Is the Genealogy Industry like Vermont?

With my Mom and my cousin at Simon Pearce

by Janet Hovorka

Glass blowing at Simon Pearce

I recently returned from the NERGC conference in Springfield Massachusetts. It was a delightful trip; I brought my Mother along and we went up to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire to visit with my cousin.  While we were in area, we wanted to visit a few fun places on the way down to the conference.  I had looked into where we should go online, but my ideas were confirmed when I picked up this tourist map at the hotel.  We had a great time visiting Sugarbush Cheese and Maple Syrup Farm, King Arthur Flour Bakery and School, and Simon Pearce Glass and Restaurant.  Beautiful places all–we had a delightful time.

SugarBush Farm

The people there told us that the soil and climate in Vermont make it hard to farm, so there are alot of small farms that produce beautiful artisan things.  It reminded me alot of the genealogy industry.  There are a few large companies, and several small companies that produce great quality products.  The companies in Vermont belong to a Vermont Attractions Association.  (vtattractions.org)  In the couple of places we visited, I noticed the stores offered products from the other small artisan companies.  And the Vermont Attractions Association was the organization that put the map together which I found at the hotel.

The history wall at King Arthur’s Flour

I was impressed with the proud history each of these companies have.  Each of them had a wall showing off their history.  Each of them produce beautiful, quality products.  I think by working together, like the Vermont Attractions Association, the genealogy industry can help each other grow healthy, strong, proud companies just like in Vermont.

Classes at King Arthur Flour

Thus far, the steering committee has prioritized the Best Practices for Conferences Document, networking events at the major conferences, this website, and we’re going to be working on a membership directory.  If you have any other ideas about what we can be working on, bring it up in the Facebook group, or leave it in the comments here.

I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do together.