Each year, John D. Reid of Anglo-Celtic Connections has the unenviable task of masterminding the ‘Rockstar Genealogist Awards‘. It was his brainchild but I have to say that this must be one of the most challenging awards to manage. Three years ago, on 1 September 2013, I left teaching and (no porky pies …. check out Cockney Rhyming slang), I had no idea what the Rockstar Genealogist Awards were….. until I won the Superstar (No. 1 slot) for the UK in 2013, literally two weeks after I joined the self-employed full-time genie list. Wow!
John states on this year’s nomination page that: “Rockstar genealogists are those who give “must attend” presentations at family history conferences or as webinars, who when you see a new family history article or publication by that person, makes it a must buy. If you hang on their every word on a blog, podcast or newsgroup, or follow avidly on Facebook or Twitter, they are likely Rockstar candidates.” I feel very honoured to be amongst some outstanding candidates in the field and I am looking forward to seeing what this year brings.
However, I recently perused the list of nominees and, whilst I don’t profess to know everyone in genealogy, I was surprised to see nominations for some people who I could not locate by entering their name and genealogy in Google. My search was clearly matched by John who posted on 30 August that “frivolous nominations will be rejected at [his] sole discretion including those who cannot be found through a Google search using the name and the word genealogy … Don’t expect to see all those nominated on the list for voting, and yes, [he] undoubtedly [has his] own distorted perspective too!”
In the past three years – since I knew what it was all about! – I have nominated three people. One each year. In the two years which have already gone by, my nominees have done very well – in fact, one so well that she took over the No. 1 UK slot in 2014! I sincerely hope that my nominee this year achieves such dizzy heights (though she isn’t UK-based!) and I have no idea why she wasn’t nominated before!
Good luck to all nominees and I hope to see many of you in the USA in February at RootsTech.
