Cancellations.com [view]

Issues/Objectives: For many years, students and their parents have relied on traditional media for notifications of school cancellations, delays, or early dismissals. The most popular source for timely news today, however, is the Internet. When Lazerpro recognized the need for an Internet portal that would make it easy for schools and businesses to notify their constituents of school and plant closings or other emergency-type events, it set out to design and develop Cancellations.com, an advertiser-supported portal that is free to use and accessible worldwide.

Lazerpro's Role: LazerproÐs staff developed a website that is, first and foremost, very easy to use. The cancellation posting process is very straightforward and fast, much easier than notifying each local radio and television station individually. Parents, students, and employees of corporate users receive notification of cancellations via email just seconds after a posting is made. If email is not accessible, users can check the site directly to learn of any cancellations, delays, or early dismissals. Users may also sign up to have notifications sent directly to cell phones or pagers for a small annual fee.

To-date, Cancellations.com is used by more than 12,000 schools and businesses and more than 120,000 individual subscribers. In 2003, Cancellations.comÐs fifth season, the number of subscribers is expected to grow to 300,000.