Arizona Telemedicine Program
and Arizona SciTech Forge
Statewide STEM Connections
B y D ebb i e G u b e r n i c k o n
April 23, 2015
T
he Arizona Telemedicine Program
(ATP), a national leader in providing
broadband telemedicine services,
recently embraced a partnership with
Arizona SciTech that has amplified STEM
outreach efforts throughout the Grand
Canyon State.
In February 2015, ATP collaborated with
Arizona SciTech to produce the 2015
Arizona SciTech kickoff event, a virtual
press conference. The event, itself a STEM
tour de force, connected nine locations
across the state, giving communities from
Clarkdale to Safford the opportunity to
highlight their upcoming STEM events.
“Where do people
go who don’t have
Internet in their home,
or a computer? They
go to the libraries. So
we have to be able
to provide access to
resources there.”
– Janet Major
14
With the participation of seven mayors, the
teleconference made a powerful statement
about the importance of STEM in Arizona.
When the teleconference was first
proposed, Arizona SciTech Executive
Director Jeremy Babendure wondered if
it was feasible. But after discussions with
ATP’s Janet Major, Chris Martin, and Pete
Yonsetto, he realized that ATP’s expertise
would position the event for success. As
Major, ATP’s Associate Director of Facilities,
explained: “This stuff has to work. We
would never schedule an event and not
have tested with the site because it can’t
be, ‘Gee, this stuff is great—when it works.’
This is what we do for a living, so it has to
work every time.”
ATP’s experience in overcoming the
obstacles and barriers to successful
teleconferencing were particularly useful
when selecting each of the nine press
conference sites. Major explained why
finding and scheduling space is a critical
challenge:
Room scheduling is a big obstacle in the
world of videoconferencing. To communicate
at a distance requires technology, space,
network, and technical support, all of which
can be challenges especially in rural locations.
But beyond governmental firewalls and trying