Sunday, March 27, 2011

Presentations at SGS

We've had two great presentations at SGS this weekend: Sharyl Swope gave us an introduction to Legacy genealogy software yesterday (Saturday) and Alan McCool taught about the importance of geographic boundaries in genealogy research today (Sunday). I attended both, even though I don't use Legacy and am a geographer by training. And I learned something new at both talks.
My question: Why don't more SGS members attend our educational programs?
22 people attended Sharyl's talk (a very respectable number, IMHO); only 5 of us attended Alan's presentation today. Why the difference?
Should we stop scheduling presentations for Sunday afternoons? Since the overwhelming response to last year's surveys was that we need to schedule presentations on weekends, NOT weeknights or weekdays, we've been trying to make use of both weekend days.
As Director of Education Jean Roth said this afternoon, it's embarrassing to ask a speaker to spend hours preparing and then have only a few people attend. How can we avoid this happening in the future?
Was it today's topic that wasn't of interest? Do you just not know what you don't know?
Did we not publicize today's talk appropriately or sufficiently?
We have 3 more Sunday talks scheduled in April and May. Should we try to move them to other times?
I really would like to hear your thoughts on this topic. You can post them here by clicking on the "COMMENT" button below, or email me directly at sgspresident@gmail.com. Thank you.
P.S.: Please take a moment to answer the new survey question at right.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Interesting Genealogy Survey

A fellow named Myles Proudfoot, a marketing professional and genealogist, has created an online research survey about people's genealogy habits, attitudes and origins. This survey takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete. I found it pretty interesting myself. Since Myles has offered to share his results with anyone who's interested, I'm encouraging all genealogists to take it. 

You can access the survey at: http://tinyurl.com/69kntun