What’s New?

With the new member input form in place and working, our WEB site is considered finished, at least in it’s inauguration phase. Now it’s just a matter of refinement, and continuing to add more research material and members. What’s next? The following is a list of short and long term goals I have for our Morrison-Q Group:

• Tri-fold brochure – the purpose of this full color brochure is to attract, inform, and encourage members of our extended family to join our group. The tri-fold will explain who we are, our benefits, WEB Site, Discussion Group, DNA Project, and how to join. It will be placed on our WEB site as a PDF file for any member to print double sided copies to fold and distribute as needed. I plan to have a full bleed version we can print offset on quality glossy paper to distribute at events our Morrison family is likely to attend, such as Loch Norman (April) and the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games (July). I hope to have it completed by this coming April. This piece of literature would also be useful to place in the Morrison family folders at Genealogical Research sections of libraries around the country – especially in places such as Lancaster Co., PA and Iredell Co., NC. (Done)
• Business Card – this is another promotional item our members may print at their convenience and distribute to potential members of our group. The cards as a PDF file may be printed on standard laser perforated business card stock. The cards will show our logo and WEB site URL. This will be an item our members may carry with them wherever they go. I hope to have this done soon.
• FaceBook Ads – I would like to experiment with placing regionally targeted FaceBook ads to see if I can attract family members to our site.
• Formalize organization – At some point I would like to formalize our organization with a form of government that would continue to carry the torch to future generations of our Morrison Family.
• Master Family Tree – It is my goal to create a master file of our family tree. It would be necessary to set some standards of how and what gets added and what sources are needed for inclusion. We have several seasoned genealogists in our family that would make a great start in forming a committee to give guidance on how best to begin tackling this long term project. With so much misinformation on the WEB, a major goal of this project would be quality of information over quantity. I believe one way to achieve this is to make decisions of inclusion via consensus of our committee of “experts”.
• Gathering 2011 at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games – I need to work on the details of this time of fellowship – for now, consider setting aside Saturday July 9, 2011 on your calendar. Plan to spend the day with us at the games and later in the day we will meet for a time of food and fellowship. (http://gmhg.org) (Done)
• Gathering 2012 in Iredell County, NC – We need to come up with a day or days to meet – then the details of that gathering will be filled in. Any suggestions? (Done)
• Photos and digitized copies of documents – I would like to become proactive in finding items to “archive” on our site. Photographs of old grave markers, digitized copies of wills, military records, etc of our early ancestors – especially those born in the 1700’s. If you have items to include, please let me know.
• Promotion of our DNA Project – We are starting to see some interesting patterns develop in our DNA project. I would like to become proactive in seeking more family members who are willing to be tested. We not only want to see members tested in parts of the family not yet tested, but we need to see others tested in parts of the family that we have someone already tested. The greater the density of testing the more accurate and refined the big picture of our family will be. It would also be great if we could find a part of our family who never left Scotland and still resides in our native homeland of old. (making progress)

These are just a few of the goals I have for our group, I’m sure there will be many to follow. Do you have any goals to suggest adding to the list?