The “Rockstar Genealogist” Awards is back again for a sixth year, but this time it’s actually back “due to popular demand”, and as always John D. Reid from the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog, (one of my fav bloggers by the way) plays host to this.

So let’s start with his definition of what a Rockstar Genealogist is …

Rockstar genealogists are those who give “must attend” presentations at family history conferences or as webinars, who when you see a new family history article or publication by that person, makes it a must buy, or who you follow avidly on social media.

Last week he announced the 2017 Rockstar Genealogist nominees, and called for any extras to be added. There are so many on that list that I admire, through what they write be it in magazines, books, or on their blog, as well as those who I love to listen and learn from when I can.

The list of those nominated is long and has people from all around the world listed (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland and Scotland. So it’s great that people from all corners of the globe getting recognition.

Many I know, and totally admire for many reasons. Others I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting yet. But what I can say for sure is that the amount of knowledge between (at least those that I know) is phenomenal.

And somehow my name has made it on to the list on nominees. So thankyou to whoever has nominated me. I really am flattered. But I’m still not sure I’m there, as I’m not a public speaker, and I haven’t written books, I just write on my blogs. So to be named amongst such a great group is a true priviledge. So thankyou.

Anyway … don’t forget to VOTE for your fav’s.

John Reid writes …

Choose your favourites from a galaxy of stars from the English-speaking genealogy world. Let them know you appreciate their contributions. By voting you help folks organizing a speaker program to know who is popular internationally and in different regions.

Voting is open until Saturday 21 October, Canada time
(which is Sunday 22 October, Australian time).

VOTE NOW

I got a huge surprise when I found out that Barb from the Decluttering The Stuff blog had nominated me for a Blogger Recognition Award. To say I was blow away is an understatement. Thankyou Barb, I’m truly honoured.

So to accept the Award, there are some ‘Rules’:
– I must thank the Blogger who nominated me and provide a link to their blog.
– I must write a post to show the award.
– I must write a brief story on how my blog started.
– I must give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
– I must select 15 bloggers to pass this award on to.
– I must comment on each of their blogs to let them know they have been nominated for this award and provide a link to this post.

So a brief history of how I started … well I started genealogy blogging for work back in 2009, but was finding I was wanting to write more about my own family, and experiences in genealogy, and having my own works far better than mixing it with my work one. So in 2011 Lonetester HQ was born, and I’ve been writing ever since.

Two pieces of advice … hmm narrowing it down to two, that’s hard, so I’m going to make it five.
– Write in your own “voice”, then it sound like you.
– Have share buttons. Never underestimate the usefulness of them. If someone can’t share your post easily, they won’t.
– Photos. They are important as people do like graphics (ie. Instagram, Pinterest and a decent portion of Facebook).
– Have categories. As your blog grows add categories, and file them into them, because it’s ridiculously hard to find something on someone’s blog if it’s just one l-o-n-g stream of posts.
– Don’t wait until it is 100% perfect to post. If I did that you’d be lucky to get a post a month. Just write it, check it for grammar and typos of course, and let it take its course. If you’re writing about your research everyone knows it’s a work in progress, so it’s ok to not have every single piece of information yet. (Keep an eye on future posts of mine, I have some of these comping up). Besides if you “put it out there” cousin bait might do it’s thing, and relatives might find you who can then fill in the gaps. IT WORKS!

Selecting 15 bloggers to pass this award on to … Well I might be breaking the rules here, but I’m not going to pass it on. Not because I don’t think there’s worthy blogs. But blogs awards did the rounds a couple of years ago, and my blogger friends all got numerous times. So instead I’m going to direct you to a listing of over 200 Australian History & Genealogy Blogs that I have compiled. Feel free to browse through those, and I’m sure you’ll find plenty of interesting ones to read and/or follow.

So again, a big thankyou to Barb for the Award. It was truly unexpected, but I am honoured that you thought of me. And also a thankyou to my readers. I will continue to keep writing, telling my families stories, and sharing advice along the way!

For the fifth year running, one of my favourite genealogy bloggers, John D. Reid from the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog, is running his “Rockstar Genealogists” Awards.

Let’s start with his definition of what a Rockstar genealogist is …

Rockstar genealogists are those who give “must attend” presentations at family history conferences or as webinars, who when you see a new family history article or publication by that person, makes it a must buy. If you hang on their every word on a blog, podcast or newsgroup, or follow avidly on Facebook or Twitter they are likely Rockstar candidates.

Last week he announced the 2016 Rockstar Genealogist nominees, and called for any extras to be added. There are so many on that list that I admire, through what they write be it in magazines, books, or on their blog, as well as those who I love to listen and learn from when I can. The list of those nominated is long and has people from all around the world listed (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland and Scotland). Many I know, and some I don’t. But what I can say for sure is that the amount of knowledge between them all incredible. I’ve felt that at conferences before, and I get that same feeling just reading this list of names.

And while I was a nominee in the Rockstar Genealogist Awards in 2015, I am still surprised that I have made it on to the 2016 nominees list as well. Seriously, even to be on this list is truly an honour.

Afterall, I’m no public speaker, and I’m no book or magazine author, but I do write my blogs and I hope that some people read them, enjoy them, and find them useful.

Voting is open now, and is only open for ONE WEEK,
so don’t delay.

So go ahead, click on the voting link below, and have your say on who your “rockstar genealogists” are, those you look up to, and those you admire, those you love listening to. You can only vote once, but you can vote for as many as you want to.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Monday last week was a crazy (weird crazy) day. It started off with a call from a guy about some heirlooms another person discovered, and I’ve been traced as being the “nearest relative who is interested in them (and who won’t sell them off)” – but all of that is a story in itself, so I’ll save all of that for another day. But as any genienut knows heirlooms are awesome, so as you can imagine I was on a bit of a high, and yes, felt like dancing.

Then I got the mail at work, and I finally got my copy of Inside History Magazine’s September/October 2014 Issue (No. 24). I’m still a paper copy magazine type gal so had to wait impatiently for Australia Post to deliver it. While I’m into some techy-stuff, magazines and books, the old school paper-ones do it for me. Anyway while I’d been waiting for my copy to