ID-10031663It’s been another crazy year.  I set five goals for myself in 2013 and managed to accomplish three of them, sort of.  Here’s what I set out to do in 2013 and my status for each.

BCG Certification – Will I ever “start the clock?”  It’s been on my genealogy goals list for years, yet I never seem to have enough hours in the day to get my regular work done, let alone begin work on the BCG portfolio.  Maybe next year?

Publishing Articles – This is an ongoing goal, but for 2013, I wanted to expand and publish in a variety of new-for-me publications.  I did just that!

  • The Oklahoma Genealogical Society asked to reprint my Family History Through the Alphabet – Queries blog post, which was published in their June 2013 issue.
  • Dawn Watson contacted me about writing an article for the debut issue of Appalachiana, which is a publication of the newly formed Southern Appalachians Genealogical Association.  Of course I obliged, submitting “From the Experts: Two Writing Tools for Managing a Research Project,” which was published in August 2013.  I also wrote a book review of Mastering Genealogical Proof, which was published in the November 2013 issue of Appalachiana.
  • I also submitted “Revitalize Your Society,” for the FORUM, a quarterly publication of the Federation of Genealogical Societies.  It will appear in the next issue due out later this month.

Continue Working on American Records Certificate Through National Institute for Genealogical Studies – My goal was to complete the intermediate course for the American Records certificate through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.  Unfortunately, that did not happen this year as other priorities got in the way.  On the list for 2014 it goes!

Dedicate More Time to My Genealogy Writing Blog – In 2011, I started the blog Writing Your Way to the Past with the intent of focusing on the writing aspect of genealogy.  This blog also served as my business website.  After much deliberation (for over a year!!), I decided to merge all three of my genealogy blogs into one, along with my new business website.  You can read more about the blog merger here.  While this didn’t exactly fulfill my intended goal, it needed to be done, and it puts me in a better position to accomplish this goal down the road.

Continue Growing My Genealogy Business – In 2012, I was able to focus a little bit more on my genealogy business and worked with several new clients.  I had hoped to put all of my energy into growing the business and be more proactive and deliberate in finding clients and projects in 2013.  Although I wasn’t able to focus 100% on growing my business, I did work with many new clients this year.  I was also busy creating a new business website to coincide with the blog merger (see above).  I also made it a point to make sure all of my online profiles were consistent and up-to-date.

In addition to these achievements, I also managed to do a few other things this year.

  • I published two more Legacy QuickGuides™:  Researching County Histories and US City Directories, both available in PDF format.
  • In September, I was named the Managing Editor and Design & Technical Editor for the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly.  My first issue will be out later this month.
  • I’m developing another course for National Institute for Genealogical Studies.  Fingers crossed that it will be done by the end of this year!
  • In August, I attended my second FGS conference in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  Had a wonderful time catching up with old friends, made some new friends, and spent some time researching at the Allen County Public Library.
  • In October, I completed the Gen Proof Study Group.  Got to hang out with my favorite Australian genealogy buddy and met some great friends, all while taking advantage of a great learning opportunity.
  • I’ve made plans to attend Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy in January 2014.  This will be my first institute and I look forward to this wonderful learning opportunity!

All in all I’d say I had a pretty successful year.  Looking forward to 2014!!

Image courtesy of scottchan via FreeDigitalPhotos.net.