Sunday, February 28, 2010

SNGF: What if I won?

Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings for his weekly Saturday Night Genealogy Fun asked: What Would You Do if you Won?

He's referring to Ancestry.com's Contest (lasting until April 30th, and you can submit one entry daily.)
Grand Prize includes:
  • $20,000 in travel money
  • Eight hour consultation with an expert genealogist
  • Five experts in fields relevant to your personal family history to help you learn even more [1 hour consultations each]
  • Annual World Deluxe Subscription for you and five family members
PLUS! Twenty First Prize winners get a World Deluxe Subscription from Ancestry.com®.
[For anyone confused: I am 99.99% certain that the "Annual World Deluxe Subscription" is for 1 year. I base this conclusion on the Approximate Retail Value mentioned in the Official Rules.]

*****

Where would I go with the $20,000? I would likely take a European Vacation with potential stops in London, England; Everinghe, Holland; Losice, Poland; Warka, Poland; Cekiske, Lithuania; Kruvandai, Lithuania; Marghita, Romania; and Varalmas, Romania. I'm not sure how much research I will do at each stop; that may depend upon what I am told in the expert consultation. The trip may focus on seeing the homelands of my ancestors.

Winning the grand prize would cause a lot of stress, because before I could speak with all those experts, there would be a lot of preparation. No expert's going to break down a wall for me in 8 hours. I suspect these aren't 8 hours searching archives, these are eight hours sitting in an office looking at my research, offering suggestions on where I should look for answers. (And maybe revisions on my plans to spend that $20,000.)

So before I face these experts, my research needs to be in a slightly better state of organization. Hopefully Ancestry will give me some time to prepare.

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