• by Tanya Gazdik , November 12, 2007

Minyanville Publishing and Multimedia has named Laurie Petersen as general manager of Minyanville Family Media, its new division dedicated to entertaining and educating children and families on the basics of economics and finance.

Petersen, formerly executive editor at MediaPost Communications, is a veteran online journalist and producer. At Minyanville, Petersen will oversee and direct all of the company's children's and family initiatives, including a multi-player gaming and virtual community site and partnership relationships such as Kaboose and The National Council on Economic Education. Petersen begins her new role at Minyanville (http://www.minyanville.com) today.

"Laurie has great experience in both online publishing in general and financial media in particular, so she's a perfect fit for this position," says Todd Harrison, Minyanville founder and CEO, in a statement. "She's also quite familiar with the interactive children's space and women's market that are going to be a strategic focus for Minyanville Family Media."

During her stint at MediaPost, Petersen edited the flagship Online Media Daily and OMMA Magazine, and helped to program OMMA conferences for online media executives. She also developed and launched the publisher's Marketing Daily e-letter.

Prior to MediaPost, Petersen served as a senior vice president at investment bank Gruppo, Levey & Co., and as executive producer with online financial publication TheDeal.com. She also developed financial programming as editorial director of Barnesandnoble.com and was formerly a producer for the women's community iVillage.

Petersen was founding editor of mediacentral.com and has also held editorial positions at such publications as Adweek's Marketing Week and DIRECT magazine. Early in her career, she worked on pioneering online ventures at The New York Times Company and CBS.

"Laurie Petersen brings tremendous experience and credibility to the Minyanville family," says Kevin Wassong, Minyanville president, in a statement. "Her experience with iVillage and MediaPost is tailor made for building this segment of our business. She has also loved delving into online kids activities with her own daughter, so Hoofy the Bull and Boo the Bear, our two animated symbols of Wall Street, couldn't be happier about this addition to our team."

Launching this November, Minyanville's new initiative, called Minyanland, is the first virtual world dedicated to educating children about the world of finance. The online community engages kids and their families in games and activities that entertain them while introducing the basic tenets of earning, spending, saving and giving. Minyanville is talking to potential sponsors--but will hand-pick opportunities that offer a logical "real world" extension, Petersen says.

"The need for financial literacy is at an all-time high," Petersen tells Online Media Daily. "Through this new initiative, Minyanville's Hoofy and Boo will make the world of money understandable to kids in ways that relate to their daily lives. Kids will learn that their choices have economic consequences. Parents can also play a role. Personally, as the mother of a 10-year-old, I welcome this free addition to the virtual world. I especially appreciate that it won't require any subscription fee, and I won't have to buy my daughter any toys to allow her to participate."

Minyanville is a media company that creates branded content to entertain and educate audiences about the world of finance. Led by a cast of animated "Critters"--including Hoofy the Bull and Boo the Bear--Minyanville highlights the need for better financial understanding. Targeting a variety of segments--from kids to the most sophisticated investors--Minyanville reaches its audiences through its Web site and content distribution deals with The Fox Business Network, Yahoo Finance, AOL, Kaboose, T.D. Ameritrade, Dow Jones MarketWatch, Bloomberg and others.