Students return to a winter wonderland. These are the conditions New Englanders dream about!

Sure, the Red Sox are champs, and the Patriots just ran the table and the Celtics have the best record in the NBA. That's not enough. Forty-four inches of December snow (a new record) and a fresh ten inches of the kind of powder we expect in Colorado and Utah leave us with the best ski conditions we've known in decades.

While students returned to campus on Thursday, faculty congregated for the annual January Professional Day, a kind of extended, thematic faculty meeting. Today, we met in the stone chapel to review the evolution of our highly unique (and successful) website from the industry's leader, Travis Warren, founder of Whipplehill the leading internet service provider for independent schools. Travis is a graduate of the Class of 1991. Here he speaks with Mike Henriques prior to his remarks.

Travis took us through the history of the evolution of Proctor's site, including the philosophic underpinnings we gained from the Cluetrain Manifesto, a book that created a new paradigm for business communication. Here's the introductory statement: "A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies." Here's Travis speaking with Mike and Sue and Doug Houston (whom he knew as teachers years ago):

Our web presence is changing rapidly, with new Athletics and Library sites accessible through our Wiki-inspired A-to-Z feature. Everything is becoming more fluid and honest. "Cluetrain" goes on: "...markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked." These guys really got it! Here's Travis addressing the full faculty: