Genealogy Conferences Archives

NGS: Sign Up For a Free Headshot!

21 April 2018 By cyndy Leave a Comment

RootsTech photo featuring Jenny from Like Herding Cats.

Ready to sign up for the photoshoot? Just go to Genlighten.com, create a free account, and reply to the welcome message to let us know when you’re available between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm on Friday. We’ll put you on the list and reply with an arrival time. It’s going to be fun!

Want to know more? Read on!

If you’re a genealogy professional, a great headshot can help create a positive first impression as you work to market your research and/or speaking services.

Headshots are an important part of provider profiles on Genlighten, but they’re also key to, say, Association of Professional Genealogists directory pages and the “about me” sections of business websites.

If you need a quality photo to help market your genealogy services, we’d like to help.

It’s time for another Genlighten Headshot Extravaganza!

We’ve hired a professional photographer to take headshots at the Genlighten booth at the the National Genealogical Society conference in Grand Rapids on Friday, May 4, from 10:30 am – 2:30 pm. (There will be no conflicting classes or events between noon and 2:30 pm that day.)

The event is free and you do not have to be a research provider on Genlighten to participate–although, of course, we hope you’ll consider that possibility.

Sitting for the photo will just take a few minutes out of your already-busy conference schedule and Sheryl will work hard to put you at ease. The resulting photo will be yours to use for marketing your business, no strings attached.

Here’s how it works:

Create a free log-in on Genlighten (user name, password, email address) and add your name to the account so we can match your photo to your email address when the time comes to deliver your headshot. (We won’t spam you and we won’t share your account information. This is just an easy way to make sure that we can get your photo to you.)
Reply to the Genlighten welcome message to let us know you’d like to participate, and tell us when you’d be available between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm.
We’ll put you on the schedule for a 5-minute slot and reply with the time you should plan to arrive.
Your photo will be ready approximately 2 weeks after NGS and we will email a link so you can download it. We’ll also provide you with a release giving you permission to use the image.

So, why are we sponsoring this event? Because it helps us get the word out about Genlighten. Because it’s a way that our marketing dollars can have a long-lasting, positive impact on the genealogy community. And because, quite frankly, it was a lot of fun when we did it at RootsTech and we’re looking forward to doing it again!

If you have any questions, just email support@genlighten.com.

See you at NGS!

Cyndy

Genlighten Co-founder
support@genlighten.com

RootsTech Review: The Booths Around Us

10 March 2018 By cyndy Leave a Comment

Skies were a bit gray outside, but inside, the Family History Library was buzzing with happy activity.

We’re just back from RootsTech 2018 and what a wonderful week it was! We chatted about Genlighten with many booth visitors, did a bit of personal research at the Family History Library, and topped things off by taking our college son to dinner on the way home. All three were a treat.

Booth neighbors are part of the conference experience and this year, as I talked with them during the slow times when attendees were in class, it struck me that each one has something to offer Genlighten providers or those who are thinking of becoming one.

So, let me introduce them.

ResearchTies

The ResearchTies booth was directly across from us and president and CEO Jill N. Crandell spent many busy hours introducing the website–an online research log tool–to conference attendees. On the last day, I caught her in a free moment and asked her to demo the site for me. It’s perfect. Genius, in fact. And I mean that sincerely.

Earlier this year, I was able to move back three generations from a long-time end-of-line individual on our family tree simply because I was ready to apply a methodical research approach to solving the problem.

Research logs are important. Critical! We know that, right? But most of us also know from experience how easy it is to slack off on keeping them.

ResearchTies provides a simple, powerful, inviting, and I suspect painless, way to up the quality of our research logs. I signed up for the 14-day free trial, and I suspect I will be happily authorizing the $30/year payment to continue to use the service when it’s done.

It seems to me that this online tool could help professional genealogists work more efficiently and effectively which makes it relevant to those who market their research services on Genlighten.

The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen)

The ICAPGen booth was next to ResearchTies. Their mission statement is “…to advance family history/genealogy work around the world by accrediting and promoting genealogy professionals who are competent, ethical, and reliable, and to work to promote the preservation of genealogical materials.” [1]

I will be finishing up ProGen in July of this year, and I am deciding where to go next. So, I had a chat with the folks at this booth. The accreditation process is rigorous, requiring, among other things, focused preparation, a four-generation project, and both oral and written exams.

We don’t require Genlighten providers to be accredited or certified, but we expect members of our network to strive for the standards that these credentials represent. It’s important to us that the researchers on our site to maintain a high level of professionalism.

National Institute for Genealogical Studies

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies booth was to our left and we had many an enjoyable chat over the curtain that divided our spaces. The Institute offers a broad range of courses that can lead to a certificate in a particular area of genealogy research–too many to mention here, so I won’t even try. But check out the course listing page to get an idea of the variety of study opportunities for researchers at all levels.

On-going education is important to genealogists. For those who are thinking of testing the professional waters by offering services on Genlighten, the National Institute for Genealogical Studies courses would offer a solid foundation from which to work. And for those who are already offering client research, they might open up new ways to serve clients’ needs.

Our next chance to exhibit will be at the National Genealogical Society conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 2-5, 2018. See you there!

Cyndy

Genlighten Co-founder

__________

[1] “Mission Statement,” The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (https://www.icapgen.org/about-icapgen/mission-statement/ : 6 March 2018).

Do You Have Someone Who Does Research in … ? Yes!

15 February 2016 By cyndy Leave a Comment

Down time at the Genlighten booth can only mean one thing — BANJO!

I just spent a week in Salt Lake City, working at Genlighten’s exhibit hall booth at RootsTech 2016. Starting when the doors opened on Thursday morning and continuing through late Saturday afternoon, I had conversation after conversation with visitors, trying to introduce as many people as possible to what Genlighten is all about.

I’m someone who would likely be an 11 on a 1-10 scale of introversion, so the conference scene can be a challenge, but as I talked to booth visitors, I realized there was one thing that I was really enjoying–telling attendees about our research providers.

I tend to be enthusiastic about things I’m passionate about and I found myself saying things like this:

“Oh, yes! We have some really talented researchers in the Maryland area.”

“Yes. She is very good at Chicago research.”

“Yes! This provider translated a hard-to-read German church record for me a few years ago and I thought she did a great job with it.”

“Yes! Getting in touch with her is one of the best ways to get a record from a Family History Library film.”

I’m the one who handles site user support for Genlighten and I’ve come to know many of the providers through phone conversations, by email, and even in person. No doubt about it. We’ve got some great people offering services through Genlighten and it’s a pleasure to work with them.

Dean demonstrating the new Genlighten site

While I was chatting at the booth, I often showed visitors what the provider profiles will look like on the new Genlighten (it’ll go live around the time of the National Genealogical Society confe rence in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) and I have to say, those pages do a good job of introducing professionals to potential clients. There’s enough detail there for clients to be able to make a comfortable decision about who to reach out to with the possibility of setting up a project. The pages have space for the usual information–education and training, research services and specialities, localities and repositories covered–but they also include sections for previous-client comments, client/colleague references, sample document and report uploads, and policy statements.

My focus at the moment is helping providers use the templates to create comprehensive profiles on the new site so they’ll be ready to go in May. If you’ve already done that, thank you. If you haven’t, email me so we can get to work on it!

Often times at RootTech, when someone asked, “Do you have someone who can do research in … ?” my answer was, “Yes!” but sometimes I had to answer, “Not yet.” If you offer genealogy research for Japan, Switzerland, or Luxembourg, for example, there are people out there who need your help. Consider creating a profile on Genlighten so we can send them your way.

Cyndy
Genlighten Co-founder
support@genlighten.com