We are asked to write our reflections on doing the A to Z Challenge in April.
It was my first year doing this challenge that started in 2010. There were over 2000 participants and a wide variety of subjects. I came late to the party, only hearing about it a few days before the start, so I missed the reveal and far-head planning some more experienced tended to do.
Without a dedicated category for Genealogy I tried to find as many obvious bloggers of genealogy and family history as I could and made a list for me and other genealogists to follow. I missed quite a few, and found some half way through the month.
Since I usually post only once a week, maybe twice, I found the pace of posting every day a little hectic. But I soon found myself hating Sundays when there was no posting or commenting! There were a few of us that kept up together the whole month, reading and commenting on each other's posts and I am so pleased to add these wonderful people to my reading list.
We Survived!!
I did tweet my posts, but wish I had more time to follow more on twitter and participate in #AtoZChat. I did find a few non-genealogy AtoZ-ers via twitter that were very interesting and I also added to my feed.
I found some bloggers' posts were too long for the amount of posts I wanted to read, which was a shame because they were interesting and at any other time would have loved to read them. I tried to keep my posts medium-short with images and I think they were well received. (Although now I am getting long-winded hahaha). I enjoyed the challenge of coming up with subjects for each letter and surprised myself that I was able to write unusual posts for Q and Z!!
Will I participate again? Heck yes!! I can see now that the trick is to have your theme figured out before hand and some if not all posts ready to roll ahead of time, with perhaps a little tweeking to do. That would leave time to read and comment on more blogs and enjoy the month stress-free.
Thank you all for giving me a wonderful month of socializing and learning and a great experience.
Dianne, I think you did a marvellous job considering you came very late to your preparation for the Challenge. I admired the way you kept your posts quite short but yet interesting and pertinent to your theme. it is very satisfying, as I found, to come up with topics for the tricky letters. I am pleased I discovered your blog, and look forward to future posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue. I looked forward to every one of your posts daily. Really got me thinking and bringing back good memories! You will definitely see me hanging around!
DeleteI do remember visiting your blog because I have a dear friend in the States who is also very interested in genealogy and I passed the word along to them. Congratulations. You made it. And I agree, some of the posts were too long to really do them justice and read them thoroughly.
ReplyDeleteShalom aleichem,
Patricia http://www.patgarciaandeverythingmustchange.com/2016/05/reflection-to-z-blog-challenge-2016.html
Congratulations you too! Thank you for sharing my blog. I hope to work it next year that I have more time to read a more diverse selection of posts.
DeleteDianne I found your challenge blogs very interesting even reminding me of like happenings in my own roots or life. Perhaps it has encouraged me to try it too. You did extremely well with what else you had on your plate my friend.
ReplyDeleteI went to see some of the other blogs and found as you said some were too long to hold my interest as there is so much to be done at this time of the year.
Thank you Cathern. Start thinking about it now and give it a try next year, I think you will enjoy it. I am trying to think of a different angle for next year.
DeleteGreat idea to add Genealogy as one of the categories. I'm starting a list. But it was good you found a few other genealogy bloggers as you moved on. Congratulations on finishing the challenge, and I hope we see you again next year!
ReplyDeleteFabulous John... Thanks! You sure will.
ReplyDelete