FreshGrade

Steve Wandler steve.wandler@freshgrade.com

Karine Veldhoen karine.veldhoen@gmail.com

http://allthingsd.com/20121017/club-penguin-co-founder-lane-merrifield-signs-off-after-five-years-at-disney/

“Lane Merrifield, the co-founder of Club Penguin, the very successful virtual world for kids, has decided to step down five years after the company was acquired by Disney.

In a note sent to employees earlier this morning, Merrifield wrote: “Our team has grown Club Penguin from a simple idea to being the largest global virtual world for kids for seven straight years while maintaining a significant profit margin. I am incredibly proud to have been a part of Club Penguin, and I know that it will continue to grow and thrive.”

A spokesperson confirmed the departure of Merrifield, who has been filling the role of EVP of Disney Online Studios more recently. His departure is effective immediately, but he expects to help out until the transition is complete on Feb. 1.

Merrifield will be joining FreshGrade, a start-up he founded over the past year. FreshGrade is a cloud-based educational assessment tool teachers can use to figure out how a student learns.”