Practice with Andover Girls Volleyball. Harmonize with the Yorkies. Dance across the stage of Tang Theatre. An innovative and personalized snapshot of the “Andover experience” is now only a scroll of the mouse away on the Andover Walkabout, the Admission Office’s new interactive website. The first of its kind among high schools and colleges, the Walkabout site features interactive clips, photos and student testimonials to portray various aspects of life on campus. The perspectives of five different students guide viewers daily life at Andover. As the students walk across the screen from one campus location to another, embedded video footage and interviews are revealed on screen and cover topics that range from athletics and theater productions to clubs such as the Yorkies. The website features Alexi Bell ’13, Supriya Jain ’12, David Lim ’12, Rem Remmel ’14 and Anthony Tedesco ’12, who were selected by the Admission Office for the production. The Walkabout also highlights the roles of mentors, parents, teachers, coaches, friends, proctors and prefects. Intended to serve prospective and admitted students and their families, the Walkabout was launched on March 10, coinciding with the release of decisions for the 235th admitted class. Stephen Porter, Director of Public Information and Web Publishing, said, “What makes Walkabout special is that it blends both a virtual tour and a professional admission video into one experience. It offers a level of interactivity typically associated with a virtual tour, but its messaging, which focuses on the nature of the Andover experience, is more akin to the type of messaging you find in a linear video.” He continued, “We really feel like we are breaking some new ground here, both conceptually and technically.” Porter added that the Walkabout is designed in a way that allows viewers to freely explore the website and learn more about the aspects of Andover that particularly interest them. Because of the unique scrolling interface, which was created by using still shots taken at 10 frames per second, users are able to follow students as they “walk” through a day at Andover, offering a more intimate view of the Andover experience. Jane Fried, Dean of Admission, said, “We always struggle with wanting to feature more members of the community and aspects of the program than is possible without sacrificing the ability to communicate the depth and uniqueness of each student’s Andover experience. In this case, we chose to show the connections between and among students and faculty.” Porter said, “You have both individual student stories, as well as those that overlap. The idea is that we discover ourselves and influence each other through connecting with one another and challenging ourselves in the classroom, the athletic arena, the arts, community service, residential life and extracurriculars.” Jain said, “I actually had no idea that Admissions was even re-designing its website until all this, so it wasn’t as much that I chose this project as it chose me.” “It felt like I was on a Hollywood set,” said Tedesco. “Filming began at the opening All-School Meeting, and I was basically going incognito. I had a little earpiece and cameras were hidden throughout [the chapel]. I was told to act normal.” Remmel said, “I was solicitous to say the least before filming. During the very first interview I was very nervous. My mouth was dry and my cheeks were red, and, incidentally, this was the interview that they drew most of my clips from.” Plans for the Walkabout project began in July 2011. After the senior administration approved the project, the Admission Office and the Office of Communications began working with Genuine Interactive (GI), a company based in Boston that offers digital services. In the project’s initial stages, both offices knew that several fundamental elements would be needed to create a meaningful online experience: an interactive video-based portion, a strong student voice and an authentic explanation how the Andover experience is transformative for students, according to Porter. Fried said, “The major theme is transformation – thus the ‘Walkabout’ title. We find that it is very difficult for prospective families to develop a true sense of the difference PA makes in students’ lives. Therefore, we focused on showing the relationships and experiences that change students’ lives at PA.” At the end of the brainstorming process, GI was left with six different proposals for the site’s interface, including a timeline metaphor and an interactive brochure. However, the scrolling flipbook idea was presented to unanimous agreement. Inspiration for the Walkabout’s design came from New Zealand’s tourism site and the “Eternal Moonwalk” video on YouTube. Similar to the website and video, the main subject in the Walkabout is constantly moving from scene to scene.
