Youth Specialties Acquires Planet Wisdom

Expands reach to encompass youth workers, students and parent resources.

SAN DIEGO, CA, July 22, 2008 – Youth Specialties, a world leader in youth ministry resources, has acquired Dallas, Tex.-based Planet Wisdom from Wisdom Works Ministries. Planet Wisdom, a ministry dedicated to teens and those who care about them, hosts student tours, maintains a robust web site and offers a variety of published resources including books and curriculum. Terms of the acquisition, which was effective today, were not disclosed.

“Youth Specialties and Planet Wisdom have enjoyed a long-standing relationship and have a deep admiration for one another so this acquisition makes a lot of sense for both organizations,” said Youth Specialties president Mark Oestreicher. “We have been anxious to expand our services to include student and parenting events and resources, and this acquisition will allow us to do just that with an organization we love and respect.”

“It’s been evident to us that our organizations strongly complement one another and our missions are closely aligned,” said Mark Matlock, founder of Planet Wisdom. “This acquisition will afford us the resources we need to grow and build our events, web site and content of the Planet Wisdom tour beyond what we could do alone. Our commitment is to continue to deliver the quality resources and services we are known for, while improving and expanding our ministry to students, parents and youth workers through innovation and creativity.”

Planet Wisdom will launch the eighth year of their popular student tour in October, with events in 13 cities planned between October 2008 and April 2009. Mark Matlock will again serve as main speaker and presenter, with long time performers The Skit Guys returning, as well as worship leaders Dutton.

Matlock is a long time speaker and presenter at the annual Youth Specialties’ National Youth Workers Conventions, as well as the author of more than 10 books with Youth Specialties publishing. He is currently developing a training curriculum called Real World Parents which will roll out in the spring of 2009. Real World Parents is designed to train youth workers to present parenting resources that encompass a partnership between parents and youth workers in the spiritual development of teenagers.

YOUTH SPECIALTIES
Youth Specialties, a division of Zondervan, is a world leader in youth ministry resources. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., YS is known for its bold creativity and has assisted Christian youth workers, both career and volunteer, of nearly every denomination and youth-serving organization for more than 40 years. Each fall, YS produces the National Youth Workers Conventions, offering training, encouragement, and inspiration to over 12,000 youth workers from the United States and around the world. Annually, YS educates and encourages more than 100,000 people worldwide through training seminars, international conventions, online material, and bestselling and award-winning English and Spanish resources for students (through the invert brand), the workers who love them, and the professors who teach youth ministry (Youth Specialties Academic). Visit Youth Specialties at www.YouthSpecialties.com

Contact: Tara Powers
Lambert, Edwards & Associates
616-233-0500
tpowers@lambert-edwards.com