Finding Helpful Groups We humans naturally put people and things into groups. We group people into generations, such as "The Greatest Generation (those who won WWII)," Baby Boomers, Gen X, Y & Z. In some ways these groupings are useful, such as to companies who want to sell things to each group. But how can we find groups that are helpful for us?  An important factor about groups is their availability and topic. A group that meets in the morning may not be available to people who are employed from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. Topics that are too narrow in scope will not attract very many people. Some groups cease meeting in the summer or around holiday time. If you are in such a group, perhaps you should take the opportunity to look for other groups. Check out ConferenceKeeper.org , for instance. Most of the readers of this blog are interested in genealogy and family history. And some pay dues to one or more genealogy societies, presumably because these groups offer adv

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from pixabay.com/ We've had more favorite tools submitted this past week; we hope you find these useful! One Note, Evernote Darlene Steffens :   My favorite tool is One Note (Evernote also works) where I keep handy, just a mouse click away, a variety of research things including:  web links sorted by (1) location (state & country) and (2) generic subject matter; a list of contact persons sorted by family line with email address links, phone, numbers, etc.; a list of source citation formats that I frequently use for copy/pasting into my tree's database; a log of correspondence exchanged sorted by family line, date, who, why, results; a To Do list by state/country where I can "park" those cemetery photos I need to take or the library facility I need to visit and what is needed there (you never know when a visit there is possible); and ever so much more. I like the convenience of all things collected into one place that will open on

 President's Report:  Where We've Been and Where We're Going 2021 is now in the rear-view window, and South King County Genealogical Society is looking forward to what we have planned for 2022.  You have seen what some of the teams are planning, last week: https://skcgs.blogspot.com/2022/01/2021-in-review.html .  Highlights of 2021-2022 as we fulfill our mission: furthering genealogical research and interest in family and local history . Communication and Social Media Groups.io We've grown! Although we're less chatty than we were last year, we now have 228 members at  https://skcgs.groups.io/g/Society . Blog: http://skcgs.org/blog.html Read all over the world! Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SKCGenealogy Washington State Genealogical Society Blog  https://wasgs.org/blog/ . If you aren't subscribed, you're missing out. We post at least monthly, and so do other societies and people. Keep up! Conference Keeper Most of our new attendees from outside of the loc

Greetings! This is my first blog post as President of the South King County Genealogical Society. I'm so honored that the Members entrusted this office to me. But let me share a secret with you: I made up my own job. I did the same with my previous job with SKCGS, as Vice President and before that, leading the new Publicity team.  Make Your Own Job As I've aged, I adopted this tactic more and more, and I will tell you, it's great! For one thing, you know yourself better than anyone else does, and so when you create your own job description, it fits you well. It is a wonderful way to be effective and collaborate with others who share your values and enthusiasms. Most of all, you can choose to do the things that make you happy, and work with those who are happy in their work as well. It is the best of all possible worlds. Freedom and Happiness When I read our SKCGS  Bylaws and Standing Rules , I saw in those job descriptions a lot of latitude to fill the some of the needs of