A successful twitter chat: #genchat recap

I feel like treating myself for trying
something new....

Last Friday I participated in the #genchat over on Twitter.  I know, it is now Tuesday and I am only now getting this posted.  So you know I have had my children home with cabin fever for 6 days…feel my pain...and the inability to get anything productive done thanks to the weather.

This was the first time I have ever participated in a Twitter Chat.  I didn’t know what to expect, let alone how wonderful it was going to be.  Yes, the tweets came fast and furious, but once you got the hang of the format and how it was going, it really wasn’t so bad I thought. To help with the chat I used an application called TweetChat to manage the feed, which I have to say made the experience a lot more user friendly. 

If you were unable to participate in the chat never fear, there is a way for you to read all the tweets!  Using Storify one of the moderators, Jen Baldwin, created a summary of all the tweets from the evening.  She did cut the jokes out, which, in all fairness, you kind of had to be there to understand.  Also on her post about the event Jen shared the stats for the evening and her impressions.  Go check it out, they are pretty impressive!

10 pm was a bit late for me; I was struggling to keep my eyes open by the end.  However, that may be from the fact that I brought the lap top to bed with me and it was super comfy, and warm.  Next time I will stay put at the desk, in the uncomfy desk chair, freezing.  Comfy covers aside, I learned some things, got to share some things, and had a blast kidding around with others. You could say I enjoyed myself immensely.  Trying something new and out of my comfort zone is always hard for me, but I am so glad I gave this a shot.  I see it being a great way for family historians and genealogists to interact from all over.  I wonder if there are other chats like this I need to go and investigate? 

These #genchats will be continuing every 2 weeks for the rest of the year.  The next chat will be Friday February 8 and the topic will be “Weekend Warriors: best tips for 60 minutes of research.”  I am interested to see what types of tips will be offered up by the participants.  It has me thinking about how I do quick and effective research when I only have a few minutes to spare.

I hope to see many of you at the next one!

*photo credit: Cakehead Loves via photopin cc