From the President: We Need Your Help

by Tony Hanson

The advent of virtual meetings has had a huge impact on all genealogy societies. Many societies only exist today because they adapted virtual meeting technology during the COVID pandemic. And in many ways, it has allowed societies to reach a greater number of people. Take our own society as an example:

• In 2018, our General Meetings attracted a total of 272 in-person participants.
• In 2023 our General Meetings attracted a total of 190 in-person participants. However, we had an additional 1435 participants who attended via Zoom or watched recordings of the meetings.

While we are delighted to see our reach expand from 272 to 1625 participants (math geeks will note that that is nearly a 500% increase!), we have not seen a corresponding increase in participation in our society leadership positions, and the organization has been finding it difficult to fill key board positions. This is the primary motivation for the bylaw changes that are being proposed by the board of directors.

We are in the process of creating a Skills & Leadership Interest survey that we can use to identify and engage those of you with the skills and interest that are needed for us to continue to thrive as an organization.

The good news about this new virtual reality is that you can participate in the operations and leadership of the society regardless of where you live. Please give strong consideration to “giving back” by becoming involved.