What is the story?

Those new to me, Mags @GrandmsGenes.com, may not know that I am an avid WikiTreer. I use WikiTree as my research and presentation mechanism. I post my research as it happens, with theories and comments about the research from my work as well as from others researching the same lines. So it will often figure prominently in my posts.

I have spent the last week or so decompressing from my trip to Roots Tech 2016. I won’t bore you with how cool it was to see the WikiTree Volunteers who manned the WikiTree booth, how exciting it was to meet so many WikiTreers in attendance or how fun it was to sit down at a computer with people who wanted to join WikiTree and signed them up right there on the spot. OR with how cool it was to hang-out with Wikitree’s Forest Elf, Eowyn Langholf or WikiTreer-In-Chief Chris Whitten. Or meeting other bloggers and like minded peeps – no #shamefulnamedropping, but oh, it was so much fun.

High five at Roots Tech2016
Mags (me), Kirsty Gray of the Surname Society and Julie Ricketts high five, Photo by Michelle Hartley

But what I will do is share with you what I have read from the many, many Bloggers who attended. Generally their specific take-away from the conference was that the story of our ancestors is increasing in importance. No, not that our Ancestors have a story that we should find out about, but more that our ancestors have a story that we should write about or tell,  in whatever form we chose.

WikiTree gives us a form for this. We can write about our ancestors stories in the G2G forum when we ask questions. We can post photographs with descriptions of what our ancestors were doing in those photographs to G2G or to their profiles. We can also post their story to their profile page (here is mine if you want to read some of my story). I know, I know…your already know that. But do you do it? Post their story to their profiles? Do you post their stories in your presentations? Do your clients get a story along with all the research?

I have and I haven’t. I have posted a few of my Ancestors stories. But mostly, I work on adding sources (including the actual data if I can get it) to the Biographies, but I don’t often flesh-out the story as well. I have been thinking about this since before Roots Tech or reading the blog posts from other bloggers. I have been thinking that I should work some on writing the story of all those facts and sources I have been posting/presenting.

I guess this could go along with What’s Your WikiTree Add Style? Slow and deliberate or addtheseprofilesfast then come back round to fill in the information. I am the deliberate adder. Though, I think maybe I should add a bit more of the, come back round to fill in the information to my add style. This way maybe I can work on telling the story too. Well, isn’t that a part of what the Biography is for? Telling the story?

So the trend identified by so many of the Roots Tech Attendees is that more Genealogists are moving towards telling the story of the Ancestors we are researching as well as all the traditional, charts and trees.

So I ask, what is the story in your research?

Roots Tech 2016 Take Away

My Travel? Good, despite a rough start of sitting through prolonged de-icing and a missed connection (and lunch with an old friend) to Los Angeles. Re-routed through San Francisco, I eventually arrived 16 hours after I started.

The start was great at breakfast on Thursday morning with the WikiTree Gang and bonus guests in Randy Seavers (http://www.geneamusings.com/) and his delightful wife. There, that’s it – the conference surely can’t top having breakfast with genea-guru and WikiTreer Randy Seavers, right?!

Au contraire! I visited the Genealogy Bloggers Mosh Pit with all of it’s various, colorful bloggers, hermetically connected to the net by Wire. “WE ARE BLOG you WILL be educated”. Oh they are individuals, but you can’t help but imagine they might be sharing thought through that umbilical. Took in a presentation at Find My Past (http://www.findmypast.com/) and chatted with the folks at HP who were touting the ability to scan images from your home HP printer straight to a Family History Center.

The Venders/Exhibiters were numerous – more numerous than last year. You could print a gigantic Fan Chart (the largest Family Tree Wall Chart was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records before our eyes!), scan your books and precious files, listen to vender centric lectures, buy tree jewelry, tree sculptures, and even find a place to stay for next year.

The Classes were full. Too full for some who were turned away after arriving late. I missed a class as I was flying around the United States. I did get in to see Kitty Munson Copper’s (http://www.kittycooper.com/ and yes she is a WikiTreer) class on DNA triangulation which was packed with eager genealogists hoping to learn how to prove their paper trails. Aside from some technical difficulties, the class was well presented, with WikiTree’s Kitty Cooper Smith offering a helping hand.

I met too many people to count and gave too many hugs to remember. I joined the Surname Society (http://surname-society.org/) and Ancestor Cloud (http://ancestorcloud.com/#/). I ate Mexican. I watched presentations. I got my picture taken in Orange.

Phtograph of Mags and AJ Jacobs
Mags (Grandmas Genes) and AJ Jacobs

I was attacked by an over-sized stuffed bear.

Bear Attack!
Bear Attack!

I Created a McElmoyle DNA Project on FamilyTree DNA (thanks Jim – https://www.familytreedna.com/projects.aspx). I met new friends/cousins. I ran into old friends/cousins that I met last year, who came by the WikiTree booth to see me (always fun) again. AND? I went to my hotel room exhausted after dinner every night.

It was only right that I would finish my time at Roots Tech the way I had begun it – Breakfast with Randy Seavers and his wife.

My Take away? It was fun, informative and exhausting. I have a year to rest – can’t wait til next year!

Photo’s courtesy of Michelle Hartley and Julie Ricketts.