Election 2009

Hello - I'm Sherri Bradley and would like to introduce myself to those of you that don't know me.  I'm currently serving as SEMA SC Representative and am running for the position of National Coordinator for the 2009/2010 term.

We all know that the volunteer Coordinators, either in the XXGenWeb Projects or in any of the Special Projects are the backbone of the USGenweb Project. I don't know of anyone that has ever been involved with the USGenWeb State Projects that would ever consider denying that.  Every one that hosts any of the USGenWeb Project sites deserves our deepest appreciation and respect.  

Although the CCs are the backbone of the project, the SC and Special Project Coordiantors fill a vital role, coordinating the group of county or other sites, and ensuring that the USGenWeb Project as a whole continues to grow. The people that serve as SC oftentimes fill a very difficult role, trying to ensure that the county sites are maintained and kept moving forward for the benefit of our visitors.  The one thing we all need to be sure to remember is that no matter what position any of us fill in the Project, we're all a county. local or special projects coordinator or file manager beneath all of the other hats we may wear.

What I'd like to see -

Continued emphasis on providing free genealogy sources to researchers - that should be the reason we all joined this project in the first place. We should also be working to ensure that contributions by visitors to the project sites should be protected to ensure that they remain available to researchers. Unfortunately, I've had numerous people tell me that they'll no longer contribute to the Project because the information that they previously contributed had been removed. We're shooting ourselves in the foot if this continues, as contributions to our sites by visitors are vital to keeping them growing.

Recruitment of new members of the Project - in the State Projects, any of the Special Projects or the USGenWeb Archives. This is vital if we're to keep growing.  We also need to make sure we don't lose other coordinators due to perceived indifference on the part of the state or national projects.  Oftentimes just the knowledge that someone recognizes the work you're doing or listens when you speak makes all of the difference.  That's not to say that those in leadership positions will always follow what you, individually, want or suggest - there are always opposing opinions about any subject there's no way everyone could always be pleased about everything!

MY USGENWEB EXPERIENCE:

I'm a relative "newby" compared to many in the USGenWeb Project, first becaming involved with the USGenWeb Project by taking on the job of file manager for a couple of KY counties in the Archives in 2000.  I eventually took over as the KY State File Manager, but passed that job on to others a couple of years ago.

I've been involved with KYGenWeb since May of 2001, when I adopted the Boyle County site.  As time has gone on, I've also served as coordinator for several other counties and am currently county coordinator for Clinton County, Gallatin County, Owen County and Pendleton County in KY.  In addition to these county sites, l serve as File Manager for four KY Counties in the USGenWeb Archives Project and am coordinator for four KYGenWeb Special Projects.  In May 2003, I was elected as State Coordinator of the KYGenWeb Project and still serve in that position.  

I was elected to the Advisory Board as the SEMA State Coordinator Representative in 2007 to finish out Paul Buckley's term (one year), then elected again in 2008.

ABOUT ME:

I've been involved in genealogy with my mother for several years, but got deeply involved when planning a surprise family reunion for my father's 75th birthday. For what we thought was a very small family (we knew of about 40 living family members), we discovered several lines we never even knew existed - for a total group of about 130 that joined us that year. Ancestors now number into the thousands for this family, and we finally successfully pieced together the puzzle to include every one we've found in the US with any of the four spellings of the surname that we identified. This would have been impossible without the information available from many USGenWeb Project sites.

I am a native Kentuckian, although I was displaced for several years during my childhood, but now reside within 20 miles of where I was born. I am the mother of 3 boys and step-mother of 2 more one of which survives, ranging in age from 44 to 19. We also have 4 grandchildren, three boys, ages 13, 8 and 3 and a girl, age 12. We own a 125-acre farm, on which we raise Belted Galloway and Charlois cattle.  In addition to genealogy, my hobbies include sewing, cross-stitching and scrapbooking.

Endorsements -

I'd like my fellow project members to know that I strongly endorse Sherri Bradley as our next National Coordinator. During this past year I've had the opportunity to serve with her on the Advisory Board and I have been impressed with the dedication she has shown in that capacity. She clearly cares a great deal about USGENWEB. In particular, she has shown she can grasp the nuances of the sometimes rather free-wheeling board discussion and accurately document what was said when we are trying to come to a conclusion. Sherri has been a good communicator and has shown a talent at helping the rest of us compromise in order to come up with a result that all can agree to. And she has constantly encouraged us to focus on our priorities rather than to waste time on side issues that were not as important. I believe Sherri would be an excellent chair and I encourage you to vote for her.

-- Mike St.Clair