Jun 28, 2004 1:08 PM PDT    Text size: 

A former mainstream radio personality-turned-dancer and adult film star, Friday will represent the two-month-old organization at upcoming conferences, conventions, and adult-related events.

According to Ron, the technical director for HEARD, Friday was chosen for both her reach into the mainstream arena and the adult world.

"She definitely is well-received," Ron told XBiz. "The top companies in the industry love her to death. We figured it was a really good combination."

Founded by Tabetha Yang, the owner of TY Management, the HEARD database is designed to collect scene data on adult talent and then generate a quarantine list when/if an actor tests positive for HIV. All testing information is culled from Health Line, the same source that testing facilities like the Adult Industry Health Care Foundation and others get their information from.

Yang first got the idea for HEARD during the HIV outbreak in the adult industry in May in which five actors tested positive and a quarantine resulted.

"The idea is that it is a system that works with all testing facilities, including AIM and others, even beyond California, worldwide," Ron told XBiz. "We're already working with people in England and other international areas to come on board."

According to Ron, the reception from the adult community has been huge and HEARD is scheduled to launch in the very near future, although an exact date has not been set.

Funded largely by production companies, HEARD will be offered for a monthly subscription fee that enables companies to check up on any incoming talent, find out their status with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases, and whether they have been red-flagged on a quarantine list.

According to statistics, 3 percent to 5 percent of all adult talent tests positive for either for gonorrhea or chlamydia, and according to AIM, at least one person per month trying to enter the industry is found to be HIV positive.

"From our perspective, there are a lot of companies that don't know that person tested positive, and therefore that brings a huge risk to the industry," said Ron.

The HEARD database provides only information on the actor's stage name and avoids revealing any personal information on the person.

"We don't believe in breaking privacy rules," said Ron. "Unfortunately, up until the latest outbreak of HIV, we believed that the situation had been taken care of, but the information was not being tracked as effectively as we all thought. When it came down to putting out a quarantine list, there was really no confidence in the process. HEARD was created to avoid having that ever happen again."

Friday made her first appear at the Erotica LA convention in June.