Rachel pointing in a womens group program
KaeLyn Presenting Sex Education program at Colgate University

frequently asked questions

1. Do you really talk about sex?
2. What happens in your programs?
3. Please come to my college!
4. How far in advance do we need to get in touch with you if we want you to come to our school?
5. How do we bring you in to speak?
6. Can I speak to references?
7. How can we raise enough money to bring you in?
8. Our group's advisor/coordinator is squeamish about offering a program about sex. Any advice?
9. Do you have materials we can use to publicize your program on campus?
10. I'm making publicity flyers for your workshop, and I have an idea for a better title for it. Is it OK if we advertise this new name?
11. I love your buttons! Can we really sell them as a fundraiser?
12. I'm interested in becoming a sex educator. Where do I start?

1. Do you really talk about sex?
Yup. Cool job, huh?

Smiling College Students in Audience
2. What happens in your programs?
You may have noticed our tagline, "sex education unlike any you've had before." It's true -- we know from our own experience what sex ed is like in most high schools (pretty bad, if you're lucky enough to have it at all), and we've heard from countless college students that parents, friends, TV, and magazines leave a lot to be desired as sources of accurate, useful information about sex. We knew we could do it better, by designing fun, smart programs based on what people really want to know. Since we've answered thousands of college students' questions about sex, we have a pretty good sense of what people are wondering about.

In our programs we use a mixture of interactive activities, lecture, discussion, multimedia, funny stories, and question and answer. Nothing embarrasses us, and no topic is too basic or too risqué.

3. Please come to my college!
We'd love to! In order to speak at any given college, we have to be invited by a group, club, or office from that school. That organization becomes the primary organizer, and may work with other groups or offices on campus to sponsor the event. So if you're part of a group or work in an office that organizes events and brings in speakers, great! See #5 for more details about how the process works. If you're not part of a group, the best way to get us to come to your school is to think about what groups, clubs, or offices at your campus might be interested in our programs, and get in touch with them to make the suggestion and encourage them to look at our website. For a list of the kinds of groups that are frequently sponsor our campus visits, see #7.

4. How far in advance do we need to get in touch with you if we want you to come to our school?
The more advance notice, the better. But sometimes we have dates available on short notice -- the only way to find out is contact us. Most groups book us two to twelve months in advance, sometimes more, sometimes less.

Dorian and Marshall Holding Hands
5. How do we bring you in to speak?
We're glad you asked! Here's the basic process in ten easy steps (details vary a bit from situation to situation).
Step One: Tell a group you're part of that you found out about these fabulous sex educators who will teach you cool things, make you laugh, and help students find the love of their life. OK, probably just teach you cool things and make you laugh. Insist that you positively must bring them in to speak ASAP. Surely, everyone will agree with you.
Step Two: Contact us to let us know your group is thinking about bringing us in, ask us any questions we haven't addressed on this site, and possibly discuss dates and programs (those don't have to be finalized until later in the process).
Step Three:Consider putting a tentative hold on a date. That doesn't give you any obligation, but it means we'd check with you before giving the date to another school. When choosing a date, we recommend checking on room availability first to be sure you'll be able to get a good room -- email us to request information about what kinds of rooms work best for the program you're considering.
Step Four: Line up the funding you'll need to bring us in (see question 7 below for ideas).
Step Five: Once you've succeeded at Step Four, email or call us to make things official. Set a definite date, and choose a program if you haven't already. Whistle "Great sex ed is coming to town" to the tune of "Santa Claus is coming to town."
Step Six: We'll send you our contract, or you can send us yours if your school has one they require you to use. Get signatures from the right people in the right places, and fax or mail a copy back to us.
Step Seven: Reserve a room for the event (our contract rider will have recommendations regarding this, as some kinds of rooms are better than others for specific programs).
Step Eight: We'll send you our pre-event questionnaire, which helps us tailor the program for your campus, and, if you'd like them, our publicity materials you can use to whip your campus into a frenzy. You're welcome to design your own publicity materials, too.
Step Nine: Showtime!
Step Ten: Bask in the glow as other students sing your praises for coordinating the peak event of their semester.

