Today is Wednesday, May 16, 2012, and here is what’s available in terms of Daily Blogging Prompts and other related events in the genealogy blogosphere:

Items of Note

• Happy blogiversary to John Brown Kin (started May 16, 2008), Karen About Genealogy (May 16, 2009) and Nuts from the Family Tree (started May 16, 2011).

• Today is Biographer’s Day and National Sea Monkey Day (US).

Daily Blogging Prompts

Wedding Wednesday – a great way to display those old wedding photos or scan wedding invitations and announcements! Suggested by Carol of Reflections from the Fence and in use by several genealogy bloggers.

Wednesday’s Child – Post photos of gravestones of children. A sad topic indeed but posts can give life to the stories of these young souls. This has been an ongoing series by Amy at Gravestoned.

Wisdom Wednesday – an alternative to Wordless Wednesday for those who just can’t post without words! Create a post in which you share words of wisdom about any number of things including weddings, marriage, children, work, and so on.  A post  could include such things as favorite sayings of grannies, superstitions, that sort of thing.  Words of wisdom should have their origins in the past and have been passed on from generation to generation. Wisdom Wednesday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers suggested by Jennifer Geraghty-Gorman of On a Flesh and Bone Foundation: An Irish History.

Wordless Wednesday – a great way to share your old family photos! Create a post with the main focus being a photograph or image. Some posters also include attribute information as to the source of the image (date, location, owner, etc.). Wordless Wednesday is one of the longest running “memes” in the blogosphere and is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Workday Wednesday – a way to document your ancestors’ occupations (they weren’t all farmers), transcripts of SS-5s, photos and stories of ancestors at work, announcements of retirements, etc. This prompt has been suggested by Denise Spurlock of the Denise’s Life in the Past Lane and Reflecting on Genealogy blogs.

To ensure that your blog post is included in the “roll-up” widgets above, include the name of the blogging theme in your post title. Examples: Black Sheep Sunday – Juan Nightstand; Tombstone Tuesday – Bessie Mae Mucho.

* * *

If you would like your event or Daily Blogging Prompt included, please contact Geneabloggers at geneabloggers [at] gmail [dot] com.

©2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

Genealogy Blogging Beat – Wednesday, May 16, 2012

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

Today is Tuesday, May 15, 2012 and here is what’s available in terms of Daily Blogging Prompts and other related events in the genealogy blogosphere:

Items of Note

• Today is International Day of Families, and Peace Officers Memorial Day (US).

• Helen Spencer, of Save Every Step, has started a “blog hop” series which runs each Tuesday and is entitled Life’s A Journey. This is a great way to join in the fun and post your own memories!

Daily Blogging Prompts

Talented Tuesday – Got ancestors who had a special talent? Be it musical, comical, or any manner of skill, post at your genealogy blog through words and pictures.

Tech Tuesday – Have you stumbled upon a piece of technology or new Web-based application that would be of interest to your fellow genealogy colleagues? Post at your blog on Tech Tuesday and show us the ins and outs of this technology and how it can benefit the genealogy community.  This is a new series suggested by Donna Peterson of Hanging with Donna and in the past there have been many iterations of this series: the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) blog Narations as well as The Family Curator by Denise Levenick.

Tombstone Tuesday – To participate in Tombstone Tuesday simply create a post which includes an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors and it may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor. This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Travel Tuesday – Do you have images, quotes or stories about trips your ancestors or family took during their lives? Or have to ventured out on travels to your ancestral homeland as part of your genealogy research? Travel Tuesday is a daily blogging prompt suggested by Susan Donaldson of Family History Fun.

Tuesday’s Tip – What advice would you give to another genealogist or family historian, especially someone just starting out? Remember when you were new to genealogy? Wasn’t it great to find tips and tricks that worked for others? Post your best tips at your genealogy blog on Tuesday’s Tip. This series was suggested by Susan Petersen of Long Lost Relatives and, in fact, this has been an ongoing series by Lynn Palermo at The Armchair Genealogist and by Miriam Robbins at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors.

To ensure that your blog post is included in the “roll-up” widgets above, include the name of the blogging theme in your post title. Examples: Black Sheep Sunday – Andrea Dorea; Tombstone Tuesday – Nequelle Anne Dyme.

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If you would like your event or Daily Blogging Prompt included, please contact Geneabloggers at geneabloggers [at] gmail [dot].com.

©2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

Genealogy Blogging Beat – Tuesday, May 15, 2012

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

I have the great pleasure of introducing you to . . . Holly Spencer and her blog, Raeburn Family Odyssey, described as, “ . . . Connecting the Dots of the Raeburn families and related surnames from Ireland to North America.”

