General Chat

This is Steve Pankhurst - I created GenesConnected 18 months ago as a way of helping people share their family tree information. That was the idea and I'm glad to have seen it grow. The message boards have been a part of the site that have been great because people have self helped each other. When I came up with the idea I was going to call it Genes Reunited but at that time there were loads of spoof sites around all with "Reunited" in them and I thought it would just look like one of them. So we called it Genes Connected - after all its just a name. I haven't been involved in the day to day running of the site for well over a year but have watched from afar. Recently I was told that a large survey of a few thousand people showed that people were confused by the name and a preference for a name came out as GenesReunited. It was decided to change the name to help stop any confusion. Surely the important thing is getting more people onto the site then the more useful for everyone it becomes. Its impossible to get everyones view - theres a million of you so we took the survey's concensious. Sorry. However, I am quite frankly shocked by the response on the message boards. Its a name! Nothing else has changed. -There is NO hidden agenda -We DO read what people say and some of our team are quite upset by some of what they have read. I have been. Everyone works really hard on this site trying to better it. -We cant answer every message board entry as that is what support emails are for and no work would get done. -There have been loads of tweaks to the system over the past month as a result of requests from people and no one has mentioned that. -We are continually trying to improve the service - in fact a completely new version is being worked on at the moment which will look very different to the current version. Its being done to help people not spite them. -Performance is continually being looked at - any big site is always going through a performance cycle. -Yes, mistakes are made but we try and fix them as quick as possible. We are trying to get more users involved, some have been integral to the new site changes and the recent market research was all part of that. It's great to have a community that has helped so many people - I'm proud of it and so should all the members. But to completely alienate the site because of a name change is a bit harsh so thats why I wanted to write this and I haven't shown it to any members of our team. No doubt I'll be shot down in flames. Steve

thankyou, Steve, for not only a fab site, but also a frank letter to us all. A name is just a name and as long as the site continues to be a high quality & useful to those who subscribe, I for one couldn't care less what it's name is! No doubt, I too will now be shot down!! Steph

I think the site's great whatever it's called....well done keep it up!! Dawn

Ok, a name is just a name, but why does it have to be called Genes Reunited it just doesnt make sense at all. And you reckon they done a survey with a few thousand people. Were they members of this site? because I have never heard of anyone calling it this. And why couldnt we have had a say in it? So please tell us how can we be reunited with people that are either dead, or distant relations that we have never met? And as for you not reading the boards you say that we can contact Admin through Email. I sent an email 2 days ago and never heard nothing back. But the main question is which few thousand people wanted to change names? So far on these boards i've only seen a handful that likes the new name. Debbie

Stephen, Can I just say that personlly I love this site. Without it I suspect my dipping my toes into genealogy would have become like most of my other phases - very shortlived. Before GC/GR I had dabbled in the hobby on other sites but mostly came away feeling disheartened as there was no help in getting started, no-one to give guidance or help out at all. GC/GR was a breath of fresh air. A worldwide pool of experienced people to help shove this novice in the right direction - and I'm now very pleased to be able to pass on what others have taught me to the more recent newcomers. The site was quite obviously designed from the users point of view and it IS noted by (less vociferous) members input is taken note of e.g. being able to search the boards for our own threads. With one exception of a recent personal problem (now in the process of being resolved) I would find it very hard to find fault with the service you and your team provide. I don't particularly mind what you call the site - you own it afterall, we're merely renting room - and my comments about spangles and snickers were all meant in jest ;o) Keep up the good work Zoe

Personally, I don't care about the name change but I think it could have been handled better. To state, "We’re changing the name of Genes Connected to Genes Reunited and wanted you to be the first to know. Most people call it that already, so we’ve finally given in," is somewhat distant from the truth in my opinion.

Valley in Yorkshire There is support - believe me. My sister in law and wife's best friend work every day answering the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of emails we receive every day. I know because I get to hear about them from their respective partners!!! The only reason I can think there may have been a problem recently is that in the last month we have had problems with our mail server. We get over a thousand spam and virus emails every few seconds because of friendsreunited and our mail server software has not been coping very well since a new virus kicked off a few weeks back. We are in the process of tying to upgrade or get alternatives but its not something you can do overnight. As a result some emails may have gone astray but its difficult to gauge.

Well Robert, if this was your first contribution, it might be a good idea to think before you make your next one. I am not one of those who wrote about the name change though I think connected makes more sense than reunited but to call people who objected to the change "whingers" is rather strong and detrimental to free speech. Since I do believe in free speech do please contribute again. I love a good debate.

