Sixth Blogiversary!

Has it really been six years since the California Genealogical Society board of directors gave their approval of this blog? The blog was created for and about the members of the society. I offer my annual "thank-you" to members who have contributed photographs, articles, and their stories.

This year I am especially appreciative to Marie Treleaven for agreeing to join the blog team. I hope you are enjoying her Committee Spotlight Series.

A special "thank you" also goes to Ron Madson who has become the "official" photographer for the California Genealogical Society. You'll be seeing more of Ron's work across our social networking channels.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Fifth Blogiversary Thanks

The California Genealogical Society has been publishing this blog for five years! The blog was created for and about the members of the society. I offer my annual "thank-you" to the members who have contributed photographs, articles, and their stories.

In addition, this year I would like to highlight some special friends who I first "met" virtually but who have become great "real-life" friends as well. They have all since become members and supporters of the California Genealogical Society. Thank you, Craig, Sheri, Cheryl, Thomas, Amy, Elizabeth, Kim, and Denise!

• Craig Manson, author of Geneablogie
• Sheri Fenley, author of The Educated Genealogist
• Cheryl Palmer, author of Heritage Happens
• Thomas MacEntee, author of Destination: Austin Family 
• Amy Coffin, author of We Tree Genealogy Blog
• Elizabeth O'Neal, author of Little Bytes of Life
• Kim von Aspern-Parker, author of Le Maison Duchamp
• Denise Levenick, author of The Family Curator

Links to all of their blogs can also be found in the right sidebar of this blog under "CGS Member Blogs" with those of other blogs written by members of the society. For a long time this blog roll was a lonely place, but as you can see, many members are blogging. Thank you all, for the time and effort you expend to share your genealogy. If I have missed your blog and you are a CGS member, please leave a comment so I can add yours to the list.


Copyright © 2012 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Happy Fourth Blogiversary!

Four years ago the California Genealogical Society board of directors approved creation of this blog. It has been an honor and pleasure to bring you updates about our events and activities at the library, as well as reports from and about our talented members.


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

Happy Third Blogiversary!

Can you believe it? It's been three years!

It's time to thank all the member volunteers who contribute to the blog by taking photographs, passing along information and writing up their travels and genealogy adventures. Thanks to my friends in the genealogy blogging community for your support. And thanks to all of my blog readers!


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Happy (Belated) Second Blogiversary!

I'm a bit behind since the holiday and I haven't yet acknowledged last week's milestone. On November 28, 2007, the California Genealogical Society Board of Directors voted to approve the CGSL blog. It was a venture started rather hastily, with great enthusiasm but little planning. I admit to losing a few nights' sleep the first week wondering how I would ever sustain it. Now I can't believe it's been two years.

Since that time CGS and I have discovered a whole new Web 2.0 world of wikis and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter where I've made many new friends in the GeneaBlogger community. My colleagues are a prolific bunch who fill my blog reader with an endless stream of all things genealogical and who offer a font of inspirational ideas which I gladly co-opt for the benefit of CGS.

During this last year the CGSL blog has become a kind of internet centerpiece for the society. Blog articles link back and forth to the CGS website, to the eNews and to social networking sites and calendars where our events are posted.

Recently Amy Coffin of We Tree featured the CGSL blog in her article Should Your Genealogical Society Have a Blog? She summed up the blog-website relationship perfectly:

Blogs are websites. Websites aren't always blogs. A genealogy society's web page is like a store window. It highlights the group's value, hopefully enticing visitors to walk through the virtual door and explore the site. A blog is like a genealogy society's in-store sale circular. It is a good communication tool for the latest information and quickly changing details. A genealogy society's web page serves one purpose and a blog another.

Now that the whole blog-website-internet dynamic is working well for us, CGS is ready to pretty things up a little. Several members of the Pub/Mark and Website Committees have been working on the CGS "brand" and we will be rolling things out over the next couple of months.

Today Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings very graciously recommended the CGSL blog in his Follow Friday post. Nothing gets past Randy and he made note of the fact that this blog has a new URL: http://blog.californiaancestors.org/. This is the first peek into the branding project which will involve a major redecorating overhaul of the CGSL blog.

Stay tuned.

Happy CGSL Blogiversary!

Just one short year ago during our regular monthly meeting, members of the CGS board of directors took a look at the blog I created for the society and gave permission to go live. They were all wonderfully enthusiastic about the idea and have been supportive contributors throughout the year. I sold this experiment as a way to communicate with members and promote CGS at no cost to the society. So far, in my humble opinion, the blog is a success.

A few acknowledgements are in order. First to my blog-mentor, Jasia, who first challenged me to action and who graciously announced the the CGSL blog to the world. Second to Thomas MacEntee of Destination: Austin Family (and his newest offspring, Thomas 2.0) and to Denise Olson of Family Matters – you two took the time to leave welcoming comments on the CGSL blog within a day of Jasia's announcement. You've both been my tech-gurus – thank you for all your help and patience. I count you as the first of the many, many genea-bloggers who have become friends this past year.

A special thank-you to all of the CGS member volunteers who have contributed to the blog over the year, especially to Mary Mettler for the Tuesday Tales of her cross-country trip and to Jane Lindsey, Arlene Miles, Cathy Paris, Judy Bodycote and Dick Rees for their photographs. I'm looking forward to telling more of the CGS member stories in the coming year. Happy Blogiversary, CGS!

Happy Thanksgiving

Julie Cahill Tarr at GenBlog by Julie started a Thanksgiving meme with the challenge to blog two things for which we are thankful.

That's an easy one for me.

1. I'm thankful for all of the generous volunteers who are the California Genealogical Society and Library. You are all THE BEST.

2. I'm thankful that tomorrow is the first blogiversary of the CGSL blog. I can't believe it's been a year since we started this experiment.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!