Holly manages an additional blog: Ravenna Area Historical Society Blog, described as, “. . . Highlights of the history of the local area, pioneer families, Cemetery stones, historical happenings from 1849 to present.”

How Holly Got Started in Genealogy

Holly has been on her genealogy journey for about 15 years now, “Wow . . . (recalling) it has been that long now!

The first bite . . . was after a class project my oldest son had to do. He had to get a family pedigree written down, and information about his grandparents and beyond. We did so with the Spencer family and a relative had an enormous amount of information and photos etc. It got me thinking of my own family – and I started with some information gathered by my grandmother, and what my aunt knew as fact . . . they were not always one and the same.”

Holly’s Family and Her Blog

“Some are interested . . . some are not . . . no one else wants to really do genealogy research – lol. They do seem to encourage me to write more though. I didn’t realize until I stopped – temporarily, that some of the family was keeping up with it. I send email links to my less computer savvy relatives, eh hem.”

How Holly Follows the Rest of Us

“I put most on my Google Reader – great way for me. I have some on my side list on my blog.”

As to how many blogs Holly may follow on a daily basis, “Well that is tough. Daily – with work, home etc . . . I am not reading everyday, unless they come to me via email. Weekly (weekends primarily) anywhere from 2-10. There are occasions I check for new ones, via GeneaBloggers. Sometimes I just go crazy if I have time . . . a lot.”

Holly’s Thoughts on Blogging

Holly’s blog was created when she encountered a road block in her family history, “I really hoped I could connect to someone out there in cyberspace that might be able to pick up the pieces.”

Holly’s blogging concerns, “In the beginning . . . the hesitation was, was I ‘techy’ enough to be able to do a blog. Turns out, (Blogger) is easy and geneabloggers has wonderful people willing to help with suggestions.

That [thinking] my blog would be a bore, get no traffic, I guess. That it would just be floating around in cyberspace aimlessly.”

How Holly came up with her unique blog title, “As a kid . . . I thought our family . . . dropped out of the sky. We have a small family and there were no other families at the time with the same surname as I recall . . . in the phone book. Later we moved and again I checked the phone book . . . just a couple and their surname was spelled different, not related I surmised. Well . . . that turned into an interesting story . . . its here on my blog. Well it seemed like an odyssey, as I learned more about how they got to the location they did.”

What Holly Loves Most About Genealogy

“I love the hunt. I love finding new information about our ancestors and then reading books about the era/place, to try to get a ‘feel’ for how it was. Most of all I have made friends, some still virtual . . . some I have met in person, other I plan to. I really just love people.”

Holly’s Time Capsule Message

“Hmmm [mind rambling]. We are human. We are meant to connect. Whether blood family or friends [that are like family] stay connected. It is important to know where you came from but more so important to know where you are going – be ‘aware’ of the present. Enjoy life, learn from it, share it, and PRESERVE it, and the future generations will take from that what is important to them. I have begun to ‘preserve’ my ramblings of my life . . . but I have a long way to go, still writing the story.”

* * *

Please take a moment to head on over to Holly’s blog. Leave her a comment to let her know you stopped by. Welcome Holly, it’s great to have you here!

© 2012, copyright Gini Webb

Gini Webb lives in San Diego, California and manages her own blog, Ginisology, while also researching her own German heritage, recently retired, enjoying life with wonderful husband Steve and visiting with her now seven grandchildren!

Are you a genealogy blogger who would like to be interviewed for the “May I Introduce To You . . .” series? If so, contact Gini Webb via e-mail.

Post from: GeneaBloggers

May I Introduce To You . . . Holly Spencer

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

In this week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? , Friday night, May 18, 2012, at 8pm EST / 7pm CST,  celebrity chef Paula Deen learns just how deep do her Southern roots go.

Here is a preview clip from the episode:

© 2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

Paula Deen Explores Her Southern Roots on Who Do You Think You Are?

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

With yesterday’s announcement from NBC that it decided not to renew the US version of Who Do You Think You Are? for the 2013 season, I’ve been pondering what the absence of WDYTYA will mean for the genealogy industry as well as for me professionally and personally.

My pondering really didn’t start just yesterday . . . I actually had a gut feeling several weeks ago that NBC wouldn’t pick up the WDYTYA series for another go-around. Basically it came down to ratings and if you look at some of the numbers this season, you realize one thing: the 18 to 49 year old demographic, which advertisers somehow have deemed the “key” demographic, just wasn’t engaging with the show.

