When I’m researching links for my Monday’s Link Roundup, I’m always amazed by the richness of material available for those interested in personal and oral histories, storytelling, and genealogy. Today’s list is no exception. My favorite link is the Newseum. You can hover your mouse cursor over a city anywhere in the world and the front pages of that city’s newspapers are highlighted. Very cool!
- Unique photo gift ideas. “Your hard drive’s holding gigabytes of digital photos you’ve been snapping for years hostage, keeping all those memories of people and places in the digital dark. Your photos can make others smile on a personalized photo gift, for a holiday or for no reason at all.”
- Google Digitizes the Ottawa Citizen Archives. “Google has digitized and made available online most of the archives of the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, putting about 2.5 million articles at your fingertips, the earliest from 1890. You may be amazed at the speed and ease with which you can find family history.”
- Online Oral History Projects. “Many museums, historical organizations, universities, and special interest groups have not only created digital archives, but also oral history projects that cover spectrums of historical themes. The following sites offer a look into the expansive realm of online oral history projects.”
- Newseum Blends High-Tech With Historical. “The Newseum — a 250,000-square-foot museum of news — offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. The Newseum is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., on America’s Main Street between the White House and the U.S. Capitol and adjacent to the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall.” [Thanks to RJ McHatton of Inventive Productions for alerting me to this site.]
- This I Believe. “…an international project engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Over 70,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived here on our website, heard on public radio, chronicled through our books and television programming, and featured in weekly podcasts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow.”
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Tagged: genealogy, life story, link roundup, oral history, Personal historian, personal histories, Tips
I always use some short, entertaining exercises to help break the ice and add a little fun and variety to my life story workshops. If you’re looking for something, consider some of those on my list. Please let me know in the comments below if you have some other exercises you’ve used and would like to share .
- The six-word memoir. Made popular by Smith Magazine, the idea is to have participants use six-words to capture their life stories. I usually hand out small 2″ x 3″ cards for people to use. After some sharing of mini memoirs, I collect the cards and put them in a box for a prize draw at the end of my workshop.
- The story behind my name. I divide the class into pairs if it’s large and have each partner share the story behind his or her name. After about 15 minutes I gather the group together and have people share their “name” stories. It’s always a crowd pleaser!
- A favorite object. Everyone has something they treasure. I bring a favorite item of mine to the workshop. I talk about what it is, how I acquired it, and why it’s special to me. Then I have the class break into pairs and have each partner describe a favorite object. After 15 or 20 minutes, I ask for some sharing of “favorite object” stories.
- A peak life experience. I describe to the class a peak moment in my life. I provide as much detail as possible – where it was, when it happened,who was there, and how I felt. I then have the workshop participants find a partner and have each share with one another a peak experience. After 15 to 20 minutes, I have the group reassemble and ask for volunteers to share a peak moment.
- A special place. This can be from any period in one’s life. I recall a huge hollowed out tree stump in the forest near our home. This was my special place when I was a boy. It was off the beaten track and known only to me. I would go there when I was feeling adventurous or when I was troubled. I ask my workshop participants to share with a partner a special place in their lives. Later I ask for some individuals to share a description of a special place.
- A photo story. I’ll admit that I haven’t tried this exercise yet. I dreamed it up recently and can’t wait to use it in my next workshop. I have a photo in my personal collection that you can see below.
Photo Dan Curtis collection
Here’s the exercise. I’ll hand out a copy of the photo to each workshop participant and ask them to take 20 minutes to write a story behind the photo. I won’t give any clues as to the real story. Then I’ll ask various people to read out their stories. I think there’ll probably be some interesting variety. To conclude I’ll tell the real story of the photo. Curious? Well, you’ll just have to come to my workshop. 
Or you could check out my post on Wednesday, February 10th.
