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Welcome to the First Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies.

First, a special “thank you” to the lovely footnoteMaven for creating a fabulous badge for the carnival. She is always a font of knowledge and tells us:

The key to all good genealogical research starts with the society of other genealogists and in turn genealogy societies.

I invite all of the submitters to grab the badge from the sidebar (fM created a special version “optimized with a two second load”) and wear it proudly on your blog.

The topic for the inaugural edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies is:

Fifteen bloggers submitted articles that describe society successes worth emulating.

Susan C. Pentico presents Genealogy Societies and Why to Join Them posted at Ancestor Seekers by the Root Bound. Susi is one of the founders of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society in California but here she describes a memorable visit to the Cornerstone Genealogical Society in Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania and how membership in a distant society can help you further your research.

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith presents Carnival of Genealogical Societies, 1st Edition posted at Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories. Dr. Bill shares some special questions from a series of articles published by the Washington County Iowa Genealogical Society.

Ruth Haley presents Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Doin’ Things Right! posted at Genealogy is Ruthless without Me, saying, “The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD)SM always has something I want to learn or want to try out. I am enjoying my association with this group a great deal.”

Michelle Goodrum presents Boulder Genealogical Society – Doin’ Things Right posted at The Turning of Generations, saying, “The Boulder Genealogical Society has excellent resources on their website. The site and its information is helpful, informative and done professionally. Truly done right!” 

A. Morddel presents The French Genealogy Blog: The Genealogy Groups – Les Cercles Généalogiques posted at The French Genealogy Blog. Anne comes to us from Paris and explains the French system of genealogical societies, called cercles, and their Geneabank project.

Amy Coffin presents The “No Program” Program posted at We Tree, saying, “What happens when the speaker is a no-show? A very informative meeting…as it turns out. Sometimes no program at all is a great program for societies.”

Randy Seaver presents CVGS – Doin’ Things Right! – Ahnentafel Lists posted at Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe, saying, “CVGS has a fairly unique way to present members ancestry – we use Ahnentafels online and searchable by Google and other search engines. This has worked really well – we get queries asking for a contact with the Ahnentafel submitter. We did this right!”

Karen Packard Rhodes presents Carnival of Genealogical Societies: The Southern Genealogist’s Exchange Society posted at Karen About Genealogy. Karen highlights the excellent spring seminars at the Southern Genealogist’s Exchange Society of Jacksonville, Florida, how how they led to a speaking career.

Paula Hinkel presents Doin’ Things Right at the Southern California Genealogical Society posted at SCGSGenealogical Society Blog. Paula shares some history of the SCGS and how they went from teetering on the brink to becoming the “innovative and progressive organization” that hosts the fabulous Jamboree.

Jo Arnspiger presents 1st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies – Jessamine County Historical & Genealogical Society, Kentucky posted at Those Who Went Before. Jo shares the story of how a Rootweb mailing list led to the creation of the Annual History Fest. She also describes the society’s Cemetery Project.

Thomas MacEntee presents Indiana Genealogical Society – Doin’ Things Right! posted at Destination: Austin Family. Thomas is impressed with the online presence of the Indiana Genealogical Society and their members-only section.

Charles Hansen presents History of the Patchen File posted at Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog. Charles presents Part 1 of two posts about the Obituary Index Project of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society and introduces us to the amazing legacy of Lee Patchen.

Miriam Robbins Midkiff presents The Obituary Index posted at Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog. Miriam continues with Part 2 of the Obituary Indexing Project of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society and tells how the society is using technology to share their resources.

M. Diane Rogers presents Doin’ Things Right – Carnival of Genealogical Societies – First Edition posted at The Graveyard Rabbit of British Columbia, Canada, saying, “I feel genealogical societies are good at organizing and enhancing the activities and energy of their members and volunteers to benefit the wider genealogical and historical communities.” Her report on the Cemetery Committee shows how a society can coordinate a large project.

Kathryn Doyle presents Doin’ Things Right: The Society Welcome Mat posted here at the California Genealogical Society and Library blog. Perhaps just a small difference in expectations can make the difference in how a society welcomes strangers.

This concludes our first edition.

Thanks to Miriam Robbins Midkiff for suggesting this topic!

The deadline for submissions is May 7, 2010.

Please do indicate in your article that you are writing for the Second Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies. Submit your blog article using the the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any article you plan to submit and write a brief introduction to your articles in the “remarks” section of the form.

See you at the Carnival!

Last month blogger Herstoryan wrote a creative and funny piece for Randy Seaver‘s Saturday Night Fun entitled Super Bowl of Genealogy. I misunderstood, she clarified, and a lot of back-and-forth ensued in the comments. All ended well with the genea-blogging community proving once again that discussion and disagreement don’t have to be ugly.

But since then I’ve been thinking a lot about how well genealogical societies and members welcome visitors and non-members. I’ve been remembering how I’ve been treated on first visits to libraries, archives and societies. What I recall is that the times I felt most welcomed were the times I was expected. If I had made an appointment or announced my arrival in advance, I was usually greeted warmly. Of course, some people are friendlier than others and an occasional “bad day” or “bad mood” can lead to bad interactions. But I’ve been hearing some very disturbing examples of bad manners and bad public relations on the part of some genealogy societies. I’ve begun to think that some societies just forgot to put out the “welcome mat.”

The California Genealogical Society and Library welcomes the general public on the first Saturday of every month. The library is open to members three days a week – Thursday, Friday and Saturday and non-member visitors may use the library on those days for a nominal $5.00 charge. But on first Saturdays the library is free and open to everyone and an Intro to Genealogy class is offered from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

First Free Saturdays and the introductory classes grew out of our October Family History Month program a few years ago. Every year in October the society has an open door policy and we offer a large menu of free classes and consultations to members and non-members alike. I’m not sure whose brilliant idea it was (if anyone knows, please leave a comment!) but that person threw down a warm welcome mat that has served the society well ever since.

There is an expectation that we will see new faces on first Saturdays. In fact, the volunteers who teach the intro class look forward to seeing how many new visitors they will meet. Since we advertise First Saturdays Free on internet events sites like Yelp, Yahoo Upcoming and our Facebook page, our volunteers have begun to ask attendees where they learned about the class. That information is helping us to do a better job of putting out the welcome mat. And we are noticing a younger audience. In the February class, three of the seven who attended learned about us on Facebook! Who knew that Facebook could be a welcome mat?

–Written for the First Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies: Doin’ Things Right.