6. Can I speak to references?
Absolutely! Just ask us -- we'd be happy to send you recommendation letters and names and phone numbers for staff and student organizers who have heard us speak.

7. How can we raise the money to bring you in?
In our experience, if you're determined, you can almost certainly rustle up the funds to bring us in. It may take some persistence, though! A few ideas:

a) Join forces with other groups. At many schools where we speak, several groups pool funds to bring us to campus. Groups that often co-sponsor our events include:
• programming boards, student activities boards, campus activities boards
• student government

• lecture boards, speakers' funds

• women's centers and feminist groups

• sexuality & gender centers
• Title IX Office

• sexual violence prevention offices and groups

• health education, wellness education offices
• health centers and health services offices

Sex educator Colin Adamo
• counseling centers

• LGBTQ groups, Pride alliances

• peer health educator groups

• sex education groups
• fraternities, sororities, Panhellenic Council, Greek Life
• diversity groups, multicultural groups, diversity-related offices
• athletics
• academic departments (including women’s & gender studies, public health, psychology, sociology, nursing, human services, etc.)
• office of student life
• office of student activities
• office of student development
• office of residential life
• office of first-year experience
• individual RAs, dorms, or special interest houses (sometimes have small budgets for programming)
• groups sponsoring special weeks or months like Women's History Month, Valentine's Day, AIDS Awareness Month, Pride, National Coming Out Day, Love Your Body Day, Romance and Responsibility Week, Sex Week, and Body Image Awareness Week.

b) Find another (or several) schools near yours that would be interested in bringing us in either the day before or after. If our travel and lodging expenses are part of the problem, sharing them with another school is a great way to cut costs.

c) Book us in the "off season." Our busiest times are late-August to mid-December, and mid-January until the first week of May. If you're one of those campuses that still has classes in May or even June, we can offer discounts for booking those dates. Likewise if you happen to resume classes in early January or early August, those can be options, too.

d) Talk to us. We know that budgets can be tight -- tell us honestly what the financial picture looks like for your group, and we can strategize with you.

8. Our group's advisor/coordinator is squeamish about offering a program about sex. Any advice?
In a television interview, Marshall was asked what rating the Motion Picture Association of America would give our workshops. He thought about it for a moment, and said, "E, for Educational." It's true, our workshops are educational, and they teach about something that many students want to learn about. You can reassure your advisor that it's very important to us to respect the campus culture at each place we speak. We tailor each event based on responses to a pre-engagement survey and conversations with organizers. We'd be happy to talk with your advisor in detail, describe what he or she can expect, and address any concerns he or she might have.

9. Do you have materials we can use to publicize your program on campus?
Yes, each campus that books our programs receives a packet of materials to help publicize our visit. The exact content varies based on the program, but can include customized 8 x 11 publicity flyers, table tents, 11 x 17 posters, and in, for The Female Orgasm program, the buttons and t-shirts we sell. You are also welcome to use create your own publicity materials (more on this below).

10. I'm making publicity flyers for your program, and I have an idea for a better title for it. Is it OK if we advertise this new name?
Please, please, check with us first! It's quite likely your proposed title will be fine with us, and if we like it a lot, we might even ask you if we can use it in the future instead of our old title. But if we don't know how you're advertising the event, we could arrive prepared to talk about one thing, your audience will be expecting something else, and the result isn't pretty (trust us, we've seen it happen). It's also possible there's a specific reason we need to use our title instead of yours. We welcome your creativity -- just let us know what you're up to!

11. I love your buttons! Can we really sell them as a fundraiser?
Thanks! Yes, if you're tired of holding bake sales and delivering carnations, our buttons are sure to stir things up and make you some money while you're at it. If you buy in bulk (minimum order of 50 buttons), we'll sell them to you at $0.60 a piece plus the cost of shipping. You can sell them for whatever price you like; most schools sell them for a dollar. The profits are yours! You can order in bulk at the bottom of the buttons page, or contact us to place an order for a larger or different quantity.

12. I'm interested in becoming a sex educator. Where do I start?
We wrote "So, You Want To Be A Sex Educator" for you.

You may also be interesting in reading the FAQ about our Female Orgasm program.

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