Internet Memorials hit the headlines way back in 1999 with websites like InMemoryOf.co.uk making not only page two of the Financial Times but creating waves on TV and radio across the globe. This project was supported by PricewaterhouseCoopers and with their guidance they managed to sign a strategic alliance deal with the National Association of Funeral Directors on the 29th March 2000 - InMemoryOf.co.uk appeared at the first ever national exhibition for the funeral services industry which was held at the National Exhibition Centre
in Birmingham (UK) between the 13th & 15th May 2000. This gave
Funeral Directors an opportunity to experience the next generation of
remembrance.
Place A Memorial This service is free
During the Internet boom of the early 2000s small independent companies not only had to deal with the new medium of 'online business' but had to learn how to deal with the media, who were hungry for news and intrigue.
A lot of these new business struggled to cope with the instant pressure of global attention. Time zones disappeared and TV and Radio interviews could happen anytime of the day. These early pioneers of the Internet worked long hours and many of them crashed and burned.
During these early days the rules of online marketing were written.
Below is a section from the diary of In Memory Of from 3rd May 2000
- 7.45am: Turn the computers on in our Worcestershire office.
- 8.00am: The Financial Times prints an article about us which prompts Mike Sergeant, from Sky News, to ask for an interview with us in South Ealing, London.
- 9.30am: Collect a new batch of postcards from our local printer and approve artwork for new leaflets.
- 10.30am: Collect Mark and drive to London.
- 11.00am: Park the car and have a telephone interview with Bill Mouland from the Daily Mail.
- 1.00pm: Stop the car again and organize a radio interview in Worcester for 10.00pm.
- 2.00pm: Arrive at location for filming.
- 3.00pm: Leave London and head back up the M4 to the Midlands.
- 4.00pm: Stop on Motorway for a cup of tea and a large breakfast (first food of the day).
- 6.00pm: Arrive back in the office and sort through emails.
- 7.00pm: Watch the news item on Sky News.
- 9.00pm: Set off for the studios of BBC Hereford & Worcester.
- 9.45pm: Wait in studio to be connected to London for a live interview on BBC Radio 4.
- 10.25pm: Leave radio station.
- 12.15am: Get back to office. Check emails and reply.
- 12.45am: Turn computers off and leave office.
- The next day in the life of InMemoryOf (4th May 2000) …
To cut a long story short, it began at 6.45am and ended at 12.30am on the 5th of May.In Memory Of is a service to help the family and friends of somebody loved and lost to express their feelings in a lasting way.Established in 1999 In Memory Of received worldwide TV, radio and media coverage. In Memory Of was set up to provide a new and unique service, enabling people to express their feelings for their loved ones using a memorial and obituary tribute facility.
William Henry Wilkes
William was in the South Staffordshire Regiment during the First World War. His pleasures in peace time were fishing and bowling, for which he won many prizes. He was a founder member of the ‘Lickey End Working Men’s Club’.
He spent the majority of his working life at ‘The Austin’ car factory in Longbridge, Birmingham. ‘The Austin’ had a tradition of building good quality, solid, British cars.
The newspaper clipping is of workers from the plant being collected from Lickey End, (a village situated just north of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire) in an open top lorry during the bus strike of July 1957. William is the one seated on the far right in the flat cap and glasses.
The Internet has been around for such a long time now - it has its own history and fashions and like the real world fashions come back again...
Blackpool
Bromsgrove
Grandpa
Heathrow
Lickey End
Longbridge
Middlesex
Sheffield
Sidemoor
Spiritulist
Mary Jane Bright 1902 – 1980
When Mary was in her teens she was apprenticed to a chemist in
Sheffield, traveling by train every day from her home. She was the
woman behind the scenes in their grocer’s shop, where they were famous
for their home … Continue reading
Mary Jane Underwood 1879 – 1966 Samuel and Mary ran a boarding house at, 62 Reeds Avenue,
Blackpool, moving down to the Midlands in 1927. Here they ran ‘The Pleck
Stores’ in Sidemoor. Their most famous client was Sir Edward Elgar who
collected groceries from them. … Continue reading
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