Barbara Chase, Head of School, and Oscar Tang ’56, President of the Board of Trustees, want to educate alumni and parents about current initiatives at Andover through a live online webcast. The “State of the Academy” webcast is designed to inform PA community members of the upcoming capital campaign and the state of the economy as they relate to the Strategic Plan of 2004. The webcast also plans to answer any questions in real time. The webcast, scheduled for November 11, is the first of its kind, according to Tracy Sweet, Director of Academy Communications. She said that administrators planned for this live Q&A session for “those who are not with us everyday and might not know the ins and outs of the state of the Academy.” Chase first suggested the idea of the webcast and “gets credit for really thinking globally about how best to reach out to alumni, parents and friends,” said Sweet. After their opening comments, Chase and Tang will answer questions from alumni, parents and other visitors. The questions, which can be emailed beforehand, will shape the discussion topics of the webcast. The webcast is also scheduled to coincide with the public phase of Andover’s capital campaign, set to launch a week before the webcast. Phillips Academy’s social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, will inform the community about the webcast. “We hope to get to everyone’s inboxes one way or another so they have every opportunity to participate in the program,” said Sweet. The Office of Communications, the Technology Office, the Office of Alumni Affairs, Chase and Tang were all involved in publicizing the webcast. The webcast is still in the planning stages. “We have no idea how many people are going to tune in or send in questions so, for us, it is new territory,” said Sweet. “We don’t have a plan to make this a series yet, but we do hope that this event is engaging and informative for those who take part,” she added. For those unable to view the webcast, the session will be recorded and posted online to view.
