Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2020 - GeniAus

 It is gratifying to see how many fellow genies have responded to this year's Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2020. I will post a compilation with links to all those posts next week.

I have been mulling over my year and wondering if I can put a positive spin on 2020. I'll give it my best shot

BTW. I invite you to take part in this activity by responding to the following statements/questions in a blog post. Write as much or as little as you want and complete as many statements as you wish. If you wish to take part and don't have a blog email me your responses and I will post them here on the GeniAus blog.

Once you have done so please share your post's link in a comment on this post or to me via email to jillballau@gmail.com. I will, later in January, compile a list of links to your contributions here on this blog.

Remember to Accentuate the Positive 
(Please delete the items that are not relevant to your situation.)

1.  An elusive ancestor I found was... All of my elusive ancestors are still in hiding but I have had quite a deal of success in locating distant cousins. It is so important when one is trying to identify DNA matches that one has as complete a tree as possible with branches extending every which way. Previously genealogists looked down on those who built large trees with little detail but now in the 21st century we realise  the value of this practice. 

2.  A great newspaper article I found was ... A whole series of articles. In April 2020 I participated in the 2020 #AtoZChallenge in which I shared stories about my maternal grandmother's paternal family. I found many articles from the ordinary to sensational that shed light on members of that family. I posted all of these articles on my blog in April 2020 starting with A is for Artie 

3. A geneajourney I planned but didn't take was ...  The Genealogy Show at which I was to present three talks was postponed until 2021. Although we had three overseas excursions planned I didn't have any trips planned that focussed solely on genealogy but I had planned hitting a few repositories when we had a week in London. We had also planned a tour commencing in Edinburgh that would have given me a chance to visit the archives there.

4.  I located an important record ... when I went beyond Trove and followed a reference at the bottom of a Trove article. I wrote about that here A Reference from Macarthur

5.  A newly found family member shared ... a virtual pair of secateurs. As a result of a comment on one of my #AtoZChallenge posts a new cousin pointed out a foreign branch in my tree which I excised and replaced with the correct branch.

6.  A geneasurprise I received was ... These are not in my hands yet but they are now with a family member. When my Aunt Kath died several years ago her step-family promised to give us Kath's collection of family slides and photos. Kath had a decent camera when I was a child and took many slides of family members before she married later in life. I can't wait to collect and digitise this collection. Thanks to Jo for returning these photos to our family.

7.   My 2020 social media post that I was particularly proud of was ... The first blog post I wrote for our local Family History Group, Entering the Blogisphere. Although this was an introductory post it marked an exciting venture for our Lake Macquarie Family History Group. I am so proud of the 44 posts I have written for that blog so far and thrilled that community members are reading the snippets of local history I share while learning about the existence of our Group. While few people comment on the blog we have had over 3.000 visits in just six months.

8.   I made a new genimate who... through the wonderful Friday Hang Outs hosted by SAG on zoom I got to meet many fellow members of this Society. Although I am a longterm member of this Group I hadn't communicated directly with many members. I have a  host of new genimates thanks to this initiative.

9.  A new piece of technology or skill I mastered was... It just has to be Zoom. We were fortunate in Lake Macquarie that an anonymous member donated a subscription to zoom so that we were able to maintain our program of meetings through 2020.

10. I joined... several new Facebook groups and followed more Facebook pages. I also found a few new cousins had public pages on Facebook - not a positive for them to share so carelessly but a positive for me as they give details of BMDs and other genealogical information. 

11. A genealogy education session or event from which I learnt something new was... Heather Garnsey's presentation The Triangle of Care. (A recording of this webinar may be available through SAG.)

12. A blog post that taught me something new was ... I always learn something from the techie posts Carmel Galvin posts on her Carmel's Corner Blog. I won't nominate one - you should read them all.

13. A DNA discovery I made was... Thanks to my double first cousin, Jane, who shared her spit I have identified many new 3rd and 4th cousins. Jane had tested for me with FTDNA years ago but our results from there have not been spectacular. This new test with Ancestry has delivered the goods.

14. I taught a genimate how to... hopefully the presentations I gave during 2020 taught someone, somewhere, something. I particularly enjoyed using Zoom to give one on one assistance to genimates with various applications.

15. A brick wall I demolished was ... The sledge hammer took a well earned rest this year.

16. A great site I visited was... I managed only one on site visit this year. Mr GeniAus and I had a successful excursion to NSW State Archives & Records. I was fearful of going out during the pandemic but I had a need to access a document for a presentation I was preparing for the SAG Irish Day. Thanks to the staff  I felt safe during my time at the site. I was made most welcome by Emily Hanna on the enquiries desk and one of the volunteers Judy.  (The male who took over from Emily on the desk needed a dose of positivity and a course in customer relations.)

17. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was... From Distress to Deliverence by Stephen Gow is well written, well researched and beautifully presented. I blogged about it here https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2020/10/from-distress-to-deliverance.html

18. Zoom gave me an opportunity to... connect, communicate, learn and love.

19. I am excited for 2021 because... I live in Australia where Covid19 is well under control and we live in relative safety. We should be vaccinated  during the year and hopefully we will be able to attend geneaevents in person real soon.

20. Other positives I would like to share are.. I was gobsmacked and humbled when I received an invitation from Trove to participate in the launch of the new Trove. I shared the story here in A Decade of Digging. 

I have always been a bit of a bibliophile but my reading has dropped off over the years, Covid19 gave me time and an opportunity to return to reading in earnest. I am delighted that I was able to read 149 books during 2020. See them here on my Librarything Account. 

Finally 2020 was a difficult year as I had surgery in January that kept me off my feet for many months and Covid came along. Access to genimates,family history resources and activities during 2020 turned what could have been an annus horribilis into a very positive geneayear.