WDYTYA Ratings Slide

Season 3 of Who Do You Think You Are? expanded to 12 episodes featuring celebrities like Martin Sheen, Helen Hunt, Rashida Jones and this week, Paula Deen. Purely looking at the numbers, one realizes that Season 3 saw the first dip under the 1.0 rating for the 18-49 demographic (as low as .8) and under 5 million viewers (with the Edie Falco episode at 4.64 million).

One observation: NBC didn’t seem to do as much promotion of WDYTYA as in past seasons. Did you notice this or was it just me? Granted I am not a big television watcher and don’t watch NBC very much, but while viewing other shows, I saw almost no promotions of WDYTYA.

Perhaps this was a “sink or swim” test on the part of NBC to see if WDYTYA could hold its own?

The WDYTYA Disconnect

So why the disconnect with the 18-49 year olds? Here’s my take:

• A lack of celebrities under the age of 40. The key demographic could not identify with many of the featured personalities.

• Most young people don’t want to do genealogy. Why? Many don’t want to “look to the past” and are focused on the future. This is especially true with young men. For women, it seems that it isn’t until they have their first child that they want to connect with their family history.

• The CSI aspect was not played up enough. In Season 3, many of the stories seemed to lack the power of previous episodes of WDYTYA. The stories were not as compelling and some celebrities seemed to have similar stories.

The Impact on Ancestry.com

As I write this post, the Ancestry.com stock price (listed as ACOM) is down over 15% this morning. But Ancestry will do fine, believe me. I’m sure they’ve had a contingency plan in place and they’ll find other ways to spend the marketing dollars they poured into promotion of Who Do You Think You Are?

Ancestry will be promoting its new Ancestry DNA product line of tests as a way of attracting new customers as well as keeping its current subscribers engaged in their family history.  In addition, as was mentioned in last week’s presentation at the National Genealogical Society 2012 Conference in Cincinnati, new records sets are coming down the pike. These include German records as well as an agreement with the Italian government to digitize civil records.

Is “50″ the New “Young Genealogist”?

As I approach my Golden Year – the big Five Oh – and I exit that “key” demographic, I’m wondering if the 50 and above demographic which seems to be prevalent in genealogy is a bad thing.  I know, I can feel comfortable with that now that I’m in that club, right?

Well, I think that perhaps you can’t really appreciate your family history fully until you reach a certain age. The 50+ club tends to have more discretionary income to spend on genealogy research, conferences, heritage travel and the like (and contrary to what you may have heard, genealogy is not cheap or free!). We also tend to have more leisure time to devote to our hobby, our passion. And we also somehow want to remember “the good old days” and connect with those memories.

The Future of Genealogy Television and the Genealogy Industry

Looking into my crystal ball:

• It is possible that the producers of WDYTYA will shop around the show to another network. Don’t look for it on broadcast television – my bet is TLC or The History Channel.

• Look for more modern approaches to genealogy television shows with the involvement of DNA testing and the presentation of results. As the technology gets better, you’ll see shows where a person (not necessarily a celebrity) is presented with DNA test results filled with surprises as to ethnicity and then the journey begins to find the “why” and piece a puzzle together.

• The WDYTYA concept will go local. We’ve already seen this with many local news broadcasts including segments on their own version of Who Do You Think You Are? Not only will you continue to see a version of this on local broadcasts, but look for genealogy societies and conferences to pick up on the concept and leverage it to connect with newcomers to family history.

© 2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

The Genealogy World Without “Who Do You Think You Are?”

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

Today is Monday, May 14, 2012, and here is what’s available in terms of Daily Blogging Prompts and other related events in the genealogy blogosphere:

Items of Note

• Today is National Chicken Dance Day (US).

• Check back this afternoon for our series May I Introduce To You with an interview of genealogy blogger Holly Spencer of the Raeburn Family Odyssey blog.

Daily Blogging Prompts

Amanuensis Monday – An Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch.

Madness Monday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor who either suffered some form of mental illness or an ancestor who might be hard to locate and drives you mad. This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Mappy Monday – do maps, deeds and land records factor in to your family history? Join us for Mappy Monday where you can post map images and how they relate to your research or discuss other aspects of land ownership and your ancestors. Several members of GeneaBloggers suggested this type of theme and in fact Holly Spencer of Ravenna Area Historical Society Blog has been using this theme since March 2009.

