New Website Reunites Kiwis

Blast From The Past!

Whether you're searching for an old flame, anxious to catch up with a lost friend or just curious to see whatever became of what'shername, kiwisreunited.co.nz will be online Monday 11th February, reuniting kiwis with people from their past.

The www.kiwisreunited.co.nz website enables people to search easily for lost friends and work colleagues. Following simple steps, visitors register their details on the site. Once registered, lost acquaintances can be found via school, university, businesses, armed forces and a variety of club associations.

The co-founders of kiwisreunited.co.nz are a mother and daughter team, Ann Norman and Jackie Gower. The pair were keen to launch the website to connect those Kiwis world-wide who have lost touch.

Although similar websites are active, they are limited to connecting people through school ties. Kiwisreunited.co.nz has gone further than school associations, covering a broader range of interests and groups.

Jackie Gower comments: "New Zealand is a very active nation. We are a sporting nation, a creative nation and a nation of travellers. Just look at the number of Kiwis living and working in Europe, USA and Australia. My mother and I were also aware that New Zealand is very pro-active in eliciting reunions wherever possible."

"In my 29 years I have been through a number of different life stages and met many diverse people through different activities. I felt all these activities needed to be available on our site, not just schools. When you think about it, your years at school make up only a very small part of your life. That's why we've gone the extra mile to include sports teams, workplaces, hobby clubs, hospitals, Lions clubs, Rotary clubs and the armed forces on our site - just to name a few."

Emphasis was placed on creating a site that could be navigated easily by a wide audience.

"Our site is user friendly, appealing to complete beginners or experienced Internet users. It is bright and colourful, with simple instructions, enabling people to find one another in a few easy steps," says Jackie.

The Internet was considered the ideal tool for tracking people down in terms of its immediacy, functionality and global access.

Ann and Jackie found inspiration for their website from a website in the UK, then extended it and created something unique with Kiwis in mind.

Jackie explains, "Previous attempts at reuniting "tools" had been time consuming, not very user friendly and only heralded limited success. Then, last year, my cousin emailed me with a link to a UK website. At the time there was nothing like it in New Zealand so I thought why not give it a go, it would be a great service to New Zealanders and give people an easy way to find others or be found. We've taken the basic concept and built on it. The result is very comprehensive and very easy to use."

"And remember - if you don't register, what are your chances of being reunited?" says Jackie.

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