Photo by iStockphoto
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Categories: How to · Life stories · Personal historian · Photos · Presentations · Tips
Tagged: a favorite object, How to, life story workshops, memory prompters, short exercises, six-word memoir
You’re talented and motivated. You’ve got business cards, a website, and brochures. But you’ve few clients. So here’s the # 1 secret to getting more clients. Get noticed! That’s right. Clients need to know you exist. Here are 10 ways to get noticed:
- Join a community group. Find a group of people who share your interests. Members will naturally begin to inquire about your work. In time you’ll get client leads.
- Give talks. Develop a 10 to 15 minute presentation not about you but on a topic related to your work. Contact service clubs and offer to make a presentation.
- Run workshops. Put together a workshop on “How to” do something. Make it practical and have useful handouts with your contact information clearly visible.
- Send out media releases. Take advantage of special holidays to send out a media release that ties the holiday in with the service you provide.
- Create a blog. Setting up a blog is simple with free blogging platforms like Blogger, Typepad, and WordPress. Write frequent,useful, fresh, and entertaining articles aimed at your target clients.
- Join local business and professional groups. Every community has opportunities for networking. Go to mixers and meet people.
- Write articles. Nothing helps enhance your credibility and visibility than an article in a magazine, newspaper, or newsletter.
- Host your own radio program. With Blog Talk Radio you can create your own online radio show.
- Publish an online newsletter. Newsletters establish you as an authority and allow you to keep in touch with your audience.
- Join Toastmasters. This is not only a great way to practice and improve your public speaking abilities but also a way to find clients and get referrals.
Photo by iStockphoto
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Categories: How to · Marketing · Tips
Tagged: #1 secret, How to, Marketing, more clients, Tips
What better way to start your week than to take a look at some of my choice “pickings” in this Monday’s Link Roundup. If you’re pressed for time go to How Not to Hurry. It’s the perfect place to start!
- Repair Warped Vinyl Records with Two Sheets of Glass. “There might be audio treasures stashed in a relative’s record collection, but only if you can restore the discs to less topographic conditions. Wired’s How-To Wiki offers a guide to restoring that warped vinyl with careful heat application.”
- A Guide to Oral History and the Law by John A. Neuenschwander. “Since oral historians on all levels regularly undertake interviews with business leaders, professionals, and workers; it is important that these interviews be carefully audited for potentially defamatory statements. In other words, just because an interviewee is not accusing someone of criminal activity or immoral conduct, statements that undermine a person’s reputation in the workplace can be just as harmful.” [Thanks to Jennifer Campbell of Heritage Memoirs for alerting me to this article.]
- Getting Started with Oral History. “…an online introductory oral history workshop. The Baylor University Institute for Oral History will present the workshop in two three-hour sessions on consecutive Wednesdays, April 14 & 21, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. CDT. The registration fee is $75.00, which covers six hours of instruction, access to forms and materials for downloading, evaluation of your oral history project proposal, and ongoing consultation.”
- Scanning Basics 101. “The material was written about scanning, but most of it is a basic primer on digital images in general, applicable to images from digital cameras too. This material is intended for home and hobby users, and is not concerned with commercial prepress.”
- Build a $14 Video Camera Stabilizer. “Professional video stabilizers are prohibitively expensive. You won’t get $10,000 worth of stabilization out of a $14 DIY model, but you will get radically smoother video for a tiny fraction of the price.”
- Fair Use & Copyright. “Fair use is the right, in some circumstances, to quote copyrighted material without asking permission or paying for it. Fair use enables the creation of new culture, and keeps current copyright holders from being private censors. With the Washington College of Law, the Center for Social Media creates tools for creators, teachers, and researchers to better use their fair use rights.”
- How Not to Hurry. “Is it possible to never hurry, but to get everything done?…we’ve been conditioned to believe that busier is better, but actually the speed of doing is not as important as what we focus on doing. Maybe we’re going at the wrong speed. Maybe if we are constantly rushing, we will miss out on life itself. Let’s let go of the obsession with speed, and instead slow down, stop rushing, and enjoy life.”
