Twile reaches RootsTech's Innovator Showdown Semi-Finals

From Twile (www.twile.com):

Twile wins a place in the Innovator Showdown Semi-Finals at RootsTech 2016

• UK-based tech startup will compete as one of twelve innovators from around the globe to win part of the $100,000 in total prizes.
• First UK startup in the competition.
• Twile will showcase their family history timeline tool to over 23,000 visitors at the world’s largest genealogy event.

Doncaster, UK, 10 January, 2016 – Following the launch of their family history timeline in April 2015, Twile have made it through to the semi-finals of the Innovator Showdown at RootsTech, which runs from 3rd-6th February 2016.

RootsTech, hosted by FamilySearch, is a global conference with over 23,000 visitors expected at the event in Utah, USA. The semi-finals will take place during the Innovator Summit, a one-day event that forms a critical component of the RootsTech conference.

Designed for developers and tech entrepreneurs from around the globe to explore opportunities within the family history industry, the summit will see six finalists selected to go through to the Innovator Showdown. Here they will present their cutting-edge applications in the live event on Friday 5th February, to win a share of $100,000 in prizes.

Preparing to take the stage at the Innovator Summit, Twile co-founder Paul Brooks said, “We are absolutely delighted to have been chosen for the semi-finals of the Innovator Showdown. This really is the biggest competition for our industry and we think Twile perfectly matches the criteria - discovering, preserving and sharing family stories across generations. The conference is also a great opportunity for us to meet a lot of the people we’ve been talking to over the last year.”

Twile will also have a booth at the event within ‘Innovation Alley’. If you’re going to be at RootsTech, please come along and see us.

(With thanks to Paul Brooks)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

Twile genealogy based timeline website launches

From new website Twile (www.twile.com):

New Website Lets Family Historians Share What They Find
Twile aims to make Genealogy more engaging for the whole family

Sheffield, UK, June 1, 2015 - Twile (www.twile.com) allows family historians to create rich, visual timelines of their family history, made up of milestones and photos from their ancestors’ lives. Genealogy services, like MyHeritage and Ancestry, focus primarily on providing access to historical records. Twile, on the other hand, helps users get a visualization of the information and easily share it with their family.

“We’ve found there is a family historian in pretty much every family, who gathers as much information as they can about their heritage,” said Twile co-founder, Paul Brooks. “Unfortunately, most of their family will never see any of it, either because it isn’t shared or because it’s hidden away in notes and scanned documents that are difficult for most people to digest.”

Through online surveys and conversations with genealogists, Twile found that most family historians keep their research behind website logins, on their home computer or in physical boxes. They typically share their findings verbally and rarely give access to online or offline files.

Paul said, “There is a real danger that all of the family history that’s been uncovered will be lost, unless it’s shared and someone else continues the work. We’re aiming to give genealogists a place to privately share their family history - a way that will make the younger generations want to explore the history and contribute to it.”

The website is completely free to use, allowing users to build or import their family tree and create a timeline by uploading photos or adding milestones - such as birth, marriage and death - for anyone on the tree. Twile Plus is a premium subscription service and is available for £19.99 per year, giving access to a wider library of milestone types.

About Twile
Twile, based in Sheffield and Manchester UK, was started in 2013 by Paul Brooks and Kelly Marsden. Both with young families, they were looking for a way to give their children a record of their early years and a knowledge of their ancestors. While the website is aimed primarily at family historians, it’s also designed to encourage the rest of the family to add their own, more recent content.

Twile launched as part of the DotForge Accelerator in Sheffield UK and has since been backed by Creative England (who bring capital through the Government’s Regional Growth Fund) and a number of UK angel investors, including Lee Strafford, one of the original co-founders of Plusnet, which was sold to BT Group in 2007.

COMMENT: The site also has a dedciated blog at https://twile.com/blog

(With thanks to Kelly Marsden)

Chris

The latest British GENES podcast is available at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/podcasts.html. For details on my latest book Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, and my other genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.