20. Genealogy and the Pandemic

 

The current COVID-19 pandemic (began in 2019) has driven dramatic changes worldwide.  Many of us hunkered down in our homes, limiting our physical interactions with others as part of a program of self-protection.  These changes have meant that we had many fewer outside activities and events.  We all missed going out to our favorite restaurant or out to enjoy popcorn and a movie.  We all missed visiting our family and friends.  But all this home time gave us great opportunity to focus on family history research.

 

Sadly, this pandemic has cost countless lives and brings back to mind the horrors of the 1918 Swine Flu epidemic that spread across the world, again, taking lives everywhere. 

 

Most genealogical societies were still active and continued to meet monthly.  Now, however, most meetings are online over the Internet using the Zoom app.  Speakers are still arranged to present topics of interest, beaming in from somewhere to educate us.  We still had the opportunity to see each other, albeit only on our computer screens.  

 

So now, we have a whole generation of seniors learning how to use Zoom.  What are the menu options?  Where are they located on the screen? How do I get my camera working? Who forgot to mute? What about the background at my house?  Zoom soon dominated the marketplace for online meetings and we learned how to use this powerful tool, including recordings of our sessions.  We learned how to host a meeting, how to send out invitations, how to share our screen, etc.  Great fun and a powerful assist to successfully dealing with the pandemic.

 

So, now, we have a new way of meeting that since the passing of the pandemic – the hybrid meeting!  Hybrid meetings have some folks present in person at our meeting place and others join in remotely via Zoom.  Societies now budget for a Zoom license in their annual financial preparations.  A bit more technical gadgetry is now needed to conduct a useful hybrid meeting where Zoom participants can hear and see the folks in the room and the folks in the room can hear and see their remote colleagues.  Further, the hybrid format allows us to invite fellow genealogists from other jurisdictions to join in our sessions.  The latter experience has expanded our relationships with other societies.  

 

Most organizations will be conducting their annual general meeting with elections for President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer using a hybrid meeting format.  And our voting will be conducted with some folks raising their hands in the meeting room while the Zoom participants will be invoking the Zoom menu item of raising their hand (which shows a yellow hand icon on their screen).  Great fun and a new way of working together.   

 

Many more of the major family history organizations are now providing increased online training and presentations.   Enjoy the changes but do not forget to get up from your computer screen now and then.

 

 

Ron Gilmore

Email:         rvg3@me.com

Website:     https://www.rgenealogy.ca