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Categories: Monday's Link Roundup
Tagged: Baylor University Institute, fair use and copyright, how not to hurry, how to scan, link roundup, oral history
I love free stuff. What’s not to like about it? And with so many really great resources out there, why pay when you can get it for free? Previously I listed 100 Free Resources for Personal Historians followed by 20 More Free Resources for Personal Historians. If you know of some free resources that you use and like, let me know. Here’s some more free stuff I’ve found. Enjoy!
- PagePlus Desktop Publishing Software. “Serif PagePlus SE is the FREE desktop publishing (DTP) software to design stunning publications for home or business with no previous experience! With FREE PagePlus SE you can easily create outstanding menus, greeting cards, posters, brochures, documents and catalogues. Our easy to use free desktop publishing software ensure you create amazing documents for every occasion!”
- Posterous. “…the dead simple way to put anything online using email…We love sharing thoughts, photos, audio, and files with our friends and family, but we didn’t like how hard it was… so we made a better way.”
- FreeFoto.com “The largest collection of free photographs on the Internet (link back and attribution required).”
- Toodledo. “An easy to use, online to-do list. Get organized, stay motivated, and be more productive.”
- Smilebox. “…a photo service that lets you quickly turn life’s moments into digital creations you can share with others or save for yourself. Choose from hundreds of ecard, scrapbooking, and slideshow designs for every occasion. New designs are released every week. Personalize and share your Smilebox creation for free, or select premium options for print, DVD burning, expanded music choices, and no advertisements.”
- TwoGoals. “Simple web application TwoGoals keeps you focused on only the most important tasks—by creating a page where you can record your two main objectives.”
- Mint. “Mint manages your money by sucking in data from all your bank, credit card, and other accounts, providing you regular reports on what you’re spending and how to save.”
- Storybird. “Publish your stories, sell your art, and connect with fans. Storybird is a creative and commercial platform built just for you.”
- Home Inventory. “Create a home inventory of everything you own on this site, a service of the Insurance Information Institute, and throw in digital pictures or even scanned purchase receipts to make sure what’s yours is yours. “
- Springpad. “Manage your life tasks with online notebooks filled with lists, photos, notes, and maps/directions you can share with the whole family. Perfect for tracking receipts, planning meals or trips, and getting your house organized. “
- Timetoast. “… allows people to create interactive timelines, which they can share anywhere on the web. Anyone can join Timetoast and start creating and sharing their own timelines, all they need is a valid email address. It’s completely free!”
- 200 Free Online Classes. “A high quality education doesn’t have to come at a high cost. In fact, it’s possible to take classes from big names like Yale, MIT, and Tufts without ever submitting an application or paying a cent in tuition. We’ve compiled 200 online classes from these and other respected institutions, and you can take all of them with no strings attached.”
- Stamina Typing Tutor. “Amusing, yet multifunctional touch-typing tutor with support for several layouts.”
- Free Audio Books Online. “This is a listing of 60 sites that legally offer free audio books, either for online listening or for download.”
- GoodSharing. “…a free web service that helps you share your stuff with trusted friends. Founded in 2006, GoodSharing gives you and your friends a place to list items you are willing to share (we call them “ShareItems”), makes it easy to search and request a ShareItem, and keeps track of items that have been borrowed from you.”
Image by iStockphoto
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Categories: Personal historian · Resources
Tagged: free resources, free stuff, Personal historian
Victoria harbor with the Legislative Buildings in the background
No, I haven’t become a travel agent! I’ll admit though that I love to extol the virtues of my home town,Victoria. And as a member of the Association of Personal Historians, I’m excited that this year’s conference will be held in Victoria, November 3 -7, at the famous Fairmont Empress Hotel.
Located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia. Named after Queen Victoria, it was established in 1843 by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a fort and trading post. Today it has an estimated regional population of 326,000.
Here are 10 great reasons for you to come to Victoria.
1. Participate in the APH “Voices of the Elders” conference. If you’re not yet a member of the Association of Personal Historians, I strongly urge you to become one. You don’t want to miss this conference! You can join the APH by clicking here.
2. International travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler ranked Victoria #1 Best City in the Americas (2003/2004).
