T is for Technical Team and Treasurer #AtoZChallenge

-

 


Welcome to Day 20 of the  #AtoZChallenge.  Don't know what the AtoZChallenge is? Find out more here.

My theme is about Family History Societies.  What they are, How they work, Who is in them, Why they exist.

And which ones begin with T !  
 

Societies beginning with T

Australia

 
 
 

USA

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Family Organizations: T (from Family Search Wiki) 

 

TechnicalTeam

So much of our family history is about technical stuff these days isn't it?  We used to think we were pretty smart being able to operate a microfiche reader and a microfilm reader back in the day.  Now my mind boggles at what we need to keep a Society running.  
 
As a Society our IT infrastructure is quite significant.  We need to maintain banks of PCs, each with links to our own society's databases as well as subscription databases and useful websites.  We manage much of our day to day management business with files in the cloud.  We host meetings using Zoom and are now exploring what we need in technical terms to offer hybrid meetings that are a high quality experience for those at home as well as in person.  We have several projects which are digitizing and indexing and of course there is our library catalogue to host, not to mention emails for all our committee members and volunteers who look after different aspects of our business. 
 
And did I mention the website?  And a robust financial program to produce timely and accurate reports.  
 
You need a whole team of people to make sure that everything is running smoothly, not overloaded, maintained and is across all the latest developments.  We simply could not function without our TAG team or Technical Advisory Group.   
 
 


Treasurer

Every Society needs a treasurer to look after the books.  At our society, we have several income streams, ranging from membership, to interest in the bank, to royalties for publications, book sales, ticket sales for events or education workshops. Sometimes there are endowments or donations that have been given to the Society.  A Treasurer may be asked to produce forecasts for the management team and certainly reports for the members at the AGM.  They need to be able to answer questions about cash flow confidently and make sure good systems are in place for accountability.  A good Treasurer is worth their weight in gold.

What have I forgotten that begins with T and makes a Society tick? Thank you for taking the time to think about family history societies and what they do for you and your research.



Comments

GeniAus said…
And the members of the Technical Team need to be lifelong learners continually updating their knowledge.

Are my frustrations showing???
April 23, 2021 at 12:35 PM
crgalvin said…
I like the idea of a TAG team. In order to prepare people to take on technical tasks those with the ability must be prepared to Train others.
April 23, 2021 at 10:52 PM
ScotSue said…
I find your theme so interesting. You may well have already told us this, but it would be good to know how many members are in your society and how big is the management team. In my experience of various societies, treasurers are like gold dust - difficult to find and retain, as financial matters become more complex.

April 24, 2021 at 6:35 AM
Alex Daw said…
Hi Jill, Carmel and Sue - thank you all so much for taking the time to swing by and comment. Ha Ha Jill, yes I can hear the frustration from here :) Carmel - yes! I need to include Training don't I? Sue - as at 18 January we had 1031 members and were pleased to report at end of March (end of our annual reporting period) we had increased membership by 4% which is pretty amazing considering COVID and a great credit to the management team who really made the transition to Zoom very quickly. There are nine people on the management committee (t can be up to 10 I believe) but we also have so many wonderful volunteers who keep the place ticking over.
April 24, 2021 at 8:45 AM
Molly's Canopy said…
Great and timely issues. The technical teams in my gen societies have been fantastic -- switching to online learning during lockdown and reaching out far and wide for presenters, which has helped tremendously while we cannot travel. https://mollyscanopy.com/2021/04/talking-on-the-busy-signal-atozchallenge/
April 25, 2021 at 6:54 AM
Alex Daw said…
Thanks Molly - I think COVID has provided us with an opportunity to rethink how we do operate and consider who we may not have been serving previously. Now we are using Zoom we are much more aware that nearly 40% of our membership (who live outside the city centre) is able to participate in Society activities more fully.
April 25, 2021 at 8:02 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Family Lore

-
Image
Image by hurk from Pixabay Amy Johnson Crow challenges us to write about our Family History again in 2024 using her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.  The theme for Week 1 is "Family Lore." Many of us have heard stories from our grandparents about incredible feats our ancestors did or a famous person we're related to. What's a tale that has been passed down in your family? Did it end up being true or did it turn out to just be a good story? You can join the challenge too her e. The most famous/shocking story handed down in our family was that my father's great-grandfather was meant to have shot himself.  Lo and behold it wasn't the entire truth (he lived to tell the tale) but there was certainly a large kernel of truth in the story handed down by my grandmother.  You can read the story of Edward Conner's life here . Of course there's always more to be done isn't there?  I ordered his death certificate years ago but it was lost in transit so...
Read more

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - Week 3 - Favourite Photo

-
Image
      The theme for Week 3 is "Favorite Photo." Amy Johnson Crow has devised these prompts and you can participate too by signing up here. Tell the story of a favorite photo: Who is in it, when and where it was taken, and why it was taken. (That last part is often left out!)   Barbara Conner hanging up washing in Edinburgh     This is a photo of my mother hanging up the washing when we were living in Edinburgh in the 60s. I think my father took it to record what ordinary life was like at the time and to send back to the folks at home in Australia.  I'm sure my mother was not pleased but I am so grateful because you can see so much in this photo.  They had a kettle, something like a Sunbeam electric frypan.  I think I can spot a toaster and a radio up on the top shelf.  You can see that the glass came in milk bottles in those days and that the twin tub washing machine was in the kitchen.  There are canisters for things like tea and c...
Read more

Barley Sugar

-
Image
  Photo by Alex Daw Barley Sugar It's been a while since I've blogged and boy do I miss it. Have you received an email from Ancestry lately suggesting you check out new traits?  DNA doesn't lie, so they say, but I beg to differ.   This will probably be an intensely boring post for those of you who don't really know me but I feel compelled to record my responses to the alleged traits for the amusement or interest of posterity and my family. 16 new traits have been identified for me.  There are 56 identified traits altogether. Let's tackle the new traits first: Competitiveness - likely to be competitive - influenced by my maternal side apparently.  Yes I agree but not with the side of the family.  If you'd asked me I would have said the paternal side.  My paternal grandmother was I believe intensely competitive - witness the articles I have written about her swimming prowess.  I'm struggling to recall any competitiveness displayed by my mother ...
Read more