Maritime Monday – Post about anything to do with the sea: ancestors who were sailors, shipwrights, fishermen, or coastguards including images, records and links. Maritime Monday is an ongoing series created by Ros Haywood at the GenWestUK blog.

Matrilineal Monday – Post about the female line of one of your families you are researching. Matrilineal Monday is an ongoing series by Jennifer Geraghty-Gorman of ‘On a flesh and bone foundation’: An Irish History.

Military Monday – We all have ancestors who have served in the military. Military Monday is a place to post their images, stories and records of their service in various branches of the military. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History.

Mobile Monday – Do you use mobile applications on a SmartPhone to assist with your genealogy research? Post a review of any applications you’ve used or post about what you’d like to see in a mobile application related to genealogy. This is an ongoing series created by A.C. Ivory of the Find My Ancestor blog.

Motivation Monday – do you have a set of genealogy-related goals you want to tackle? Do you have tips on getting motivated? Whether you want to lend advice or you need advice, participate in Motivation Monday at your blog and tell us what’s on your genealogical plate. This is an ongoing series created by Dionne Kurti at Finding Josephine.

Mystery Monday – Closely related to Madness Monday only these missing ancestors might not cause madness! Mystery Monday is where you can post about mystery ancestors or mystery records – anything in your genealogy and family history research which is currently unsolved. This is a great way to get your fellow genealogy bloggers to lend their eyes to what you’ve found so far and possibly help solve the mystery. Several genealogy bloggers have been using Mystery Monday as an ongoing series including Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings, Kathleen Moore of The Misadventures of a Genealogist and Betty Tartas of Betty’s Boneyard Genealogy Blog.

To ensure that your blog post is included in the “roll-up” widgets below, include the name of the blogging theme in your post title. Examples: Black Sheep Sunday – Honey Dijon; Tombstone Tuesday – Ida Slapter.

* * *

If you would like your event or Daily Blogging Prompt included, please contact Geneabloggers at geneabloggers [at] gmail [dot] com.

©2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

Genealogy Blogging Beat – Monday, May 14, 2012

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

Today is Sunday, May 13, 2012 and here is what’s available in terms of Daily Blogging Prompts and other related events in the genealogy blogosphere:

Items of Note

• Today is Frog Jumping Day, Mother’s Day (US), National Famine Memorial Day (IRL), and World Cocktail Day.

• The blog Diary of a Mad Genealogist has changed its URL to http://www.diaryofamadgenealogist.com. Please update your RSS feed reader, bookmarks and favorites.

• Each Sunday, Olive Tree Genealogy offers a new blogging prompt under the heading Sharing Memories – Genealogy Journal Writing.

• Each Sunday, The Turning of Generations offers a new blogging prompt under the heading 21st Century Organized Family Historian.

Daily Blogging Prompts

Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Church Record Sunday – describe a specific church record or a set of records held by a church or denomination and how they can assist genealogists. This is an ongoing series developed by Gena Philibert Ortega at Gena’s Genealogy.

Sentimental Sunday – discuss a sentimental story or memory about an ancestor, or maybe even a family tradition that touches you. This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers and was suggested by Renate Sanders at Into the Light.

Sunday’s Obituary – if you have obituaries of family members and ancestors, consider posting them along with other information about that person as part of Sunday’s Obituary. This is an ongoing series developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

To ensure that your blog post is included in the “roll-up” widgets above, include the name of the blogging theme in your post title. Examples: Black Sheep Sunday – Crystal DeCanter; Tombstone Tuesday – Emma Grate.

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If you would like your event or Daily Blogging Prompt included, please contact Geneabloggers at geneabloggers [at] gmail [dot] com.

©2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

Genealogy Blogging Beat – Sunday, May 13, 2012

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

We expect close to 70 genealogy bloggers to be in attendance at this year’s Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree starting Friday, June 8, 2012 in Burbank, California.

Below is a list of bloggers who have indicated they will be attending.  Stay tuned here at GeneaBloggers where we’ll be listing the latest Jamboree news and posts (and tweets with the #scgs12 hash tag). Note: if you are a member of GeneaBloggers and your name does not appear below but you will be at Jamboree please let us know at geneabloggers@gmail.com!

Count: 61

Alzo, Lisa
The Accidental Genealogist

Ancestry Insider
The Ancestry Insider

Arons, Ron
Black Sheep Blog

Barnes, Biff and Nancy
Stories To Tell Books Blog

Blackmore, Karen
Karen’s Genealogy Oasis

Buzbee, Bruce
RootsMagic Blog

Coffin, Amy
We Tree

Cooke, Lisa Louise
Genealogy Gems Podcast

Corley, Missy
Bayside Blog

Cotton, Kim
Walking Your Tree

Cowan, Christa
Family History in Real Life

Dardashti, Schelly Talalay
MyHeritage Genealogy Blog

Doerflinger, Elyse
Elyse’s Genealogy Blog

Doyle, Kathryn
California Ancestors

Elkins, Valerie
Family Cherished

Ewell, Barry
Barry’s Blog on Genealogy

Fenley, Sheri
The Educated Genealogist

Fraser, Terri
Retracing the Past

Hegwer, Marie
Great Greats

Hibben, Jean Wilcox
Circle Mending

Hilb, Vickie
Finding Family 101

Himan, Ruth
Genealogy Is Ruthless Without Me

Hinkel, Paula
SGCS Blog
SCGS Jamboree Blog

Holloday, Jay
Jay’s Genealogy Blog

Horowitz, Daniel
MyHeritage Blog

Hovorka, Janet
The Chart Chick

Ivory, A.C.
Find My Ancestor

Kemp, Thomas Jay
GenealogyBank Blog

Kendrick, Tonia
Tonia’s Roots

Kitchens, Susan
Family Oral History Using Digital Tools

Kraft, Angela
Leaves of Heritage

Levenick, Denise
The Family Curator

Loe, Nancy
Sassy Jane Genealogy

MacEntee, Thomas
GeneaBloggers

Mascot, Debbie
Mascot Manor

Mayhew, Jamie
Branches of My Family Tree
Reflections on Genealogy Research

Meitzler, Leland
Genealogy Blog

Morgan, Liz Hall
My Big Fat Cajun/Irish/Scottish/English/ German/French/Southern Family Blog

Moore, CeCe
Your Genetic Genealogist

Morgan, George
Genealogy Guys Blog

Neill, Michael John
Casefile Clues
Genealogy Tip of the Day
RootDig

Olsen, Mark
Online Gen Guy

O’Neal, Elizabeth
Graveyard Rabbit of the California Central Coast
Little Bytes of Life

Ortega, Gena Philibert
Gena’s Genealogy Blog

Palmer, Cheryl
Heritage Happens

Pentico, Susi
Susi’s Chatty Performances

Peralta, Nancy
Adolphus Ames Genealogy
Nancy Fermazin Family
Palon Genealogy Research

Pointer, Caroline
Family Stories
For Your Family Story

Rasmussen, Geoff
Legacy Family Tree News

Richmond, Denise
Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society

Seaver, Randy
Genea-Musings

Schlegel, Nancy
Schlegel / Storck Roots 

Shimkus, Melissa
Genealogy Center Blog

Smith, Drew
Genealogy Guys Blog

Stanard, Patricia
My Genealogy Obsession

Trindle, Cath Madden
California State Genealogical Alliance

VonAspern, Kim
Le Maison Duchamp

Webb, Gini
Ginisology

Wendt, Donna Hague
Another Day With Donna
Ancestor Tracking Dream Roadtrip

Disclosure: Please see Disclosure Statements for more information on my material connection with the Southern California Genealogical Society, SCGS Jamboree and other genealogy vendors.

©2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

Who’ll Be At SCGS Jamboree 2012?

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

Week #20 – Social Media

Week 20: Social Media: Which social media tool do you appreciate the most? Has it increased your circle of friends? How has it benefitted your family tree?

This challenge runs from Sunday, May 13, 2012 through Saturday, May 19, 2012.

Here are the latest 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy posts from members of GeneaBloggers:

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52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your thoughts on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files.

© 2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

Social Media – 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee

The overnight ratings for Season 3 Episode 11 of Who Do You Think You Are? with Jason Sudeikis have been posted over at Zap 2 It – TV by the numbers.

On NBC, Who Do You Think You Are? scored a 0.8 in adults 18-49 down from a 0.9 last week.

This past week’s episode saw a 3% decrease in viewership over the Rashida Jones episode and came in at 6th overall for the Friday evening shows.

Still no announcement yet as to whether or not Who Do You Think You Are? has been renewed for another season. NBC is expected to make the announcement prior to its NBC Upfront 2013 presentation scheduled for May 14, 2012.

The Season 3 finale of Who Do You Think You Are? will be broadcast on Friday, May 18, featuring celebrity chef Paula Deen.

***

Here is what fellow genealogists and family historians with their own blogs are saying about WDYTYA:

© 2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Post from: GeneaBloggers

Who Do You Think You Are? Jason Sudeikis Ratings

copyright 2011, Thomas MacEntee