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...

Where We Have Been Back in February 2020, we at SKCGS were proud of ourselves because we had moved our newsletter from a quarterly print publication mailed to our members and friends, to a weekly blog posted on our website and emailed to members and friends.  We had taken the unprecedented step of accepting credit card payments online! Where We  Are On March 1, news that the novel Corona virus, which up until then was something we had read about or seen a news story about on TV in Wuhan, China, suddenly was here, in our country, in King County, in Kirkland , for heaven’s sake.   Just to be safe, the March Board and General Meetings were canceled.   Surely this would be under control in just a short time!   At about this time, our wise members, Valorie Zimmerman and MaryLynn Strickland realized that our members were not comfortable attending in-person meetings and began investigating online meeting options. An online platform was selected, and...

By Barbara Mattoon As the busy holiday season winds down, have you begun to think about your genealogy goals for the coming year?  Do they include updating and enhancing your genealogical education and skills?  Just as science, technology, medicine and many other fields are advancing at an accelerating rate, so too is our hobby or avocation – genealogy-- changing all the time.  Planning your genealogy education rather than just taking what comes along for the coming year or two will help you achieve your goals. Your plan will be unique to you, taking into consideration the goals you have set for yourself and the amount of time and resources you have available to commit to continuing education.  Take into consideration what you want to learn and the learning style that is most effective for you.  Do you want to pursue a structured program, or will a “self-designed” program better achieve your goals?  Are you available to travel?  Is cost an is...