How do HIV prevention programs reach gay men when networking and cruising have increasingly transitioned to online platforms which offer speed and anonymity? Carl Sandler, CEO of gay social networking app MISTER, discuss public/private partnerships in the age of apps at an FHI 360 panel on eHealth innovations as part of the 11th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, Nov. 20, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.

1. MEETING MSM WHERE THEY LIVE
Public/Private Partnerships in the App Age
Carl Sandler
CEO, MISTER APP
carl@misterapp.com

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MISTER is a geolocation based social community
Launched in 2011
1 Million downloads
500,000 unique users/month
Diverse audience. 50% of users are > 30.
MISTER men are looking for relationships (60%) as well
as sex (40%)

3. MISTER is a values based community that celebrates differences of
age, race, status or gender. Our members are awesome.

4. MISTER members sign a code of ethics when they join. The result:
FEWER BITCHES. BETTER COMMUNITY.

5. MISTER is a thought leader when it comes to health issues. Our
mission is to protect and empower our 1 million members.
Ask MISTER CARL Advice Column:
Can I Go to Jail for Not
Disclosing My HIV Status?
Worried about HPV? ‘Add
Getting to Know your Butthole
to Your To-Do List.’
My Boyfriend Can’t Top Me. Is
Our Relationship Doomed?
MISTER partners with HULA (gethula.com) to
drive users to testing centers.

6. Apps are a cost efficient way to reach millions
of MSM
20 Million VERY HORNY MSM/TSM

7. Designing, testing and implementing app
interventions
• The leading 10 apps
• 10‐20 million MSM monthly
• Up to 50‐100,000 new downloads daily
• Great Targeting capabilities:
•Age
•HIV Status
•Sexual Position
•Safer sex practices
•Tribes/ Communities
• Multiple avenues for reaching members:
• Broadcast messaging
• Email
• Push notifications
• Advertising
• Social Media

8. Apps and MSM Culture
• Easy to forget
– Mobile apps are young and closeted MSM’s first (and
sometimes only) exposure to gay culture
• Apps are where many MSM learn about gay sex
and health practices
• Are we meeting them where they are?
– If so, what are we teaching them?
– What messages are they absorbing?
– How are they learning to live and love responsibly?

9. APP Developers / Owners
are Like Cher: Clueless
• No experience
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Designing or testing interventions
Incorporating education
Creating risk‐reduction programs
Responding to crises
• Rarely contacted by organizations for anything
other than an a cpm ad buy
• Owners have little incentive to risk trying things
out on their own
• And no where to turn for support if they did

10. Public Health Can (and should) Lead
• In‐App Features/ Support
– Support to design in‐app features, messaging
across multiple products to support public health
goals/priorities
– In app changes can have the biggest impact
– But can be costly to design and execute
• If possible, interventions should be designed,
tested and measured locally
– Then scaled globally/nationally

11. Apps are like dildos:
There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’
– Each app is a different color/shape/ size
– What works for one app will not necessarily work
for another
– Individual partnerships require custom solutions
• Think of each app as having it’s own language
– Focus on ‘moving the needle’ not knitting a new
sweater
• Incremental changes can translate into large impact
due to enormous scale / reach

12. Apps Require Shift in Thinking/ Funding:
From Local to Globalocal
– Apps are global. They are built to scale.
• Health organizations are geographically divided
• Apps can reach across thousands of cities and countries
• One intervention, thousands of customizations,
millions of lives affected
– Globalocal funding model
• Incentivize apps with concrete goals
• Standardize success metrics across apps
• More efficient cost allocation

13. Mobile Apps (and Partnerships) are a Powerful New
Resource to Reach MSM
• Scalability is the new black
– Apps can combine local customization and global scale
• Apps offer new opportunities to drastically
change MSM culture
• Target populations are using apps, growing and
thriving in app communities
– Will you meet them where they live?
• 20 million MSM need you your input, expertise,
knowledge and care
• We need you