brandy mentioned that she doesn’t think their office would be as successful without the partnerships that they have. They currently partner with a number of offices on campus such as Counseling and Psychological Services, Student Conduct and Community Standards, Resident Education and Development, Fraternity and Sorority Life, and Women Helping Women who are on-campus advocates. They are working on building stronger off campus partnerships, but they currently partner with Caracole, which is a Cincinnati AIDS service organization, and the Cincinnati Health Department to offer and promote STI and HIV testing.

Brandy explained that their biggest challenge is physical space. “This makes it difficult to do day-to-day work, as well as to grow. We don’t have any private space, which is a challenge with meeting with employees, student workers, and students who have private questions.” But Brandy also said that they’re making the most out of their situation, by being intentional with their programming, and by doing what they can with their space. She also noted that their staff tends to get along really well, because they’re always working so closely together.

When asked about their biggest success, Brandy said, “Our peer educators. We couldn’t do 75% of the outreach and the work we do without them.” They’re active on social media, and do a lot of outreach by doing presentations, events, and tabling. She continued by saying, “They’re great representatives for our office. I think I’m most proud of them!”

Say It With A Condom is amazed with the outreach they’re doing to get their students involved and educated about health and wellness! Check out their website here, or their Twitter and Instagram!

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We’re back with our second ‘back to school’ edition article! Keep reading to learn more about how condoms have been implemented on college campuses all over the country to effectively raise awareness and spread important messages! This time we’ll be talking about the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Tufts University, UCLA, and California State University Northridge.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has an amazing organization on campus called ‘Sex Out Loud‘ This organization is meant to promote sexual education in an open, healthy way. The organization provides students with the proper education and tools necessary to make smart decisions. The organization also has many programs all over campus, and stays really involved with the student body. Say It With A Condom was able to partner with The University of Wisconsin-Madison. The University started a contest on campus to allow students to create their own condom designs centered around consent. They did a great job, and we’re so happy to have worked with such a wonderful student body. #consentissexy

Tufts University wants to ensure that all of their students have the proper education needed to make healthy life decisions. They wanted to spread pro-consent messages throughout campus, so Tufts University partnered with Say It With A Condom to modify one of our pre-designed Consent Condoms. They are able to hand condoms out on campus while also delivering an important message. Tufts believes in spreading awareness, having proper resources, and education. Keep up the great work Tufts! We can’t wait to see what we can do together in the future.

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has a very diverse campus with lots of opportunities. They have a large variety of clubs and extracurriculars to keep  students engaged beyond the classroom setting. They started an organization in 1965 that is knows as the Campus Events Commission. This organization was actually able to partner up with Say It With A Condom, and together we designed condoms to allow the Campus Events Commission to spread awareness for their events. They wanted to promote the activities and entertainment they provide on campus, and what better way to do so than with a custom condom?!

California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is a public university located in a neighborhood of Los Angeles. The university provides students with the opportunity to engage in many extracurricular activities. The CSUN Young Democrats were able to go above and beyond by partnering with Say It With A Condom. Together, we raised awareness about the events that they hold on campus. These efforts were successful, and they have ordered custom condoms from us several times over the past few years. It’s great to see young students making a real difference by starting a conversation and raising awareness about activities that they are passionate about. Keep up the awesome work CSUN!

It’s wonderful to see that these custom condoms are being used for all types of important causes all over the nation. We can’t wait to further our work with these amazing universities, and we wish them all the best of luck during this upcoming school year!

The post Back To School: College Spotlights Part 2 appeared first on Say It With A Condom.

With back to school season right around the corner, we couldn’t think of a better person to recognize than youth sexual assault activist, Venkayla Haynes. With the world (google.com) at our fingertips, we’ve been able to learn all about the amazing campaigns Venkayla has been contributing to. We’re especially impressed that this dedicated individual can balance her college career at Spelman College while also being a Summer Research Intern for Break The Cycle, an Ambassador for No More, and a Student Advisory Committee Member for It’s On Us. She, along with other youth activists, met with the Biden Foundation earlier this month in an attempt to combat gender-based violence. Learn more about what motivates Venkayla here.

