Webinars and the Genealogical Community

According to Wikipedia, "The term webinar is short for Web-based Seminar, a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web."  Webinars can be live and interactive, allowing the participants to actively interact with the speaker, or one-way.  A webinar that is not presented in real-time is sometimes referred to as a "webcast."  Watching a webcast is similar to watching a prerecorded presentation.

Approximately one-half of the members of the Hamilton County Genealogical Society are not local.  They are interested in the area because they, or their ancestors, lived in Hamilton County at one time.  It is often not practical for them to attend meetings or take advantage of the excellent speakers that are available to members who live locally. Offering webinars or webcasts might be a way to bring our local speakers to you regardless of where you are. If you think you would take advantage of the webinars, please add a comment at the end of this post.

More and more societies are working on ways to address the needs of members who are not able to attend Chapter functions.  One of the ways that organizations are meeting this need is by making webinars/webcasts available to members. Mary Ann Faloon, Chair of our Irish Interest Group, forwarded me a Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree 2012 Extension Series flyer to me in the hope that we would make you aware of the availability of these free webinars. Complete directions on how to register and participate are included in the flyer.

There are a great many other webinars available on a vast array of topics. For a Google Calendar of up-coming webinars: View GeneaWebinars calendar. A link to this calendar has been added to our blog sidebar.

As 2011 comes to a close, why not make a resolution to get out of your comfort zone and try something new in 2012?  I'm going to put this at the top of my New Year's Genealogical Resolutions.