Library Worklife

Volume 3, No. 9 • September 2006

Spotlight

Introducing George Cigale and Tutor.com

LW: Tell us about your journey to becoming CEO of Tutor.com.

GC: I started working full-time on making Tutor.com a reality in 1998, but it had been growing as an idea in the decade before. As a part-time tutor in the late 1980s, I saw first-hand dozens of times how one-to-one help at the right time can make a struggling student into a confident and capable one, and I saw how hard it was for parents to find help for their children. As an executive at a test-preparation company, I led a team that developed tutorial software and, in the early days of the Internet, helped create online communities with online educational classes. I was itching for the chance to start, from scratch, a company that brought together my interests in technology, education, and Internet collaboration, and I jumped at the opportunity when I was able to raise money from excited investors who loved the idea behind Tutor.com.

LW: What inspired Tutor.com?

GC: Years of tutoring and training tutors collided with the limitless possibilities of the Internet in 1998. The best learning happens when you have an expert next to you who can answer the tough questions and help you overcome obstacles when you are stuck. I saw an opportunity to develop a service that would allow students in need of help to connect one-to-one with a live expert tutor using the Internet.

LW: What’s the philosophy? What’s your philosophy?

GC: The philosophy behind the company is that the best way to help students achieve their goals is to give them on-demand access to a real, expert tutor who can work with them one-to-one, when they need it, and where they need it. Our Live Homework Help service captures the "teachable moments" that happen every day when a student is working on her homework, studying for a test, or struggling with a tricky concept. In these moments, the student has a specific question; she is interested, motivated and ready to learn. We make sure that she can connect to an expert for help at that moment so that she does not give up and fall behind.

LW: Who do you serve?

GC: Live Homework Help serves student in 4th through 12th grade and in college by connecting the student with a live tutor for one-to-one help seven days a week. Ask a Librarian serves students and information seekers of all ages by connecting a person that needs information with a live reference librarian for one-to-one help. We typically sell annual subscriptions to public and academic library systems, and the libraries then provide Live Homework Help and Ask a Librarian to their community for free.

LW: In what part of the country, types of institutions, etc. is Tutor.com being offered?

GC: We work with over 1,500 libraries in 40+ states. We will serve over a million students with Live Homework Help sessions through public libraries this school year, and 94% of students that complete our post session survey say that they would recommend the service to a friend.

LW: In what directions do you envision your audience growing?

GC: A growing number of students and parents want to buy Live Homework Help services directly from Tutor.com so they can have access any time and be able to review sessions and monitor usage. We will continue to reach thousands of students through our work with libraries, while allowing more families to buy individualized and premium services directly from Tutor.com.

LW: Tell us about your staff.

GC: More than 1,300 tutors help us provide Live Homework Help - they are certified teacher, retired teachers, professors and graduate students, and other professionals. They all go through a thorough application and certification process and a third-party background check. We also work with about 50 librarians who work with us to provide backup and after-hours Ask a Librarian services for our library customers. All of our operations are managed by about 50 full time staff, most of whom work out of our downtown Manhattan office.

LW: What do they say they like most about working for Tutor.com?

GC: For our tutors and librarians, working with Tutor.com is a great way to help lots of people in need of instruction or information. Our providers tell us that they love being able to make extra money while setting their own hours and working from the comfort of their own homes.

LW: What’s your long-term vision for Tutor.com?

GC: Any time someone needs information or instruction, we want Tutor.com to be the first place they turn for a live one-to-one connection to an expert. Whether you’re trying to finish your chemistry homework, deciding on a career move, or trying to complete your college accounting course, a link to one of our tutors, librarians, and other experts will be a click away, integrated within the web site or software you are using.

For more information, you can contact George Cigale directly at gcigale@tutor.com or visit www.tutor.com.

We would love to have your feedback on this article!