Hello Steve i like your site and have made alot of friends as well as connections, you say that a survey was done, if you had put a message on asking opinions, you may not have had the responxe you've had, i'm afraid i still think it should have stayed as GC, you cant reunite with dead people. regards sandra

Stephen Thank you for your frankness. I think what all this comes down to is that what we really need, above all, from GC is openness and honesty about what it is doing, and the opportunity to comment on the site's development in a constructive way. Your two emails on this thread have done more to give explain the decision to change the name, and also of the reason for recently difficulties in service, than anything else I have seen. Perhaps if all this had been made explicit on the site earlier, it would have diffused some of the tensions that have arisen in most cases (and certainly in mine) from honest and real frustration about the various problems that have arisen. It is unfortunate that the name change came on the back of these, and with very little explanation of the background - or time to adjust before the change was implemented. Maybe you should come out in the open more often. I am sure people would appreciate it. Angela :)

A couple of quick answers of what I know before I go and read a bedtime book to the kids. Debbie - the research was taken from a cross section of registered members, subscribed members, friendsreunited members and people not on either site. Felicity - in my own view, whether its reunited or connected the core of the site remains the same. By adding on Reunited we hope more people will try it out and get hooked. Some people didnt get the Connected bit and didn't trust the fact it wasn't Reunited. These were the responses we got to the research. I hope that makes sense as its difficult to explain.

I haven't been on the boards for a few days so don't know about any disagreements as this is the first thread I have read since coming on. Personally, I prefer the old name; I am connecting to people that are long gone and never knew. Reunited to me means re-establishing links that you had and lost. I hope this makes sense. That said, I think it is a very good site and don't intend leaving just because of a name change. If the site no longer offers me what I want, that will be the time to leave. Mel

steve all i can say is "WHAT A FANTASTIC SITE"! i was one of the privalaged to meet you at guildford last december and i for one have got nothing but admiration for you and your team not only have i had help from so many lovely people but i have made some wonderful new friends:) im afraid you wont be able to get rid of me that easily,im here to stay lol please keep up the good work susie

Yes this is a good site, but why dont they ever listen to us? why did they need to go to friends and other places to do their surveys? Why wasnt the survey done with all of the members on this site? And what ever your name is the one that posted for the first time. You have not got the right to call us whingers. we are merely voicing our opinions. and we havnt been name calling (which is what you were dong)so think before you write your next message.

I am afraid this thread may degenerate into name calling and will then be a wasted opportunity for us all. I think what Steve needs now he has come into the open - and we also need - is honest and constructive comments not squabbling amongst ourselves about who is right and who is wrong. Can we all agree to accept that our opinions may not be the same, but they are all none the less valid and expressed calmly and clearly (as many are already doing) will help Steve and colleagues to see a way forward to improve the site in partnership with us? That's the real issue, and if we focus on it we'll get a lot further. I'll keep quiet now as I've had my say already and I'm happy to see what others have to offer. Angela :')

I personally think this site is really helpful,I know it has been a bit slow recently,but hopefully that will change.A name is just a name after all,it doesnt matter what its called as long as it helps people.Ill probably still call it GC though,like I still call "snickers" marathons lol. You cant please everyone all the time and there are always going to be people who are unhappy with whatever changes are made and will find something to complain about. Sorry if anyone is offended but thats my personal opinion!! Anna :-)

Hi Steve Thank you for explaining the reasons behind the name change. I still don't know how you can reunite with your genes, be they dead ancestors or cousins you have never met. The site will still be Genes Connected to me, as I think it is a much more suitable name, but you're the boss! I too have made many friends and connected with distant cousins (and some not so distant). I will still be paying my £7.50 as I think the site still represents excellent value for money - and it's British! I would really be a happy bunny if you could manage to speed the site up a bit - LOL Thanks again for your explanation, it's nice to know the site still has the personal touch. Sue

Hi Steve, Good on yer mate. Personally I think the site is great. Well done. Baz

Clear up a couple of more things. To clear up any confusion about viruses and spam. We get thousands of spam and virus emails sent to us every minute - they get filtered but this has an obvious overhead on our mail server. A few weeks ago a new worldwide virus started and this increased the amount of rubbish we get and sometimes its flipped over our mail server. We have been working our socks off to get an upgrade to work (you should see the guy who installs the software at night times!!) and are now looking at other options. Its not something you can do overnight as it takes a bit of time. It will get fixed and everything is still working fine - it just needs an upgrade. We never have had a virus and there is no danger to anyone else. I just thought our mail server problems might be the cause of a few lost support emails but the technical guys would know better. In terms of other threads being removed. We removed one site because it is a bit of a copy of ours and a clear competitor. I dont think Sainsbury's would like Tesco advertising for free in their shops!!! The other site I asked to remain as a lot of you feel strongly about this and we'd rather wait and see. I haven't had a chance to look myself. Our view has always been if a site compliments ours then we would rather endorse it and add it the Linked Site page, any others that are just advertising are removed.

As a member of both FR and GC/R I have been quite happy with the way the sites have been run. I have liked the fact that they are seperate from each other but am concerned that now they will be co-joined. I point out the obvious, friendsreunited is for reuniting friends, genesconnected is for connecting with your family(genes). The name change makes no sense to me at all. I will be staying here for a while but there are other things to sort out on this site before changing its name-namely the slowness, lost emails, errors etc..... Regards Viv.