GeneaBloggers

Here is a list of events and goings-on in the world of genealogy blogging. Here’s what is happening in the coming week:

Happy Blogiversary!

• Happy second blogiversary to Uncommon Roots on Friday, December 11, 2009. Stop by and leave your good wishes!

If your blog anniversary is coming up soon, make sure it gets on our GeneaBloggers calendar! Remember to send your blog anniversary info to GeneaBloggers.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories

The holidays are a special time for many especially since they are filled with family traditions and evoke special memories. Starting on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, GeneaBloggers will be hosting the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. In a nutshell, there is a special prompt each day between the 1st and the 24th of December and all GeneaBloggers members are invited to post at their own blogs about that day’s topic.

Make sure you use the words Advent Calendar in your post title so our roll-up widget will list your post with all the others!

December 4 – Christmas Cards

Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?

December 5 – Outdoor Decorations

Did people in your neighborhood decorate with lights? Did some people really go “all out” when decorating? Any stories involving your ancestors and decorations?

December 6 – Santa Claus

Did you ever send a letter to Santa? Did you ever visit Santa and “make a list?” Do you still believe in Santa Claus?

December 7 – Holiday Parties

Did your family throw a holiday party each year? Do you remember attending any holiday parties?

December 8 – Christmas Cookies

Did your family or ancestors make Christmas Cookies? How did you help? Did you have a favorite cookie?

December 9 – Grab Bag

Author’s choice. Please post from a topic that helps you remember Christmases past!

December 10 – Christmas Gifts

What were your favorite gifts, both to receive and to give? Are there specific gift-giving traditions among your family or ancestors? (Note: this post can also be used for the Smile for the Camera carnival)

December 11 – Other Traditions

Did your family or friends also celebrate other traditions during the holidays such as Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? Did your immigrant ancestors have holiday traditions form their native country which they retained or perhaps abandoned?

LAST CALL – Holiday 2009 Recipe Contest and Cookbook

GeneaBloggers is issuing a “call for recipes” for its upcoming Holiday 2009 edition of the GeneaBloggers cookbook. Now is the time to gather those favorite holiday recipes along with any photos and stories that help illustrate how important the recipe was to your family.

Besides creating posts over at your own genealogy or family history related blog, you must use our Submit A Recipe form to make sure yours are included in the Holiday 2009 GeneaBloggers cookbook. The deadline is 11:00 pm on Friday, December 4, 2009.

As an added incentive, each recipe submitted will become an entry in our Holiday 2009 Recipe Contest! One winner will be drawn at random on Monday, December 7, 2009 for a Williams-Sonoma gift card – retail value $25 US. See the contest rules for complete details.

A PDF version of the cookbook will appear here at GeneaBloggers the week of December 7th – in color and fully printable or you can email it to friends and family.

Genealogy Blog Carnivals

• The 19th Edition of Smile for the Camera is accepting submissions through Thursday, December 10, 2009.  The theme is Gift: It is the holiday season and a time for giving. So give Smile readers the gift of sharing, sharing a family photograph. It can be a gift given or received, it can be the gift of talent, it can be the gift of having the photograph itself. The interpretation of gift is yours. Don’t forget that your submission can also serve double duty since the theme for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories on December 10th is also Christmas Gifts!

Wondering how to participate in a blog carnival? Check out this post from Bootcamp for GeneaBloggers.

Genealogy Conferences This Week

• The 25th annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour takes place in Salt Lake City, UT starting Sunday, December 6 through December 12, 2009.  See http://genealogy-tours.com/2009_register.pdf for more information.

As expected, the genealogy conference season slows down around the holiday season but things will be hopping in January 2010! View upcoming genealogy conferences in the United States and across the globe at the group of calendars at GeneaBloggers. If you know of an upcoming expo or conference that should be on the GeneaBloggers conference calendar, send it to us at [email protected].

Appearances By GeneaBloggers Members

• On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, Karen Krugman of Genealogy Frame of Mind will be appearing at the Lenawee County Family Researchers in Lenawee, MI. Karen will be presenting Chasing Your Elusive Ancestor On The Internet.

If you need more information on how to submit your own information for our Speaker’s Bureau page as well as the Speakers’ Appearances calendar, contact us at [email protected].

GeneaBloggers Group on Facebook

Great news – we are now at 789 members over at GeneaBloggers Group on Facebook.  If you know anyone who blogs about their genealogy or family history and you think they might benefit from membership in GeneaBloggers please tell them about our Facebook group!

Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt

Check out Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt #49: Use your blog like a sounding board for research plans. Sometimes it helps to write down what you want to do, so you can plan how to do it.

Thanks to Amy Coffin at We Tree for the inspiration!

GeneaBloggers Calendar

Our Daily Blogging Prompts (Black Sheep Sunday, Madness Monday, Tombstone Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Treasure Chest Thursday, Follow Friday and Surname Saturday) can help you come up with ideas each day of the week for blog posts! And don’t forget to check out other upcoming events at the Geneabloggers Calendar. This is the same Google calendar that has been in existence for quite some time. And if you subscribe to the calendar you’ll receive email reminders of events.

© 2009 copyright, Thomas MacEntee