AIM Healthcare deleted all the messages and gave up, without even the courtesy of a phone call.  I got a hold of one of there representatives the next morning and they reported several issues:

1. “They were receiving too many calls from TER members asking questions yet they were not coming in and testing.”  I would imagine it takes a while to build the trust of the community before people would come in for testing.  I guess they wanted instant gratification.

2. They did not like the freeform discussion style of TER and wanted a 100% moderated forum under which they could control all the questions asked and the comments made.  This is generally not the way TER works.  They did not like the fact that members asked them to back up what they were saying; they called those members “argumentative.” IMHO, facts are facts.  If you state them on a public board, you should be able to back them up with medical evidence.

3. They had allocated funding to pay for the person to answer our member’s questions.  Supposedly this funding was "no longer available"

End result, they did not like the game so they took their marbles and went home. It is unfortunate because I believe that they could have gone a long way in helping our membership understand the health risks of this hobby.

We are still very interested in working with a healthcare organization and will restart this project once we can find one.  Until then, play safe.

-- Staff

Such a shame.  It could have been so good.

I'm so sorry to hear this. Maybe someone from COYOTE would be willing to help? Does it really need to be a safe sex organization that moderates? Anyone can call a doctor and ask a question!

But that just frankly sucks. They didn't have to delete everything anyways, there was already a ton of info there. How rude!

Hugs*
Nicole

Well that sucks...where do I go to get tested now?

I don't know how many "Sharon-we-love-you!" messages you guys deleted (I confess one of them was mine but just how overwhelmed were they with TER posts? It didn't strike me as there being THAT many questions.

Granted there were some very direct requests for medical facts, clinical studies and other literature citations that seemed to be dismissed by the AIM staff. But after all, what did they expect? A sizeable % of TER members seem to be *educated* and intelligent people unlike say ... the adult industry folks they're used to dealing with.  

That's no SLAM on porn stars btw! I love you all (the female ones that is)  You're just as vital to our society as doctors and lawyers. Infinitely more so than the latter.

messages about health issues.  There are many informative threads and responses in General board about various aspects of playing safe.  A number of members are quite knowledgeable about these issues.  They have either provided their valuable insights or included links to articles of studies and new info.

The only problem with the current arrangement is that it is not that easy for a casual member to find all the relevant messages among the various threads in this board.

TER boards are largely self-policing.  Questionable info disseminated in a message are often quickly challenged by other members.  Other members could make up their minds after reading the different POVs.  I am not sure a moderator with health background is needed.  If a carefully crafted disclaimer is placed at the top of a health board, I don't think there would be much problem down the line.

Despite what AIM tries to present themselves to the public, given what happened here and the info about Sharon Mitchell's supposingly indifference in the Brooke Ashley case: "Sharon Mitchell was supposed to have been the one who made sure that everybody got tested. She never checked Marc's. What made him so special?" - http://www.lukeford.com/stars/female/brooke_ashley.html , JMHO, they still maintain the "live for today and forget about the future" mindset of the porn industry.  Their childlike act of deleting all posts is just disgusting.

BTW, Staff, please check to see whether any member was placed under moderation by AIMHealth due to their complaints or (argumentative) messages.

Thanks.

It's my way or the highway, if you don't like it, tough! While I think the spirit and mission of AIM is a worthwhile endeavour, I really feel that the draconian approach by them does more to discourage than encourage.

People people people, we're trying to make a movie here. Sheesh!

HPG

Like everyone else, I'm sorry to see them go.  But I guess if they didn't realize the volume of questions would be more & different than expected, they have the right to make that choice.  However, I will say that I used them for my most recent testing & was happier in every respect with them than the organization I'd used before, so I'm not gonna get my nose bent out of shape & go elsewhere just because they decided not to remain part of the TER community.

Yeah, to bad, I was really enjoyed reading the threads, but over a few days, I could tell something was up!

Joey

Though I'm not in the adult industry, I currently use them for testing.  I like their casual walk-in service and testing "menu".  However, their two locations are not very close to me.  I'm willing to pay for good service (convenient, clean, quick and reliable results). AIM doesn't seem cheap but I don't have any basis for comparison.  I paid $180 recently for a fairly complete set of tests for example.  Can anyone point me to other Los Angeles area places like this (adult industry affiliations are not a requirement of course).

Thanks in advance!
cheers

Thanks for providing the info and the outlet. AIM dropped the ball.

I'm amazed they didn't realize that within a month they would have answered just about every question and could refer to previous answers.  To me... with little effort they could have produced quite a few good results.

Oh well, guess they're too busy now.  Maybe someone with a better handle on this will step up to the plate.

Hiv/Aids testing program. I know thet offer testing but I don't know what their operating proceedures are, ie appontment required, walk in etc. They really know their stuff. I know as I am a former client and former employee.
I even sugested to the staff that they approach TTC with the idea of taking over Aim's breach of responsibilty.

you can reach then at TTC.ORG, or (818) 998-1061.