Webinar Tips

In a recent post on Twitter  @ancestorchaser asked about advice for taking part in webinars. I responded with "Sit back, relax, participate".


That response elicited a second tweet from  @ancestorchaser "@geniaus Is there a list of them or anything to join?"


As I couldn't do justice to this question in 40 characters I promised to respond in a blog post drawing on the content I shared in my recent talk on Geneawebinars for Unlock the Past's Brisbane Expo.


This advice on Preparing for a webinar comes from Familysearch techtips:

• First, find a webinar!
• Review system requirements. You will also need an active internet connection with enough bandwidth for streaming. Dial up will not serve you well in this capacity.
• Register, if needed.
• Prepare your computer. Download required software, and make sure in advance your equipment works. You will have the greatest success if you close extra programs you are using on your computer. Streaming video content, as is the case with webinars, puts a large load on your computer’s memory and processing power.
• Log in early.
• If audience participation is allowed, make sure you mute your microphone when not talking!

Source: https://familysearch.org/techtips/2012/02/genealogy-webinars

I would add:

• Invest in a microphone/earphone headset for your computer and get used to using it
• Shut yourself away in a quiet room and put a "Do not disturb" sign on the door
• Set yourself up with a nice cool drink
• Use a second laptop or tablet to take notes during the webinar so you can have the webinar screen visible at all times
• Sit back, relax, have fun

Where do you find webinars?

• GeneaWebinars Site - Check the calaendar http://www.geneawebinars.com
• Commercial Organisations' Websites – Ancestry  http://www.ancestry.com/cs/us/videos , Legacy and Rootsmagic offer webinars
• Genealogy Societies - IGS  http://www.ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=227 ,
  UGA  http://ugagenealogy.org/cpage.php?pt=11  
• Professional Genealogists –
  Dear Myrtle  blog.dearmyrtle.com/p/webinars.html , Michael John Neil  www.casefileclues.com/webinars_neill.htm ,
  Elise Friedman  relativeroots.net/webinars/,
• Internet searches - don't restrict yourself to genealogy webinars. Search for webinars about general tools you use for genealogy purposes like Evernote, Google+, etc.
• Social Media Notifications - Monitor Twitter, Google+ and Facebook for news of future webinars.
• Society Newsletters may give details of webinars
• In Australia the SAG website www.sag.org.au lists their webinars - These are for members only webinars 

A major problem for Australians is that most of the US webinars are broadcast in the early morning hours (Australian time); there are some that are on in the evening in the US and these are available around noon in Australia.

The good news is that Unlock the Past is planning to host webinars that will be scheduled at times to suit Australian audiences. Watch their website for news about this initiative.

These speakers have expressed an interest in presenting webinars for Unlock the Past:

Jill Ball (NSW)  Carol Baxter (NSW)  Vicki Eldridge (NSW)  Jan Gow (NZ)  Shauna Hicks (Vic)

Rosemary Kopittke (Qld)  Noeline Kyle (NSW)  Thomas MacEntee (USA)  Michelle Nichols (NSW)

Cora Num (NSW)  Chris Paton (Scotland)  Geoff Rasmussen (USA)  Helen Smith (Qld)

Lyn Whelan (NZ)

There are exciting times ahead for Australian Genealogists.

Elusive events

As a new retiree with a commitment to CGD I am seeking edcational opportunities to further my genealogical skills and knowledge. Like Joan Miller of Luxegen I think I may become a Genea-Conference groupie.

I dream of an online calendar that lists all events that may be suitable for budding and experienced  Australian genealogists. Something based on the Geneawebinars Blog would seem to fit the bill...but who will take responsibility for such a resource?

Presently it is a tedious process to identify learning opportunities. There are a number of organisations that offer relevant events but there is no one central place where all event details are listed.  To locate events within cooee of Sydney, NSW  I need to go to the SAG Calendar, Unlock the Past Events, Joy Murrin Events Calendar, NSW State Records, The Royal Australian Historical Society, The State Library of NSW, The National Library of Australia, The National Archives of Australia , Geneawebinars, and webpages of local family history societies (if they have one).  I also follow some libraries and groups on Twitter and Facebook and subscribe to a number of e-newsletters. This is a time-consuming exercise and does not ensure that I find all possible events.

Just this morning I saw a comment on Facebook by Kerry Farmer that she was giving a talk at Ku-ring-gai Historical Society. I visited that society's webpage and found a .pdf document listing a number of family history talks for this and next month. It was too late for me to attend this morning but I will attend some of these in the future.


How do other Australian Genealogists find events?

I wonder how hard it would be to get people and society representatives to contribute details of events to a blog like the Geneawebinars Blog if I set one up?

Webinars - Online Learning Opportunities

Living in Australia we are precluded from seeing and hearing many international speakers in the flesh unless we are lucky enough to be able to travel to events like Rootstech and WDYTYA Live.

In recent months I have taken part in a number of free webinars on Google, DNA, FamilySearch and Blogging. I have been able to take part in these sessions from the comfort of my kitchen table and wearing my night attire. Although some of these events, that are aimed primarily at US users, are in the early hours of the morning (Australian time) they have made leaving my bed at dawn worthwhile. I have heard from speakers who will probably never make the journey downunder and have gained new perspectives and understandings on topics related to genealogy. 

Webinars present a unique opportunity for Australians to seek learning beyond our shores. 

I was lucky enough to attend the recent Rootstech Conference where webinars were a hot topic of conversation. There was also a Roundtalble discussion on Virtual presentations.

As a result of those discussions, American Genealogist, DearMYRTLE, took the initiative to set up a blog, Geneawebinars, "a calendar and blog devoted exclusively to coordinating online genealogy seminars." Full details about this most useful site can be found in the introductory post.  A calendar on the site lists in various views the details of forthcoming presentations. Some of these are free, some have a small cost attached but these costs are minimal.

March Geneawebinars Calendar

Now that we have webinars it doesn't matter if we live in Bourke, Brewarrina or Bondi we can all have access to world  class learning opportunities. Thanks, Myrt for making it easy for us to connect with Webinars via Geneawebinars.