The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) announced its Waterloo Region Branch will re-invent itself, moving to an e-presence only, with a new website and Facebook group. The decision to take this major step is to “continue serving the genealogists and family historians who are researching in the County of Waterloo.”
OGS said, “There will be no newsletter, no physical Branch meetings and no postal mailing address.”
Is this a sign of the future for genealogy societies? I understand some societies in France have already moved to an online presence only.
When a society no longer has a strong volunteer base and membership dwindles, are the only choices to close or become an e-society?
Today, many genealogy societies need to re-invent themselves for the 21st century if they intend to attract new members, hold meetings, reduce expenses, and “stay open.” No longer can societies expect people to join them if they still manage their organization as if it were 1985. If an e-society is in the future, what will it offer members?
An e-society could certainly work well for members who are not local, provided they offer benefits, to me that includes an e-newsletter. Since resources will no longer be devoted to meetings, library, and other local resources, will this concept increase the focus on long-distance members? Will members receive discounts on local research services? Will webinars be offered?
The Waterloo Branch is modeled on that of the OGS’ online-based special interest groups. As such, the membership fee is only $4 for the first year due to the website being under construction “as members and the TSIC Committee of OGS work to place items, prior to January 1st, 2016, in the members only section related to research in the County of Waterloo.” To join any OGS branch, you must first join OGS for $63.
OGS said, “This re-invention of Waterloo Regional Branch is a pilot project authorized by the Board in order to explore alternatives when the volunteer base for a Branch becomes too small to provide all of the services that have been provided in the past.”
Where will your society be five years from now? More importantly, who will your members be?
An novel concept! Does that mean they will no long receive Families as part of the regular OGS membership? It will be interesting to see what members actually do and get, even for just $4. Please keep us posted as you hear more.
Wayne Shepheard
Editor, Relatively Speaking (AGS)
I suspect members must still pay $63 for the OGS membership and then $4 for the branch membership.
I would love to see OGS e-branches join forces with Ontario GenWeb sites. They could link to each other and co-operate with bringing resources online. OGS e-branch can still sell its publications and they would be under the OGS umbrella.
How about a companion blog which is published once a week instead of a newsletter?
I personally would utilize an e-branch much more since my Ontario research interests are far afield.
It will ONLY be a website. Not manned by the volunteers running the branch. It may be some attention if and when the tech team gets to it, but as we all know the tech team is a case of “take a number and stand in line” often for weeks or months. No one will be on the other end to produce a newsletter, never mind a blog.
The Waterloo Region Branch does have a small number of dedicated local volunteers who plan to monitor the research requests via the website and on the Facebook account. I am told that if the number of volunteers grows in this e-society, more services could be offered to members.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that all goes well for our fellow genealogists in Waterloo. The decision to become an e-society couldn’t have been an easy one. During this transition period, we should all try to give the volunteers credit for what they are doing and plan to do.
The Waterloo branch did not make the decision to become an eSociety. They made the decision to close. The OGS made the decision for the Waterloo branch to become an eSociety and the OGS offered to man the research requests.
The above comment is incorrect. The move to a virtual branch was proposed by the Board after information about closing a branch was requested by the Waterloo Region Branch. The decision to move to a virtual entity was made by the Branch Executive.
I think traditional and e-societies will co-exist in the future. As up and coming genealogists will be “digital natives,” born into and growing up with changing technologies, they will be comfortable participating in both formats.
Fair enough, but the idea certainly wasn’t theirs. Their idea was closure.