National Alliance for Public Charter Schools to Host ‘Virtual Back to School Day’

Alexandria, Virginia (September 6, 2006) – Get the school year off to a good start with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ “Virtual Back to School Day” on September 6 at http://www.VirtualBacktoSchoolDay.org. The interactive event features a series of live online interviews to address the most pressing issues facing charter schools today, including funding, facilities, legislated caps and much more.

Virtual Back to School Day, powered by Forum One Communications’ Live! Interviews Online service (http://www.LiveInterviewsOnline.com), gives web site users the opportunity to interact with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu among others. The full day’s agenda, including inspirational stories from charter parents, teachers and students, is available on www.virtualbacktoschoolday.org. To be first in line to ask a question, participants can click on the “Pre-submit a Question” button next to the appropriate expert. Participants can also pose their questions to the experts during the live interview on September 6.

"Live! Interviews Online helped the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools create a compelling event for Virtual Back to School Day quickly and easily,” Alliance Communications Director Colleen Sutton said. “It allows us to promote our staff and supporters alongside prominent policy makers and gives us a chance to actively engage with our supporters. Also important, Live! Interviews was inexpensive, easy to setup and easy to use."

Live! Interviews Online allows organizations to feature senior staff, celebrity supporters or topical experts in a structured, interactive format. Although pioneered by commercial organizations like the Washington Post at Live Online and ESPN with insider, online interviews are an excellent addition to government agency, association, and non-profit web sites as well. Forum One’s hosted service makes Live! Interviews Online easy to set up and manage.

Forum One has deployed Live! Interviews Online for organizations including Conservation International, the World Bank and the Albuquerque Journal, and has recently hosted interviews with people ranging from François Le Gall, the World Bank’s Lead Livestock Specialist, to Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard.

“We have conducted over a dozen online interviews, which we’ve branded ‘Speak Out’ live discussions and found that they engage users, create interesting new materials, and are contained enough that they don't scare away interviewees,” said Jeff McCoy, Speak Out coordinator for the World Bank. “They have been a great way to increase interactivity on the World Bank web site.”

Additional information about Live! Interviews Online can be found online at http://www.LiveInterviewsOnline.com

For more information on how to set up Live! Interviews Online on your web site, please contact Dave Witzel at (571) 641-3029 or e-mail dwitzel@forumone.com.