TOP ANCESTRY WEBSITE GENES REUNITED APPOINTS NEW HEAD
Genes Reunited, the UK ’s largest ancestry website and sister site of the internet phenomenon Friends Reunited, has appointed Martine Parnell as its new head. Martine replaces Michelle Barker who, after helping build the site from 650,000 members at the end of 2003 to 2.2 million by the end of last year, is returning to her native US.
Repor ting to Marketing Director Tim Ward, Martine will be responsible for all aspects of the day-to-day running of the genealogy site, from driving site traffic to developing the overall business strategy including international expansion. She will direct marketing campaigns for the site and work with the design and technical team on fresh ideas to bring family tree research to the masses, breaking down popular misconceptions that the hobby is specialist and academic.
Martine joins the company from the Financial Times, where she was EMEA Senior Marketing Executive for the newspaper and FT.com website in Europe , Middle East and Africa , devising and implementing on and offline marketing strategies.
Ward said: “Genealogy is becoming a national craze as the number of people interested in the subject is growing far faster than anyone had ever anticipated. The number of Genes Reunited members has nearly quadrupled from a year ago and the number of relatives listed has soared from 7.3 million to more than 25 million, with two names now being added every second.
“Martine’s role is to build on this growth, market its appeal to a wide audience and enhance the site by adding new services.
“Michelle has done a fantastic job and we wish her well in her move back home .”
Ends
Genes Reunited can be found at www.genesreunited.co.uk
For more information about Genes Reunited please contact Carolynne Bull-Edwards or
Elizabeth Sheahan on 01883 717468 or email press@friendsreunited.co.uk
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
About Genes Reunited
Launched in November 2002, Genes Reunited is a sister site of internet phenomenon Friends Reunited. In just under two years it has become the UK ’s largest family tree, genealogy and ancestry site, with over 2 million members worldwide. Internet technology has created millions of ‘cyber detectives’ who are harnessing the web’s incredible resources and unlocking the secrets in their family tree. It is free to join and search, with a fee of £7.50 per year to make contact with other members.
To help families start their family trees Genes Reunited created a printable tree specifically for use over Christmas. It can be downloaded at www.genesreunited.co.uk
About Friends Reunited
Friends Reunited was launched in October 2000 by North London based husband and wife team Julie and Steve Pankhurst so that people could get in contact with their old school friends. A combination of word of mouth and immense media attention has propelled the site to phenomenon status, expanding beyond the school friends proposition to include workplaces, teams/clubs and streets. The site has over 11 million members, representing 42% of the adult internet population in the UK .
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