First on Librarything

I had been dragging the chain with my purchase of  Getting the Most from Family Historian 6 by Simon Orde but I finally succumbed and ordered it from Gould Genealogy 11 days ago. For the past week I have been watching out for the Australia Post man who finally delivered the book half an hour ago.

I love Family Historian and for the most part find it intuitive but sometimes I need help. Although Family has excellent online support I sometimes like to follow instructions from a book (call me old-fashioned). I'll read this book over the next few days and let you know what I think of it.

I was surprised, when I entered the details into my Librarything account, to find that I was the first person to add the book to that database.

I got to meet Simon Orde at Rootstech

Last year I changed genealogy software packages. After using one program for a dozen years I moved over to the Family Historian package because there were so many things I liked about the program and people whom I respect were users of the product.   When I was perusing the list of vendors who were to be exhibiting at Rootstech I got very excited when I saw that Simon Orde, developer of the Family Historian package was crossing the Atlantic to have a booth in the Expo Hall at Rootstech. I think that any genealogy vendor who is serious about their product should make an effort to come to Rootstech and Simon did just that.

I really wanted to meet the man behind my software package so I emailed Simon and asked him for an interview. I am so pleased that he took some time away from his booth at Rootstech to have a chat. I'm sure that other users of Family Historian (including the people in my user group at Wyong, NSW) would love to have an opportunity to meet the man behind Family Historian  Being an Official Blogger at Rootstech gave me an opportunity to let you see via video my meeting with Simon.




You may also be interested in seeing the interview I recorded with Darrin Lythgoe in 2012. Darrin is the developer of TNG, The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding, that I use to publish my family tree on the web.

I backed some winners

A few years ago I decided to host my own family website, http://www.geniaus.net. After casting around for a while I settled on TNG (The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding) developed by Darrin Lythgoe from Utah. I have been delighted with the program and the support provided by Darrin and a dedicated band of users. Darrin told me last week at Rootstech that there are now 14,000 users of his program.

I was pleased to read this tonight on The TNG Facebook Page "Looks like it's official: TNG has won the 2013 Genealogy Readers' Choice Award for "Best Tool for Putting Your Family Tree Online"! Thanks everyone!"

Family Historian, the software program I use for maintaining my database on my computer, came in a close second to Roots Magic. I was pleased to meet and interview Simon Orde, the developer of Family Historian, at Rootstech. As soon as I get a hotel with a good internet connection I will post that interview on this blog.

Congratulations to both Darrin and Simon on your well-deserved accolades.

A full list of winners can be seen on the About.com site.

Simon Orde at Rootstech

I was excited to see on the Rootstech App that Calico Pie the company behind my genealogy software package, Family Historian, will be at Rootstech.

As a relatively new convert to Family Historian an opportunity to talk to representatives from Calico Pie is most attractive. I was wondering if it would be a North American representative on the stand or if someone from the UK would be making the trip to Salt Lake City. For an Australian to have an opportunity to speak in person with a software developer is fantastic.

This snippet from the Family Historian Bulletin that just hit my inbox has me jumping for joy.

Family Historian at RootsTech

The 3rd annual RootsTech conference is happening in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A., in March (21st to 23rd). We will be exhibiting there (booth 527). Simon Orde, chief program designer, will be on hand to answer questions and will give a presentation at 3pm on Friday 22nd March, in the Demo Theater .

I will definitely be in the queue at Booth 527 with my list of silly questions for Simon.

I'm on a winner with Family Historian

I received this press release by email this morning. I am not into publishing Press Releases  that are going to appear on lots of blogs, This one is important to me as it further validates my decision to move to Family Historian software from Calico Pie.

I am pleased that developer, Simon Orde, has made this move as it ensures that we, Family Historian users, will have a product that meets shared international standards.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Calico Pie Limited leads the UK as a Founding Member of FHISO

London (United Kingdom) and Gilbert, AZ (USA) — September 23, 2012 — Calico Pie Limited and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that Calico Pie has finalised its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. As part of this process, Calico Pie has designated its founder, Simon Orde, to be an organisational member representative. Simon will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.

“Open standards make possible products and applications that even the creators of the standards themselves could never have imagined. Family Historian was built around one standard GEDCOM that has been hugely important for genealogy.  We look forward to the opportunities and possibilities that future standards will bring. The emergence of FHISO is exactly what the genealogy world needs, and we are delighted and excited to be part of it”, said Calico Pie’s managing director, Simon Orde.

“Developing international standards requires a supporting network of vendors and users that extends across the globe. Thanks to the leadership of Calico Pie and Simon Orde, our world community became better connected today in a big way. This announcement is good news forFamily Historian users and genealogists everywhere”, said FHISO Organiser, Tony Proctor (UK and Ireland).

Simon Orde founded London-based Calico Pie Limited in 1995. Its award-winning product, Family Historian, is the United Kingdom's leading genealogy software program. Ease of use, integrated visuals and graphics, emphasis on getting the most out of the data and bringing a balance to pre-configured and user-customisable features are just some of the goals and philosophy behind the development effort. In January 2012, Family Historian 4 was honored with the “Best Buy” award from Which? Computing. To learn more about Calico Pie and Family Historian or to take the latest release, Family Historian 5, on a test drive, visit the company website, http://www.family-historian.co.uk/.

FHISO is a standards-developing organisation bringing the international family history and genealogical community together in a transparent, self-governing forum for the purpose of developing information standards to solve today’s interoperability issues. To learn more about FHISO, visit http://fhiso.org/.

Please join us in welcoming Calico Pie and its founder, Simon Orde, to FHISO!

CONTACTS:

Calico Pie / Family Historian, info@family-historian.co.uk

FHISO General Enquiries, enquiries@fhiso.org; Membership enquiries, membership@fhiso.org; FHISO MediaRelations, Anthony C. Proctor(acproctor@fhiso.org)