Greetings, SCCAPG members - 

I trust everyone has renewed his/her membership for the upcoming year and made sure that your APG membership is current. This year (2012) some of our members have elected not to renew, either due to moves or changes in their genealogy involvement. This is to be expected and I am sad to see that we are losing Brenda Danielson (on a mission in Utah), Beth McCarty (moved to Utah following her retirement from the Orange Regional Family History Library), and Betty Isbell (who has retired from professional genealogy work). I suspect that we will also be losing a few more as the renewals come (or don't come) in.

But just as we lose some of our team, we should be adding folks who have decided to embrace our profession (as a vocation or avocation) and this is where you come in. Do you promote SCCAPG? Do you tell your speaker and researcher friends of the advantages of our organization? Do you wear your APG pin whenever you do a program or meet with a prospective client? Do you display the SCCAPG and APG logos on your website, letterhead, and business cards and/or include it as a tag on your emails (especially those sent out in connection with your business)? All these are ways to promote the group and encourage questions from others. Have a few SCCAPG brochures with your materials you take when you present and ask the person introducing you to include that you are an SCCAPG member.

As we have lost some of our family, let's adopt more and see if we can keep our membership numbers up. It is only through the numbers that we can accomplish things (e.g., have members available to host our table at the Jamboree and also, at that venue, be able to staff the Research Assistance room; keep the educational programs coming with new ideas from new members; maintain our "active" status as an APG Chapter; etc.). Please help us keep a high profile in the Southern California genealogy community: volunteer to help at the APG booth at the NGS conference in Las Vegas (did you know that Clark County, Nevada is part of our region?). Contact Kimberly Powell, APG VP, to present a future APG webinar (and mention your SCC affiliation). Let's flood the Family History Centers, genealogy libraries, archives, and other research facilities with our brochures and mention of our association. Let societies know that, when they are seeking a speaker, we have some of the best among our ranks. These tasks involve all of us: You don't need to be holding an office in SCCAPG or APG to promote the organization . . . if it's one you belong to, it's one that others, currently not members but active in the genealogy community as speakers or researchers, should also join.

Happy holidays, all, and best wishes in your roots pursuits.

Jean Wilcox Hibben, PhD, MA, CG

SCCAPG President