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Wall Street Institute (WSI) is the premier global brand in the adult English language instruction industry. Founded in 1972, WSI has successfully taught more than 2 million students through more than 400 centers in 27 countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. WSI provides English instruction for individuals and corporate clients around the world with its unique Wall Street Institute Method, a modular and highly flexible system. WSI was interested in significantly enhancing its online community for these learners by creating a more engaging and robust destination that would differentiate the learning solution from competitors’ products and attract new audiences.

Working as WSI’s integrated communications agency, Planit developed the strategic recommendations for WSI’s community website, “The Village,” a web 2.0 social networking site that connects hundreds of thousands of WSI students. Planit designed the site to include Flash games, exercises, polls, blogs, and chats. Clear calls-to-action and promotions on the home page were designed to motivate students to keep their profiles up to date and stay engaged in the course. A Social Calendar was included to increase students’ awareness of events occurring at the WSI center near them. Student blogs were designed to help learners improve their English skills by both journaling about their own experiences as well as commenting on those of others in a "safe" environment where language mistakes would be accepted. Wikis developed by Planit were designed for students to post recipes and travelogues from around the world as a means to encourage students to build a community while helping them practice English skills. Planit’s overall intention was to create a contemporary branded experience that could be marketed via online and offline media. Today, the WSI website has become a bustling social network used around the world.