It is the night before an exam for her English class and Mary, a student at UW-Madison, is stressed out because she did not read the assigned book. What is a student to do? Lucky for Mary, Rocketbook has been created.
Rocketbook, LLC was launched to the public in March 2005 and is based in Portland, Ore. Rocketbooks are interactive DVD study guides'think CliffsNotes on DVD. Steve Emerson, founder and president of Rocketbook, based the idea for this company off his days as an undergraduate at Pepperdine University. During this time, Emerson and his classmates relied heavily on CliffsNotes and films to better understand the texts they read. Emerson was an English literature minor and had the desire to combine a literary study guide with a visual aspect.
Rocketbook is 'exactly what I wanted as a student,' he said. 'I just took a leap of faith, put together all my assets, and I started this company'and we've been doing very very well so far.'
Currently, Rocketbooks are carried in over 72 colleges and universities. At this time, they are not carried by the UW-Madison bookstore, but can be found online. As the company becomes more renowned, added credibility could garner positive results.
'A lot of stores are coming on over the next 12 months, and I would be shocked if the University of Wisconsin wasn't one of those,' Emerson said.
Students are becoming more and more visual and he hopes they find the product both useful and exciting.
The key players for Rocketbook are Emerson, Director of Sales and Vice President Rich Roberge and host and UW-Madison alumni Drew Lavey.
A Rocketbook DVD offers summaries, in-depth analysis and pop-quizzes. 'It's hard to give these works of literature justice, and I think without fail we are pretty good,' Lavey said.
Lavey played soccer at UW-Madison and graduated in 1993 with a double major in English and history. He was discovered by Emerson through a mutual friend and asked to work as the on-screen talent. Lavey has an extensive background in television-producing and writing. He has worked on shows such as On-Air with Ryan Seacrest and EXTRA. Lavey is the person that will be seen and heard dissecting the text in a Rocketbook.
Emerson considered Lavey to be the right choice as the on-screen talent. 'You never doubt the guy knows what he's talking about, and again, he's a Wisconsin graduate, so that says a lot about your school,' he said.
However, there is a flipside to be discussed when dealing with literary study guides and their credibility.
'The excitement and fun of reading literature is doing the work for yourself and finding out how you feel about it,' UW-Madison professor of English Lynn Keller said.
This opposition does not surprise anyone inside the company; they know it takes a particularly dedicated student to utilize these resources correctly.
On the other hand, Lavey said, 'our guides, as they are created, are really a supplement to the text. They are not easy; they're every bit as developed, comprehensive and sophisticated as the text itself.'
Supplemental materials are generally met with apprehension from professors and approval from students, but there are times they may be useful.
'I think it could be useful in an English class setting because, like in a Shakespeare class, you're reading old English and having another viewpoint would be useful,' UW-Madison senior Margaret Trotter said. 'A visual example would be nice for a play.'
Rocketbook content is meant to enhance a text, not replace it, Emerson said. 'It doesn't make a lot of sense to give a student who has poor reading comprehension, or maybe just flat-out doesn't like to read, more to read in the form of a study guide.'
Nevertheless, it is hard to get around the stigma that study guides are used as replacements instead.
'I would never use such aids, would discourage my students from using them and would think less highly of any student that I knew was using them,' said UW-Madison English Professor Jeffrey Steele.
Although somewhat divisive from a literary standpoint, Rocketbooks are having some influence on a market previously dominated by CliffsNotes and SparkNotes. They are 'pretty exhaustive, nearly comprehensive, probably difficult to understand,' Lavey said. 'CliffsNotes and SparkNotes sell themselves as a supplement to the material, but most students use them as a replacement. Rocketbooks are best used as a supplement.'
Although companies in indirect competition with it are still doing well, Rocketbook, LLC is seeing success, as an interactive and more technologically advanced form of CliffsNotes seems to be a natural progression. The challenge now comes from a business standpoint, as Rocketbook works to gain sales and positive responses from college campuses.
