Goal Setting Workshop with Marian Pierre-Louis

It is an understatement for me to say that the workshop I attended today with Marian Pierre-Louis and 13 other talented, dedicated, professional genealogists was an excellent way to spend 3 hours on a day when there is certainly no lack of many projects to attend to.  For those who know Marian, you'll agree with me that she is as professional as they come.

Today's workshop was aptly entitled, "Setting Business and Marketing Goals for 2015."  As the workshop opened and all the participants came into the webinar, we all had already come to know just a little bit about each other.  Since Marian always comes prepared, she wanted all of the rest of us to come prepared as well.  Part of our pre-workshop preparation was to visit each other's website, blogs and any other social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.  That was a great strategy to get to know each other before any of us met.

But that's not the only part of our pre-class assignment.  A little soul-searching was in order. Describe your strengths; your weaknesses. Did you have goals written for 2014 and did you have a plan to achieve them?  And it certainly didn't stop there.  Not painful, just introspective.

Here are a few of Marian's websites and blogs:

Fieldstone Common: www.fieldstonecommon.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marianpierrelouis
The Genealogy Professional www.facebook.com/marianpierrelouis
On-Line House History: www.fieldstonehistoricresearch.com/
Marian's Roots and Rambles: rootsandrambles.blogspot.com/


She'll be presenting the same workshop webinar to another group on Saturday.  I'm not sure if there's room, but if there is and I know it's short notice, but I recommend you sign up! Click here to read about it. 

I believe I speak for every participant that it was a great 3 hours, especially being led by a professional of Marian's caliber. If nothing else, it's a name to remember.  If the opportunity presents itself to spend some time to learn with her, make sure you put in your schedule.  

As a matter of fact, make it a goal!

The 1930 US Census, FDR and "Radio Set"

This idea came to me somewhat spontaneously several months ago when I was teaching a class about census records and what can be gleaned from them.  We all know about the 1790 "Heads of Households" census and that nothing particularly interesting until the 1850 census was enumerated.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="240"] 1930 census - William Brooks (Photo credit: Birdie Holsclaw)[/caption]

But when I get to the 1930 census, I usually point out the odd question in column 9 "Radio Set".  Then one night, I put out this theory and readily admitted it was just a theory!   We know that various levels of government have access to census results as soon as the data is complied...no 72 year rule. As I was trying to rationalize why the radio question appeared, I came up with lots of ideas, and if anyone knows the answer, PLEASE add a comment and straighten out my thinking.  Then I ask the class who do they know who may have taken unusual advantage of the radio data in the early 1930's.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Photograph of a young girl listening to the radio during the Great Depression. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

I have this "theory" about a particular by-product of the data from column 9:  I'm quite sure that FDR was privy to all of the data available to him as President.  My theory is that he very creatively saw the usefulness of how many American households were listening to radios during the Great Depression.  I believe he came up with the idea that this was a new and very modern way to communicate to the masses; an early 20th century Twitter or Facebook account!  I believe....and I certainly have no proof...that FDR crafted his fireside chats as a result of the knowledge that he could easily reach perhaps millions of Americans by broadcasting to all the households where a radio was available.

Your thoughts??

 

Related articles

• Census Hurdles - Who was the Informant? (carigenealogy.wordpress.com)


• Americans on the Move: Latest Census Discoveries (apartmentguide.com)


• U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for October 30 (prnewswire.com)


• The Struggles of the Census (amandalynne22.wordpress.com)