Global Alliance of Genealogy Professionals

The Global Alliance of Genealogy Professionals was recently formed to fill the void of worldwide professional genealogists with the expertise to get the job done - while not being tied to a major corporate entity.  Yes, I'm looking at you Pro Genealogists. 

While the group is still forming, there is the potential for something big to come out of this.  Personally, I don't think I can handle much more business than I have.  But like most positive things in my life I may grumble about - I'll grin an bare it. 

If you are interested in becoming a member, please check out the following websites for further information.  There is an Executive Committee, of which I am part of which oversees membership dues ($25 annual), admission and most all other aspects (website, logo, advertisement, vendor communication).  Generally, there is a professional for each state in the US, unless the state is quite large and can be divided.  We also have several members around the globe, ready and waiting.

I hope to post more as time progresses.  Good luck with your research, fellow Expert Connecters!

Josh

Main site:  Global Alliance of Genealogy Professionals
Twitter:  Twitter

Ancestry.com Eats ProGenealogists

How could ProGen possibly survive the appetite of Ancestry? I cannot attest to the work that PG does (have just seen them on WDYTYA) but the merger does through Ancestry.com's Expert Connect system into check. Ancestry.com obviously is looking to greatly expand research service offerings to customers. Perhaps they saw the thousands of potential cases being flushed down the toilet and figure they can grab several hundred more if they have a dedicated staff.

If you knew it or not, some information gleaned at the recent FGS conference in TN indicates Ancestry.com employees are already in on the project scene. They are allowed to bid on projects over a week old that have 0 or 1 bid. I ponder if when PG hits the ground running they will invade the project board and take the majority of the cases. They will have their "PG" logo on their profile.

The one item of interest is the new flow of traffic that is normally directed to PG will go to the boards...or whatever system they will change it to.

Good or bad, we will see. I sincerely hope though that the low bidding issue is resolved and we start getting free subs!

Another Vent

Lost a project I was looking forward to working on yesterday. I had bid 1060 on a UK research jaunt, which included myself paying for up to three UK documents + research. Bid was 1-3k. I know who won the bid...but that is not the kicker. The winning bid was $1051. Huh? I was underbid $9?

I feel more sorry for clients than myself when they choose an expert over me :) Move on...

Expert Connect Discussion Group

It has been almost three months since the inception of the Google Groups Discussion Board which allows experts within the Expert Connect program on Ancestry.com to communicate, sharing ideas or even just venting!

To date we have 62 members (1 dropped and still not sure why) and over 1500 posts. Won't be usually posting to the blog here as the real discussion is going on over there.

Josh

Enjoy Your Project

I'm curious how a project evolved from a $600-$900 initial bid to an award of $25. I wish someone could explain that to me. I wish when I asked EC the question they'd actually give me an answer that made sense. I suppose no one is ever supposed to find answers to those types of questions...things like that in life just happen and your supposed to live with it.

I figure the researcher:

1)Low-balled the bid for one or one-half hour of research in an effort to gain some information, only to create a substantially larger continuation project

2)Someone is a hobby genealogist that should not be on EC

I revisited another project I'd bid on today...as it has not been awarded yet. An "Expert" had given the client the information she needs to order the record - on the CMB! I'm so sick of having to police the boards and narc on people. Why is EC not doing this?

Just venting...

Census 2010 (Off Topic)

Very interesting website tracks percentages (by state) that have returned 2010 census forms. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/

Interesting fact:

Return your 2010 Census forms! The cost to the Government (and you eventually) for us returning census form via mail: $.42; cost for them to find you $56! Total cost of 2010 Census - $11.8 Billion total!

So worth every penny :)

New EC Update!

Did you see the recent update? I can't imagine how many suggestions EC has received from experts determined to try and make EC a friendlier and more efficient place to work. The update I'm speaking of is the money counter. Why do we need to know there is 1.3 million in projects? Furthermore, how many of these projects are old? I counted...only 33% of the projects listed as "available" for custom research are less than a month old! Many projects are sitting there for months with 7+ bids on them. At least if they were going to update something lame it could be more accurate and not so misleading.