I have learned in close to 40 years of genealogy, NEVER expect anyone to reply, fill out a family group sheet or even fill in a blank for you. I have sent information out to so many and a handful have followed through and added what they knew! I have sent letters to people who have listed unproven data for my lines(that i have the proven data, verified and asked in a nice way how they came to enter the info they had and if we could talk about this---never hear back from them. I have been quite successful in most lines except my Irish lines. They sure make it difficult to trace and then to get actual proven data from Ireland! I have never heard of Geni, it may be something to try out and see how it works. Thanks for mentioning this to us. Helen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Danca" <rdanca@gmail.com> To: <new-england-irish@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 12:19 PM Subject: [NEW-ENGLAND-IRISH] FYI: Online,cooperative family history through geni.com > I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who gets this reaction when I mention > I'm doing a family history: "That's great. I always wanted to know where we > came from. Will you send me what you have?" > > Then, after I spend time checking my records, creating just the right kind > of reports and sending them out, along with a simple request to have the > recipient fill in some of the blanks (or correct errors)....Nothing comes > back! > > Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to share what I know. But a little > reciprocation once in a while might be nice. Sigh. > > Here's a possible solution: a web site -- geni.com -- that lets you create > an interactive family history you can share with other family members, whom > the site then invites to join you and participate in the project. And the > site promises to keep your info restricted to people you choose to share it > with. > > I've only looked at the site briefly and, though I'm not a big fan of Flash > animations, which the site uses for the interactivity, but it seems pretty > straightforward. Heck, maybe I can even get someone to participate! > > I'm curious to know if anyone on this list has used geni.com. > > Here's some info from the web-site's FAQ page: > ----------------------------- > > Geni is a unique approach to solving the problem of genealogy, which is > the question of how everyone is related. > > Geni lets you create a family tree through our fun simple interface. > When you add a relative's email address, he or she will be invited to join > your tree. That relative can then add other relatives, and so on. Your tree > will continue to grow as relatives invite other relatives. > > Each family member has a profile which can be viewed by clicking their > name in the tree. This helps family members learn more about each other and > stay in touch. Family members can also share information and work together > to build profiles for common ancestors. > > Geni is a private network. Only the people in your tree can see your > tree and your profile. Geni will not share your personal information with > third parties. > > Geni was founded by former executives and early employees of PayPal, > Yahoo! Groups, Ebay, and Tribe. It is backed by venture capital firm > Founders Fund. > > If you have any further questions, please contact us. > http://help.geni.com/index.php?_m=tickets&_a=submit > > Privacy? > > Your family network on Geni is private. We follow these rules: > > * Only the people in your family tree can see your tree. No one > outside your tree can see your tree. > * Only the people in your family tree can see your individual > profile. No one outside your tree can see your profile. > * You can further restrict viewing of your profile information by > changing your account settings. > * We will not provide any user's personal information to advertisers > or third-parties. This includes your email address and the email addresses > of those you invite. > * We will not spam you or your relatives or enable anyone else to do > so. Geni may send service notifications that you can opt out of by changing > your account settings. > > User privacy is of the utmost importance to Geni. > --------------------------------------- > > Here's part of a review at webware.com (part of the CNET Networks): > ----------------------- > "However, Geni's ease of use comes at a price: Its simplicity leaves out > methods of coding in single parents, for example. It's not a tool for > professional genealogists. But it's the best thing I've seen yet for people > who just want an easy way to record their family tree. It's a lot of fun, > too." http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9678187-2.html > > ------------------------- > > -- > --- > Richard Danca > Newton, MA > rdanca@gmail.com > ------ > ====New England Irish Mailing List==== > Check out the NE-Irish website: > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/NEIrish/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NEW-ENGLAND-IRISH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.463 / Virus Database: 269.6.1/777 - Release Date: 4/26/2007 3:23 PM > >