Twitter I Linkedin

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Break The Cycle

Break The Cycle is a national not-for-profit organization and its main aim is to provide youth (ages 12-24) with dating abuse programs. The idea behind this campaign is to support the youth in building healthy, lasting relationships. Break The Cycle wants to create a culture without abuse and volunteers and partners alike advocate for this important cause in classroom settings, within the courtroom, and even in Congress!

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NO MORE

No More is another leading organization that aims to end domestic violence and sexual assault. The idea behind this campaign is to raise more awareness on the issue and increase bystander intervention. Organizations and individual advocates all over the nation have partnered up with No More to join the fight against domestic violence and sexual assault. This organization also conducts research to better gauge how to go about achieving the overall goals of this campaign!

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It’s On Us

It’s On Us is a national campaign designed to end sexual assault. The campaign is designed to engage community leaders, parents, teachers, and students on campuses all over the country to take the It’s On Us pledge. Supporters are able to advocate for ending sexual assault, and survivors of sexual assault are given a safe place to overcome their demons. It’s On Us also focuses on consent and bystander education, two very important topics that people need to be educated on for sexual assault rates to decrease. It’s On Us is a powerful movement that lets people start a conversation about a controversial topics such as sexual assault!  

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The youth is our future, and it is incredible to see young folks just like Venkayla Haynes taking charge and letting their voices be heard. If she can do it, so can you! It’s as easy as bringing these organizations and their messages to your campus or community. Become an advocate and join the fight against sexual assault today!

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Florida International University, located in Miami, FL, does an excellent job at promoting healthy living and safe sexual practices both on and off campus. The university runs a variety of campaigns that involve different departments within the university. We were able to talk to two influential figures at FIU: Wendy Ordóñez, the outreach coordinator for ‘The Victim Empowerment Program’ and Sofia Fernandez, the project coordinator that works to promote safe and healthy practices within the greater Miami community.

How does FIU promote sexual health and awareness on its campus?

Wendy: “FIU is extremely proactive when it comes to providing students with the tools necessary to combat any issues they may face regarding sexual health. We have multiple departments that work together to strategize and create effective campaigns on campus. The program I work with deals with consent and issues related to alcohol use.”

Sofia: “The department I am in works very closely with the health clinic to provide free HIV and STD testing for students. We also work with different student run organizations in an attempt to create a partnership and a connection with our students. Because we are a locally and federally funded project, another cool thing we get to do is community outreach. We are actually able to work with the local middle and high schools to give them the information necessary to make responsible, mature decisions when it comes to their health.”

What sorts of strategies do you use to engage the students on campus?

Wendy: “We like to use a variety of approaches to tackle our mission. We give out about 100 presentations a year on consent and responsible alcohol use as part of our ‘freshman experience’ program. We also have many tabling events throughout the year where we give away free gifts and prizes. Something that has been very effective for us is doing talks in the elevator. This way, we can catch students as they’re going about their day. One of our favorite events of the year is our sex carnival, and everyone seems to enjoy it because it’s fun for the students but also creative and interactive on our end.”

Sofia: “Since we are able to partner up with student organizations, we are able to go to their meetings and give presentations. We have also done so in classrooms and at our dorms. Since we have lots of opportunities, and we are not just based on campus, we have unique opportunities such as horse therapy, or the mindfulness project. We have been thinking of innovative ways to allow our students to cope with any issue that may arise. Also, we actively promote free HIV and STD testing on campus every Monday and Wednesday. We also have a weekly outreach program on campus with the health clinic where we are able to go and hand out information.”

How did you get started in this line of work?

Wendy: “In 2004, I was a freshman at FIU and sat in on a program about consent and responsible alcohol use. The talk really sunk in and I became really interested in the topic, but I was studying graphic design at the time so I did not know how to incorporate the two. However, after entering the workforce, I saw that I could use my creative mind to create campaigns that resonate with students, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Sofia: “I have always been interested in this type of work. I studied social work at Florida State University and got my masters degree. I then decided to enroll in the doctoral program for social welfare at FIU, and I am currently working towards that goal. I was also lucky enough to be able to come on board as a project coordinator at FIU. I’m able to further my education while also working and helping the youth at FIU and the community around us.”

How has creativity helped enhance the message behind your campaigns?

Wendy: “Being a graphic designer, I think creativity is important in almost everything. People get tired of seeing the same, boring messages again. That’s why I created a mascot for the project I’m working on. ‘Kiwi the Alien’ is a mascot that everyone on the FIU campus knows and loves. He is just as popular as our school mascot now, and the idea behind him is to create a fun way to spread health messages in a way that students will remember. And who won’t remember a giant green alien?”

Sofia: “After seeing how successful Kiwi was, Wendy has helped me create ‘Cody the Camel’, a mascot that is now used for my specific project. FIU has a lot of different organization, programs, and events, but these mascots allow students, faculty, and staff to remember us and the work that we’re doing.”

                      ‘Cody The Camel’                                                      ‘Kiwi The Alien’

How has partnering with Say It With A Condom enhanced the delivery of your message?

Wendy: “It’s given us a creative outlet to talk about controversial, sensitive topics. Humor works wonders, and Say It With A Condom has allowed us to use that to talk about issues like consent or alcohol related incidents in a fun and approachable way. The ‘You Mustache For My Consent” condoms made the students laugh but also allowed us to send out our message. It was a win-win situation, and we really are starting effective conversations with condoms.”

Sofia: “After seeing how Say It With A Condom has positively influenced Wendy’s campaign, we decided it would greatly benefit us as well. We’re currently in the process of creating our own campaigns to start conversations with condoms, and we’re excited to see our partnership benefit my department as well.”

We can’t wait to work with you guys more either! Keep doing what you’re doing and accomplishing great things at FIU. Thanks so much Wendy and Sofia, we’re excited to see what you both accomplish next.

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How does Duke University support the student body in approaching a controversial topic such as sexual health?

Duke University takes part in National Coming Out Day, which is on October 11th of every year. The Center for Sexual Gender and Diversity along with other supporting offices have tables set up on campus to hand out information regarding sexual health to students. This past year, Say It With A Condom was able to provide their brand of clever condoms, Funny Condoms, to the University for our event.

Mercado says, “the condoms were a huge hit, and students came to these tables specifically for them.” What better way to raise awareness and get your message out?

How else does Duke University engage in actively promoting sexual health throughout the year?

Students at this school are actively engaged in promoting sexual health. Student run organizations hold tabling events throughout the semester. Other than that, a lot of the communication is through posters, flyers, and word-of-mouth.

Why do you think Funny Condoms resonated with the students so well?

A different vehicle to get sexual health messages out.The condoms tend to be creative and funny, which is always very popular with the students. Who doesn’t want a good laugh?

Why were condoms so effective for this campaign at Duke University?

Condoms allow people to be given a direct solution to many sexual health issues.The creative slogans and packaging share the message in a way that allows people to think about the topic in ways they may not have before.

How have these campaigns helped bring a positive light to this college campus?

It’s great seeing people ask questions that they were once afraid to ask. It is about becoming more comfortable with yourself and taking control of your own sexual values.

How can we proceed from here and raise awareness for sexual health on a larger scale?

Communication is definitely key in approaching this issue. I’d love to see parents being more comfortable having conversations with their children about sex and everything surrounding it.

One Sexy Week is another program run by Duke. It has a similar set-up to that of National Coming Out Day. Say It With A Condom was able to partner with Duke University oOn that campaign as well to successfully hand out condoms during the event. Say It With A Condom was created with the intention of giving people the medium to start a conversation, and that is exactly what Maralis Mercado said when we asked her why custom condoms were so effective with her students. She realizes the importance of being able to communicate openly about sexual health.

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