23andMe Announces New Ancestry Ambassadors Group

If you have been following recent events concerning DNA firm 23andMe, you know the company recently received a "black eye" in the genealogy community. The company apparently has listened and has now formed a new genealogy advisory committee of well-known and respected DNA genealogists to help guide the company's policies.

The following announcement was written by 23andMe:

Today we’re announcing the creation of the 23andMe Ancestry Ambassadors group, composed of ancestry enthusiasts in the 23andMe Community. 23andMe customer CeCe Moore and Product Manager Mike Macpherson, PhD will lead the new group.

Building the best possible personal genetics service has always been 23andMe’s goal, and this group will help to ensure that we take full advantage of our Community’s knowledge and experience to achieve that goal.

The inaugural members of the new group are:

• CeCe Moore (TangledVine)
• Andrea Badger (AndreaBadger)
• Ann Turner MD (Ann DNACousins)
• Larry Vick (Larry Vick)
• Shannon Christmas (AncientPlanter)
• Tim Janzen MD (Tim Janzen)

This group will help guide and influence product development, but will not replace other key sources of feedback we consider when developing a product.  Building a great product requires us to take into account customer interaction on the site, findings from user research, support request emails, Community posts, social media and traditional media responses. The 23andMe Ancestry Ambassadors add another high-quality source of feedback.

This is a small group, as it must be in order to be fulfill its purpose. It has been a challenge to select this group from among our Community members, because many of you contribute so frequently and thoughtfully. One of the first tasks of the new Ambassadors group will be to explore ways to recognize a larger number of active Community members for their contributions, and to take advantage of this pool of ancestry knowledge.

We’re very excited about this new group and its potential to improve 23andMe’s ancestry service. We look forward to a great 2012.

You might be interested in the comments being posted on 23andMe's web site at http://goo.gl/u1Wtv.

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