Hi: As one of the cc's who probably lives as far from her county as you can without having your hat float (I'm in Seattle, Washington and host the Pierce County site), I can say that distance from the county has nothing to do with a person's ability to service that county. With over 650 pages of material online, transcribed about 90% by me, myself and I, on my own time, using my own money to obtain materials, I would put my site up against just about anyone's who resides in their hosted county. It isn't a matter of distance, it's a matter of willingness to work and see the project succeed. And I'm with Paula, when I began working for the project in 1997, I didn't have a clue how to build a website, make a graphic, etc (I was just about bald before I figured out FTP). I didn't know how I would get the materials I needed, I just knew that I would, period. Had the guidelines expected me to know more than I did then, I would not have been allowed to be a coordinator and the talents and skills that I have acquired in the intervening years would never have been put to use. So sorry, I can't agree at all with the requirement that the cc live within the boundaries of their hosted county. And, although I agree in some respects that a coordinator should only have one county at a time, that certainly doesn't mean people can't. There are plenty of coordinators who host more than one county and do a fine job. Once again it all comes down to their willingness to do work hard that defines their success as a coordinator. Debbie Barrett Coordinator Pierce County WIGenWeb Project www.rootsweb.com/~wipierce/ ----- Original Message ----- From: Paula Vaughan To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 2:38 PM Subject: [WIGEN-L] On Selecting Future Coordinators I know there has to be some kind of process or way to select a coordinator but I hope it doesn't become so strict that it leaves someone who may do a very great job is not given the opportunity. With the present recommended quidelines - I would most likely not be selected as a county coordinator as when I first became I knew nothing about websites, had no previous experience in any GenWeb Project, and do not live in the county I am the cc for (but do alot of reserach there and live close) but I did have the time and willingness to learn and I think I have done a decent job and I keep learning and trying. So I do hope the "screening" does not get to strict either. Paula WaupacaCC _________________________________________________________________ Our best dial-up offer is back. Get MSN Dial-up Internet Service for 6 months @ $9.95/month now! http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup ==== WIGEN Mailing List ==== Celebrate Wisconsin! Visit the Waukesha County WIGenWeb Project Pages http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiwaukes/indice.html

I agree with the statement that we needn't be a resident of a county to be its coordinator... and I live in one of the counties that I coordinate (Washburn). I also live closer to the county seat of one of the other counties that I coordinate (Sawyer) than the seat of the county I do live in. That doesn't mean that the info is flowing though. There are many variables as to why some counties have more info online than other counties. For me, I can say that these two counties have never had those big, wonderful, old histories written about them (come to think of it, neither has Burnett Co. so that makes three) and any recent books that have been written are all under copyright and are watched closer than a shivering rabbit by a hovering hawk. There is no way the local historical and genealogical societies are going to share their work and, as some of you may have experienced, our websites are looked upon as some kind of wicked curse to the very same societies that want to claim our websites as their own just because we represent "their" county. At least that is what I have experienced. So, living in or very near a county doesn't necessarily mean that we have access to everything or know all the answers to the many genealogical queries that are sent to us either through the query systems or directly from visitors to our websites. By the way, even though I do not have alot of answers, I thoroughly check all of my resources and then, I answer my emails...all of them. If someone has complained about me not doing my job, I'd really like to know. There have been days that I spend hours sitting here answering just one email. Having said that, I next want to voice that I do not agree with the statement that we should only be allowed to coordinate one, or only a couple county sites. I have been working with 6 counties for several years now, and I can honestly say that none of them are hurting for attention. Yes, there are some that haven't been updated for a month, but whenever I obtain information through a donation, I am able to get that item online within 2 or 3 days at the most. It is unfair to those of us who want to do the work to have us be limited to less than what we are capable of. I would not have volunteered for any of these sites if I didn't think I could do justice to them. I put alot of thought into each county before I offered to volunteer for the job. Since that time, I have invested alot of my own money into obtaining materials to put on these websites. I would be more than a little upset to think that I could lose them just because there was a limit set on how many counties we could coordinate. I'm not saying that everyone should do what I do and I'm not trying to do what others are doing. We are all individuals, capable of doing a certain amount based on our own circumstances. My circumstances enable me to do what I do. I do not think I am better or worse than anyone else who is a Wisconsin coordinator. I think we all are doing a great job and I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting the other counties around the state. I have also visited many of the other states and seen how their counties have stacked up against what we are doing. We have alot to be proud of! Wisconsin is not a state that is abundantly rich in history (unlike many of the eastern states), but what we have, we do a good job with! In regards to the voting process, I guess I really don't have alot to say. I haven't seen too many problems with the way that we have voted in the past. As far back as I can remember, a person with multiple counties only gets one vote, and those counties with two coordinators each got a vote (these coordinators were all officially recognized by the SC and ASC). That method did not change for this past election and I wasn't aware of any problems there either. I do not think it would be fair for me to put 6 votes in on one person. On the other hand, I have wondered what would stop someone from stacking up a whole crew of "co-coordinators" to sway a vote in the way that someone would want the vote to go if we allowed each co-coordinator to vote. I realize this is a very touchy situation and I surely don't have any answers. I am just wondering why we are talking about making a change. Did I miss something? Is there a change that can be made that would be fair to everyone? I really like Joan's idea of getting the extra perk of a free or reduced-fee Ancestry subscription. I've often thought that it would be a great incentive for us, especially when they (Ancestry) gave us some free time when they first bought out Rootsweb. That was wonderful!. Heck, I would even consider starting up my own research again - haven't worked on my own family lines in years! Wouldn't it be great if we could get a little 'return' on our hard work? I mean, when you look back at how many people we have helped, how many of those people have even bothered to say "thank you." Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. I have enjoyed reading each and every email from you all. These are just my thoughts on this cool winter night. Nance