Press
Just Getting Started!
We’re not a platform, personal service, or consultancy. We’re not making money from this, nor are we asking for money. We’re a community of family historians hooked on stories.
Using modern tools we’re able to hold this all together on a shoestring budget and take care of each other with tips, tricks, and an appreciation for what’s important.
Getting Noticed
Starting anything is hard. We fit into established categories for businesses, startups, or societies. It’s taken some hoopla 🎉 to get noticed by the press and other taste-makers who care about family history. Slowly, however, it’s happening. Our social media followings have grown, and recently, we were included in newsletters and podcasts.
In April 2025, I was interviewed by
the storytelling alchemist over at . There’s a case where the interview was illuminating to me! It’s a good example of the power of conversation:
In January 2025, Projectkin.org was noticed as part of a larger conversation about the Genealogy community gathering on Substack. With programs like the “Push & Pull of Platforms,” we look forward to encouraging and supporting this larger conversation about platform independence.
In May 2024, we celebrated our “birthday” in a suitable fashion with a video post and commentaries on Substack.
Happy Birthday, Projectkin 🎂
As some of you will know, the Projectkin community was born as the Ponga platform was withdrawn from the market on May 22nd, 2023. The software gave family historians an innovative way to organize and add stories to old photos. Though beloved, it wasn’t enough to break through with the resources we had. As co-founders, we took the platform offline while…
For the occasion of RootsTech 2024, Melissa Ann Kitchen, family historian, writer, and now Projectkin member, interviewed Barbara for her podcast, Preserve Your Past:
In the fall of 2023, Emma Cox, an incomparable journalist and connector out of the UK and host for the delightful Journeys into Genealogy included us in one of her podcast episodes:
Earlier, even before “Post-Ponga” turned into Projectkin.org, Bobbi Chegwyn, a life coach for midlife women pick up the story for her podcast Fly Mom, Fly! about women reinventing themselves in midlife:
About Barbara
Barbara Tien leads the community, informed by her experience as a co-founder of the innovative Ponga.com platform. In May 2023, she started Projectkin.org as “Post-Ponga” to give Ponga members an offramp for their photo and story archives when she and her co-founders had to take the platform offline. Previously, she held senior roles in hardware and software startups, primarily in the networking and telecommunications arena.
While we can now accept small contributions to support operations, we are not formally a non-profit. Filing to create a US non-profit is expensive, and the tax benefit is limited to US donors. For now, we’re benefitting greatly from the economics of modern digital tools and our members' generous sharing of ideas and techniques. Contributions toward operating expenses are now accepted through “Buy Me A Coffee.” In 2024, “coffee” contributions covered our Pro-plan Zoom expenses.
For press inquiries, contact Barbara at projectkin.org@gmail.com.
More about Barbara and what motivated her in the family history space in this 2021 interview published soon after Ponga launched on All Home Care Matters: