Thursday, April 23, 2009

When Genea-bloggers meet...

they discuss, laugh, share and usually have a meal together!

Genea-blogger par excellence Donna Pointkouski (What's Past is Prologue is a great blog!) was in San Diego this week to attend business meetings associated with her work. We connected and went out to dinner (with my wife, Angel Linda) on Wednesday night. Here's a picture of Donna and Randy admiring a picture of a very large tree in the restaurant lobby:


What did we talk about? Our work, our families, our family history, our blogging, our genealogy friends, family stories, places we've been, people we've met, people we want to meet, etc.

There is a camaraderie amongst genea-bloggers, even those who have never met in person. We've read each others posts and feel like we are colleagues in a bigger enterprise, and that we are already friends, even though we've never met in person. In the beginning, it's kind of like being a distant cousin - you know who they are, what they do, but you've never met them. Eventually, the relationship becomes like that of a closer cousin - you visit with them (online or in person), exchange notes, tweets, letters and pictures, and get an impression of the whole person and not just the words. The Facebook genealogy community and the Genea-bloggers group has really helped to provide some insight into another bloggers interests and experience.

Many genea-bloggers are invisible to the larger genealogy community, and blogging is a way of raising visibility while honing a writing and story-telling craft. More genea-bloggers are becoming visible in a good way - their work is read more widely, they submit or are invited to write magazine articles or be a columnist, and thereby enter the established genealogy community. For example, Donna writes articles for the Moorshead magazines and has a monthly column on the Shades of the Departed blog.

After dinner, we drove Donna around San Diego Bay and out to Ocean Beach for a look at the ocean. She has been to San Diego before so knew about some of the areas and attractions. We drove for an hour through Balboa Park, downtown through the Gaslamp district and around Petco Park, along the bay past the USS Midway, the Cruise Terminal and the Star of India, then out to Point Loma along Shelter Island, then up in the hills for my favorite San Diego view spot (above the house my grandparents built), and finally to Sunset Cliffs along Ocean Beach before heading back to her hotel on Harbor Island.

We had a great time -- and a good dinner, too. Were any genea-bloggers ears burning last night? {BG}

7 comments:

Craig Manson said...

Hooray! Huzzah! to two cool blogging "cousins!"

my Heritage Happens said...

What great fun! Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Like the picture by the tree! ;-) yes, you are correct about genea-bloggers, they certainly feel like family and best friends. Hooray for you two!

BDM said...

Glad to see a real-life connection. Regardless, Genea-Bloggers have a very special affinity. Thanks for the blog.

GrannyPam said...

Sounds like fun, and what a wonderful place to meet! Every Genea-blogger is special, with something to offer. I love San Diego, have enjoyed every minute I've spent there.

SCHELLY TALALAY DARDASHTI said...

Sounded like a great evening, Randy. Real-time connections are very important. Last year's S.Calif Jamboree's Blogger's Summit was a wonderful experience. This year's Son of Blogger should be even more exciting, with more of the "club" attending. We should probably have Genea-Blogger hats made?

TCasteel said...

Great idea - maybe regional dinners/meet-ups could be discussed

Anonymous said...

Randy,

My comment may have just gotten lost in cyberspace...not sure what happened. Anyway, thanks to you and Linda for a great evening. I love how the genea-bloggers are all friends whether we've met or not. I guess we're all really family thanks to genealogy! I hope to see you guys again.

Donna