3. Aptly named the “Garden City”, Victoria has the mildest climate in Canada. Right now the snowdrops are blooming!
4. Victoria is home to Fisgard lighthouse, Canada’s oldest West Coast lighthouse, built in 1860.
Fisgard Lighthouse
5. Beacon Hill Park is the site of the world’s tallest, free-standing totem pole carved from a single log. Erected in 1956, it stands 38.8-metres (127 ft.) and was carved by Kwakwaka’wakw craftsman Mungo Martin.
World's tallest totem pole
6. Victoria is “Mile 0″ of the Trans Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world, spanning 7,821 km (4,860 mi.)
7. Congregation Emanu-El is the oldest house of worship in British Columbia and the oldest synagogue in continuous use in Canada.
8. Victoria’s Chinatown is the oldest in Canada and second only to San Francisco which is the oldest in North America.
9.Victoria is home to The Royal BC Museum, one of the foremost cultural institutions in the world.
Butchart Gardens
10. The world famous Butchart Gardens are a short 21 km (12.6 mi.) drive outside Victoria. Located on 55 acres, these sublime gardens are beautiful year round.
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Victoria Harbor photo by Gregory Melle
Fisgard Lighthouse photo by Eric de Leeuw
World’s tallest totem photo by Fawcett5
Butchart Gardens photo by Phil Romans
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Categories: Conferences · Personal historian
Tagged: APH conference, Association of Personal Historians, Butchart Gardens, Fisgard Lighthouse, oldest synagogue in Canada, Royal BC Museum, Victoria, world's tallest totem pole
This Monday, with Valentine’s Day not far away, take a look at Us: Americans Talk About Love. Another favorite link of mine is Vintage Ad Browser, a great way to idle away the hours. Did you know that Aspironal is “Better than Whiskey for colds and flu”? [from a1928 medicine ad]
- Digital scribes transfer ancient words into bits and bytes. “In the corner of a quiet government office building, Leah Otak spends her work days in front of a computer and a cassette deck, poring over hundreds of hours of recorded interviews dating back as far as 1986. The interviews contain a massive trove of quickly-disappearing information: the traditional knowledge of elders from the Igloolik area covering everything from shamanism and kinship to traditional navigation methods and hunting and sewing techniques.”
- Vintage Ad Browser. “This site aims to collect vintage ads from a variety of sources, including comic books, CD-Roms, websites, APIs, your submissions, book, magazine & comic book scans, and more. At the moment, this site contains 123,311 ads.” [ Thanks to Melissa Dopp of Reel Lives Media for alerting me to this site.]
- Turn Web Pages Into PDFs. “Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a way for you to capture a web page in its entirety, either for future reference or for sharing it with your friends without having to start sending links back and forth? I’d like to capture the web page as it exists today. Luckily, there is an easy method of doing just that. PDFmyURL.com is a web service that captures web sites and converts them to PDF files.”
- A Time-Lapse of a Cover Creation. “After working on the latest cover for Macworld Magazine I wanted to show what is involved in making a cover. I focused on the three main areas: the photography, photoshop and design. I chose a time lapse format to convey lots of information in a small amount of time. The only drawback of time lapse is that since half a day goes by in 30 seconds, the whole process seem so easy!”
- ZOOM – Music Licensing for Videography & Digital Imaging. “For the first time ever, as a professional producer in the United States or Canada who uses music in the production of wedding and event videos, photo presentations and other related productions, you are NOW able to purchase the rights to use copyrighted music from the artists you choose at a price you can afford! The ZOOM License Bundle makes it possible.”
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Categories: Monday's Link Roundup
Tagged: family stories, link roundup, memoir, oral history, personal histories
I don’t rant very often. In fact the last time I ranted was here in December 2008. I feel another rant coming on. It’s been building. So stand back!
We seem to be inundated these days with exhortations from neatness mavens to declutter and organize our lives for a happier and better tomorrow. The implication seems to be that a cluttered existence is a sign of failing. There’s a whiff of Puritanism to all this. We are told that being cluttered wastes time, hinders our productivity, makes us tired, and no doubt has a detrimental effect on our sex lives. But where’s all the evidence for this? I’ve never seen any authoritative studies that support the claims made by the decluttering brigade.
