Final Tallies for Genea-Blogger Games

I'm finally back online full time again after a week of spending time with family while my husband was on vacation. We had two houseguests as well, one friend of each of my children. So most of what I was doing on the computer this past week when I did have a few spare moments here and there was to: a) briefly read through my e-mails, although I answered only the most urgent; b) skim through my favorite genea-blogger feeds at Google Reader; and c) add more data from the Descendancy Report of William WILKINSON that a distant cousin's spouse sent me a couple of weeks ago. I ended up adding 87 people, 42 families, 161 events, 11 places, 8 sources, and 166 more citations to my database. Since I already had completed the minimum for the categories under which those fell, it didn't put me into any higher medal categories. I did spend some time organizing photos last night and organizing hard files this morning. So here are my final tallies:

1. Go Back and Cite Your Sources!: Platinum (50+ citations)

2. Back Up Your Data!: I bombed in this category only because it has taken so long for Carbonite to backup my files...and it's not their fault. We have had the desktop off for the last week (using only the laptop), plus every night since we started the backup process. It's at 38% completion (yes, I have a LOT of data to back up). I have to say that if Thomas hadn't created this very necessary category, I probably would never have gone to Carbonite, and so this category was well worth entering and the cost of an account ($50 a year) is well worth the peace of mind knowing that if something were to happen to my computer, my genealogy, home files, and digital photos would be secure.

3. Organize Your Research!: Diamond (organized 20+ hard files, 20+ digital files, 20+ photographs, and entered 20+ entries into database)

4. Write, Write, Write!: Gold (participated in Carnival of Genealogy, pre-published at least one blog post, wrote a brief bio of an ancestor)

5. Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness! Gold (commented on a new blog, joined a blog network at Facebook, assisted another researcher with a lookup)

I had hoped to do better in Category 5, but I ran out of time to search for bloggers who had not already been asked to join the Genea-Blogger Group. I als did not join another society because I paid a professional to do some research for me, and my funds were limited.

I really enjoyed the Games, even though I couldn't participate more fully than I wished. From reading the other blogs, it seems like everyone enjoyed themselves as well, despite many challenges (just like the real Olympics). This really was inspiring, wasn't it? Thank you to my partners, Thomas MacEntee and Kathryn Doyle, for all their assistance, and to all the Genea-Bloggers who participated!

Don't forget, Scanfest is tomorrow!