APG-L Archives

Archiver > APG > 1999-12 > 0944595437


From: "Maralyn A. Wellauer" <>
Subject: [APG] Professional opportunities here
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 13:37:17 -0600


I believe as an organization, one of our charges, be it explicit or
implicit, is to create more professional opportunities, not offer additional
services gratis -- on committees or elsewhere. Without a dedication to true
professionalism, our endeavours are stilted.

Also, people do indeed learn by example. The more visible, active, and
successful we are in our professional capacities, the more people will
aspire to the standards we espouse. It will then become their
responsibility to elevate themselves a level and find the means (within
their means) to do this.

An impromptu (late night) discussion with colleagues in St. Louis revealed
that others, such as myself, have calculated that they spend an average of
$800-1000 of their own money at each national conference, even when they are
speaking. Some chalk it up to the "cost of networking" while others vow
that they will never do another national conference -- famous last words.
Can we begin to imagine the cost to the participants? No one can keep this
up forever.

Increasing attendance at (all) meetings is increase "our" exposure and to
prompt genealogy in many different forms. This can only be viewed as a
positive, except maybe by those who organize the meetings, who would see
this as added responsibilities down the road. This job would have to be
deferred to professional organizers and the cost would be well-worth the
resulting benefits. Larger (genealogy-related) companies could be involved
to support grander efforts and in the process a closer work relationship
between societies and professional genealogists hopefully would be formed.

Fortunately, genealogists are known (or hired) not so much by their
credentials, but by their accumulated knowledge and experience -- and that
is as it should be. University credentials such as M.S., M.A., M.B.A.,
M.Ed., Ph.D., etc. still never fail to impress. They are understood and
respected by those inside and outside genealogy circles. Some individuals
have chosen to pursue genealogical credentials in addition to their previous
training, which is their choice.

Finally, yes, we definitely need to be more aggressive in marketing
ourselves and our profession. Based upon the comments on this list in the
past few days, I believe we can start to prioritize our needs (and goals)
and formulate a plan of action to accomplish them in a timely and cost
effective manner.

More thoughts.

Sincerely,

Maralyn A. Wellauer, Editor
"The Swiss Connection
http://www.feefhs.org/ch/tsc/frg-tsc.htm

This thread: