Press Releases and News Articles

Innovative
LifeOnRecord Profile - Oldies 96 Utica NY - February 22, 2008
Web Site of the Day - AskMen.com - February 18, 2008
Online Now - All You Need Are the Memories (video link to Fox16 News Segment) - September 28, 2007
Cool Pick of the Day - (coolpick.com) - September 24, 2007
Cool Site of the Day (coolsiteoftheday.com) - September 4, 2007
Hearing is Believing - August 23, 2007 (re-printed with permission of the Sun-Times Group)
Innovative Audio Service Launches New Method For Preserving Stories of Life - July 11,2007

August 23, 2007 - (Newspaper PDF File)

Hearing is Believing (re-printed with permission of the Sun-Times Group) By Jim Powers | Managing Editor As Rick Kerman and his son, Josh, drove home from Wisconsin last weekend, the disc in the car's CD player wasn't playing the latest sounds of one particular group. Instead, their 13-year-old son listened to a variety of voices, some he knew, some he didn't, talk about him, his parents, his family or just about life, in general. One particular anecdote caught his attention. His late uncle's manager shared some thoughts, stories and heartfelt emotions about his uncle Andy, who died in 1984 before Josh even got to know him. "It was a whole different perspective of information that Josh didn't know about my brother, and that I didn't even know," said Northbrook resident Carol Kerman, Josh's mother.

Kerman's brother was Andy Kaufman, the "Saturday Night Live" icon probably best known for his role as Latka Gravas on the TV series, "Taxi."

The connection was made possible by a product called LifeOnRecord, which is being marketed by Libertyville resident Alaa El Ghatit. The concept is simple: People use the telephone to record stories, share memories or even journal their lives, and the collections are stored on a CD or saved as an MP3 file available for download to a personal computer.

"The stories were poignant, and gave people a chance to reflect," Kerman said of the keepsake CD, which was a gift for Josh's Bar Mitzvah. "In this age, we don't have the time or make the time to do much reflecting."

El Ghatit is counting on his product's viability resonating from consumers' emotional connection.

"I've been surprised at the passion, the sentiment people have," El Ghatit said. "It just shows how powerful the human voice is, and how it can make an ordinary thing become special."

Two years ago, El Ghatit began tinkering with the concept. He tried to be a good father, taking photos and videos of his four children, ranging in age from 2 to 10.

"But pictures didn't capture the emotion, and even video didn't tell the story," he said.

He saw LifeOnRecord as a way to "tie everything together," in the hope that like people have gravitated to audio books, they are more likely to listen to a voice recount a family story.

El Ghatit has sought answers from family members and friends, using their input to shape his product and pricing. Special occasions, like Josh Kerman's Bar Mitzvah, and weddings, provide an immediate niche to explore.

"That's almost been the struggle of whether to go with one niche or several," he said. "I'm looking for the right avenues, right way to get the word out."

Carol Kerman said in her case, El Ghatit was especially helpful in being specific with the people who were being asked to contribute to Josh's CD of stories.

"Every person we sent a post card to responded," Carol Kerman said. "For a child of 13, some of what he listened to may not mean much right now, but he's going to have it forever. I don't even know the ripple effects, but it's sweet right now."

July 11, 2007

Innovative Audio Service Launches New Method For Preserving Stories of Life

LIBERTYVILLE, IL  -  LifeOnRecord, an audio journaling company, announced today it is introducing two new patent-pending services that take the traditional means of recording memories one step further.

Subscribers to the LifeOnRecord Personal Audio Journal receive a phone number to call and record their thoughts and stories of daily life that might otherwise be forgotten.  

The LifeOnRecord Weddings and Events Services capture the well-wishes and anecdotes that surround special occasions. Guests invited to a birthday, wedding, or other special occasion call a toll-free number and record their sentiments and favorite stories about the guest of honor.

With both services, the recordings can be preserved on a keepsake CD, managed from a web site, listened to on a telephone, automatically emailed, and one-click downloaded into iTunes. The services take the traditional means of scrapbooking, journaling, and home videos one-step further.

Alaa El Ghatit, founder of LifeOnRecord, created the company and its services to accommodate a personal need that, after talking with others, was revealed to be more universal. As El Ghatit explains, "Although you frequently see people using digital and video cameras, the meaningful, day-to-day stories are being forgotten”. 

Tom Zengeler, owner of Zengeler Cleaners - the Midwest's largest chain of dry-cleaning stores, employed LifeOnRecord's Events Service to include the community in celebrating its 150th anniversary in business. The company communicated their LifeOnRecord number on their website, through the newspaper, and by direct mail to their 18,000 customers. 

"We’ve been there as our customers prepared to look their very best for important job interviews, weddings, christenings and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs”, said Zengeler. “As a result, our families share some wonderful and significant memories."

"LifeOnRecord provides a truly unique way to have our customers participate in our 150th celebration," said Zengeler. "The messages left have been very special and passionate. We teamed with LifeOnRecord because they offered a one-of-a-kind service to make it simple for our customers to call and save some of the meaningful memories we have in common."

In addition to helping companies celebrate milestones, LifeOnRecord's Event Services are used for birthdays, weddings, graduations, births, retirements, reunions, and more.

"You can't pass a card around the country for everyone to sign, and for most people talking is easier than writing" says El Ghatit. "There’s a lot of power and emotion in hearing someone’s voice that you don’t get when you read words written on a page.” 

"The elements of technology we're using for these services have been around for a long time," says El Ghatit. "LifeOnRecord just puts them together in a one-of-a-kind package that makes for convenient, easy-to-operate memory keeping that meets the needs of today's lifestyles."