Social Media Sessions at the California Family History Expo

Attendees at the upcoming California Family History Expo may be interested in the following mini-sessions that I am teaching there:

Friday, October 8 at 9:30am - Social Networking open house

Friday, October 8 at 4:00pm - Facebook: What is it and how do I use it?

Saturday, October 9, 10:30am - Blogging open house

Saturday, October 9, 3:30pm - Twitter open house

Hopefully these sessions help attendees better understand these online tools and how they can help with genealogy research, communication and collaboration.

If you're attending the California Family History Expo, but have a conflict with any of these session times, A.C. Ivory will be teaching the same sessions at different times. Several of these topics are also being taught in longer classroom sessions by other speakers. So really, there's no reason you can't get all caught up on these tech tools while at the Expo!

All of my sessions will be at the Beacon of Bloggers area in the exhibit hall. Do stop by and say hi to the bloggers. You'll see some familiar faces and make new friends as well.



[Note: See Disclosures for my Expos affiliation.]

Everything You Want to Know About Facebook

The brains behind High-Definition Genealogy put together a great Facebook for Genealogists Cheat Sheet. The reason I like it (and am bringing it to you) is because it includes the good, bad and ugly of Facebook.

Facebook has helped me build an exponential genealogy network. I now have friends at every genealogy event I attend.

Facebook has received some negative press lately (and rightfully so) for their confusing privacy policies and settings. I keep my profile sparse and locked down for that reason. This Facebook Cheat Sheet will tell you how to do the same.

For me, the positives of genealogy networking still outweigh the negatives of maintaining a profile at Facebook.

Should you join in the fun, check out the Geneabloggers Facebook page and start building your own network of genealogists and friends.


[Disclosure: Thomas MacEntee is the brains behind High Definition Genealogy. He is my friend and professional colleague. I bring you his Cheat Sheet because I like it, not as a favor to Thomas. How did we meet? Through social networks like Facebook, of course.]

On Being a Rock Star

If you read many genealogy blogs, chances are you heard someone mention the "Rock Star" ribbons some people wore on their conference badges at the 2009 Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree.

I'm the one who brought the Rock Star badge ribbons to the party. My intention was to give a little present the folks who read my blog, are Facebook friends or follow me on Twitter. It was just a little sumthin' sumthin' and my way of saying thanks for being part of my world.

The ribbons were way more popular than I expected them to be. I loosely knew whom to expect at the Jamboree and I had a mental list of who I wanted to meet and make sure they had ribbons. The only problem was that word of the ribbons spread faster than I found everyone, and it created a teeny buzz. People wanted to know where to get the ribbons. I even had a big-name blogger sheepishly approach me and ask for a ribbon and I thought, "Are you kidding me? You're famous. You should have five ribbons!"

Occasionally, genealogy events can be stuffy affairs: all business and no fun. I want to change that in my own way. I am so relieved everyone at the Jamboree loved the ribbons and showed their Rock Star personalities.

The Rock Star ribbons also illustrated an important lesson on the value of social networking in genealogy. I gave those ribbons to people who were in my social networks. Conference attendees said that they saw them everywhere. What they saw was MY social network right before their eyes. There are those who say Facebook is a waste of time, blogs are semi-useless and Twitter has no informational value, but the Rock Stars show that just isn't true.