Anatomy of the Sanborn Maps Workshop with Melinda Kashuba

One of the things the California Genealogical Society does really well is events. Our classes, workshops and seminars are usually well-attended and more-than-meet expectations. Melinda Kashuba‘s Sanborn Maps workshop last December was a home run.

Events Coordinator Tim Cox and his team do a fantastic job at handling every aspect from scheduling, through execution. Online registration tools are now an integral part of the operation and make the collection of statistics a snap.

Tim sent these numbers:

• Total registered: 29
• Cancellations: 2
• No show: 1 (non-member)
• Non-members registered: 2 (1 was a no-show and the other one joined)
• Total in attendance: 26
• Total evaluations returned: 15

Tim also uses online tools to send an evaluation form to participants. It makes it easy for them to send feedback. The results:

• Length of workshop (2 hours) was appropriate.
• Number of attendees (24) was a nice size for most. Two responded that it was too crowded to get to the maps for the hands-on experience.
• The workshop met everyone's expectation! "There was enough information to demonstrate the maps' uses and advantages, but not so much that one is overwhelmed."
• It was unanimous that we should invite Melinda back for a repeat workshop or have her teach on another topic.
  

Thing that could be improved: moving the maps to the hallway for the interactive exercises for easier access.

Here's a sampling of some of the comments:

It was great to be able to examine the large Sanborn firemaps she'd posted on the wall in detail. I have a much better understanding on where to look for such maps, as well. – Dan Ford.

She had a nice mixture of listening to lecture and actively using our knowledge that required some physical movement. She was able to tie it altogether to make a very understandable and usable lecture. – Cheryl Schmidt.

The informal atmosphere made it easy to ask questions of the instructor. The presenter was well informed and the hand-outs were helpful for reference. – Ed Souza.

The topic was interesting and the speaker enthusiastic. I particularly enjoyed the exercise of looking at the maps. Learned lots. – Chris Pattillo.

Melinda is very knowledgeable and well organized. I thought she did a great job of presenting the information. – Marcia Holstrom.

Thanks, Tim, for the report and photographs of another well-run event.


Update 10/25/2011 – Craig Siulinski posted a summary of Melinda's workshop on his Genealogy Jamming blog: The Value of Insurance Maps. Check it out! —kmd.


Photographs courtesy of Tim Cox, Oakland, California, 12/11/2010.

Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library