Serving Your Society

I recently did a study of all the Branches in the Ontario Genealogical Society and found that we had about 75% of the volunteers need to run the organization. That means that those few who are willing to give up their time, had to do more than they should have. It also means that many had to stay on far longer than expected to serve the rest of the members.

The alternative would be to let our organizations fold and leave the hobby to the large commercial outfits like Ancestry and Find My Past. Those of us with experience in the hobby know that many of the commercial organizations barely touch the surface of genealogy and are interested in little that does not contribute to their profits. If you believe that I am just preaching doom, check out where Haldimand Branch of OGS is today...Gone. And they are not the only one on death's door, in OGS and outside.

What can you do? The Call for Nominations is out for both Ottawa Branch and the Ontario Genealogical Society. Consider taking on a task. Even if you don't have all the necessary skills, it's an opportunity to learn. And all the studies say that we live longer if we keep our brains active.

For more information about  positions at the Provincial level as well as instructions on applying for any of these positions, please log in to the OGS Members Only Area or contact Provincial Office 416-489-0734.

In Ottawa Branch, we need to fill the vacancies at Vice Chair and Secretary. We also need to find replacements in many of the other positions such as Newsletter Editor, Gene-O-Rama Chair and lead of the Irish Research Group. New positions that need to be filled include Publicity and Social Media. If you are interested an any of these tasks, contact Mike More at pastchair@ogsottawa.on.ca