If you're reading this blog, you're probably in the loop enough to have already seen the Geni.com beta site. If you haven't seen it yet, it is definitely worth a look. It is basically a web 2.0 app for building a centralized pedigree for everyone. In that sense, it is similar in nature to what other players like the LDS Church, Ancestry.com, and OneGreatFamily.com have been working on. It does seem to be fundamentally different however in that they have done a great job of incorporating social networking and viral marketing concepts into the site. The site is also focused on living people to start with. They've done a good job with the usability. It is definitely designed for ordinary people. I found it interesting that they chose to write their site in Flash. We made the same choice for the work we've been doing on FamilySearchLabs.org. Our decision was driven by our belief that the end user experience would need to be very rich including lots of multimedia, animation, etc. I would guess that the guys at Geni.com chose Flash for this same reason.
On another note, the LDS Church CIO, Joel Dehlin, recently sponsored the first LDS Tech Talks. The basic idea is to provide a forum where those that are technically minded can interact with the Church on technology issues. They are trying to leverage the large community of people out there that are anxious to contribute their talents to improve the Church's technology. Read more about it at the LDS Tech website or on Joel Dehlin's blog. I wasn't able to go to the tech talks but my inbox has been flooded with all of the buzz and positive feedback it caused.
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Speaking of the LDSTech website I wonder if you will be checking it and making comments on posts related to PAF and Family Search and so on. I have put created a few posts and contribute from time to time. I am interested in keeping in touch with any and all developments with respect to these areas. I will mention your blog on the forum. Possibly there are others who would like to know about it.
Myself and others in the department follow the LDSTech website and participate where possible.
don't approve this comment - contact me b.c. @ your former employer
Genealogy, I am doing!
We have read posts related to genealogy on your blog and have just launched family based social network- Kincafe. We would like you to particpate in beta release of Kincafe and provide feedback to andy@kincafe.com.
Thanks
amy
On ThinkGenealogy.com, I discuss FamilySearch Labs, Geni, and others as part of an article about Rich Internet Applications. The article is at
http://www.thinkgenealogy.com/2007/09/29/genealogists-be-aware-desktop-software-and-web-applications-are-converging/
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