I’ll admit that my office space is pretty messy. At times I’ve listened to the siren calls of the “tidy” people. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be happier and more productive? But after a few weeks of tidiness things are pretty much back where they started. I used to feel badly about this. It seemed as if I failed somehow to be a productive and useful member of society.
On sober reflection, I realized that being a neatness freak didn’t make me happier. If anything, it made me even more neurotic. “Oh my god! I forgot to clean off my desk at the end of the day!” Despite mounds of books and papers and DVDs scattered about my office, I still produce good stuff. I’m happy. My clients love my work. I love my work. And most importantly, I’ve accepted the fact that being cluttered is part of who I am and how I go about creating.
Let’s leave decluttering for the accountants, surgeons, pilots, and anyone else we expect at least to appear organized and in charge. As for the rest of us cluttered souls, let’s unite in our messiness and proudly proclaim to the naturally tidy, “Yes, we can’t!”
Photo by iStockphoto
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Categories: Home Office
Tagged: declutter, Home Office, messy, neatness, Puritanism, rant
Among this Monday’s Link Roundup are two sites that provide some useful advice on marketing with Facebook and building your personal brand. There’s a new television series starting in February called Faces of America that looks promising. My favorite pick this week is What Matters Now, a free e-book organized by Seth Godin. It contains seventy important thinkers with capsule thoughts on what matters now. Don’t pass it by.
- Series Explores “What Made America?” Through Genealogy. “Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., whose “African-American Lives” series have been popular on PBS, is working on another genealogy documentary series to air in February and March. “Faces of America” uses genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 11 famous Americans, using their ancestors’ experiences to draw a picture of American history.”
- Using Assessments to Enhance Life-Story Writing. “Came across an interesting juxtaposition of two interests of mine. In an article title How to Write One’s Life Story in which author Christina Hamlett writes: Fill out self-assessment quizzes and introspective writing exercises. In addition to personality tests you can find in consumer magazines and on the Internet, books such as Barbara Ann Kipfer’s 4,000 Questions For Getting To Know Anyone and Everyone, Margaret Tiberio’s The Book of Self-Acquaintance and Dr. Gregory Stock’s The Book of Questions will get you thinking about what really makes you tick.”
- How to Market Your Business With Facebook. “A growing number of businesses are making Facebook an indispensable part of hanging out their shingles. Small businesses are using it to find new customers, build online communities of fans and dig into gold mines of demographic information.”
- Writing a memoir: 7 tips for defeating your inner critic. “That’s the nagging voice in your ear that says nothing you write is good or true, the voice that inflicts you with shame and guilt, especially if you’ve experienced trauma, abuse, or loss. The inner critic can inhibit you from acknowledging and revealing — even if only to yourself — what actually happened in your life.”
- How to Start (or Start-over) Building Your Personal Brand. “A ‘personal brand’ is in many ways synonymous with your reputation. It refers to the way other people see you. Are you a genius? An expert? Are you trustworthy? What do you represent? What do you stand for? What ideas and notions pop up as soon as someone hears your name?”
- Living Detroit Website Launched. “Wayne State University’s Honors College has launched a new web-based oral history project to gather people’s personal memories of large and small events in Metro Detroit. Jerry Herron, Dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College at Wayne State, calls the Living Detroit website a “living record of story telling, people’s memories of the people, the places, the things that have defined this great city of Detroit.”
- What Matters Now: get the free ebook. “Here are more than seventy big thinkers, each sharing an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year. From bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert to brilliant tech thinker Kevin Kelly, from publisher Tim O’Reilly to radio host Dave Ramsey, there are some important people riffing about important ideas here. The ebook includes Tom Peters, Fred Wilson, Jackie Huba and Jason Fried, along with Gina Trapani, Bill Taylor and Alan Webber.”
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Categories: Monday's Link Roundup
Tagged: genealogy, life story, link roundup, Marketing, memoir, oral history, personal branding, Writing
