Web site launched for eastward expansion

It has taken a "media mix" to publicize Penn's plans for eastward expansion into the postal lands said University spokesman Tony Sorrentino.

But after weeks of PowerPoint presentations and distributing brochures, University officials feel their best publicity tool may just be warming up - the project's 150-page Web site, which they hope will help people broaden their understanding of Penn's future and its past.

The site - which can be found at www.pennconnects.upenn.edu - was launched Oct. 20 and designed with a diverse readership in mind.

It includes both current plans and news, as well as a unique look at the history of campus planning at Penn.

"Campus planning is an insular activity," Sorrentino explained. "We're trying to make it more transparent."

To do that, designers worked for five months to produce a streamlined site with all the necessary information to make it an informative tool for both people familiar with the plan who are looking for details and for outsiders and neighbors who are curious about the construction.

So far, officials say, feedback has been positive. The site has attracted 50,000 hits and over 7,000 visitors from 64 countries in its six-week history, said Andrew Zitcer, Communications Specialist for Facilities and Real Estate Services.

On average, visitors spend over three minutes on the site - something Zitcer said is a testament to its broad range of content.

"It's a repository of information," Sorrentino added.

Sonali Polite, a principal designer for Polite Design, which built the site, said the biggest challenge was realizing just how much content the school wanted to include.

"The visual aspect of the site was very important," she said. "We had to fit the content to the design specifications."

In addition to providing a new globally-accessible format for previously published information, though, the site includes outlets for news and features on the environmental sustainability efforts associated with the project.

Zitcer noted one of the site's other unique features - an interactive flash summary of the evolution of Penn's campus, including a color-coded map showing the piece-by-piece additions to campus over the years.

"We're working with 150 years of history," Sorrentino said. "The plan is a milestone in the history of the University."

Zitcer said the proposed construction will represent the first time the postal lands have ever been used as a public "human" space.

For that reason, they said, it was important to give people pictures and schematic designs to illustrate the plans.

"If someone dropped you at 30th Street Station and you'd never been here before, you'd know your way around if you'd visited the Web site," Zitcer said.

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