Rockstar Genealogists 2016 - the voting is now open

John Reid, who writes the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog, is once again organising the annual Rockstar Genealogists poll.

There have been a few changes this year to try to overcome the problem of multiple voting, and there are also changes in the way that the votes will be reported, so it will be interesting to see if there will be any surprises in store.

I'm pleased to see that so many of my fellow members of the Guild of One-Name Studies are on this list including our Chairman Paul Howes who is a very welcome first-time addition. I have fond memories of the recent Guild of One-Name Studies conference where Paul volunteered to fill a hole in the programme at the last minute and held the audience spellbound with an inspiring, unscripted and Powerpoint-free talk on some of the success stories of his one-name study.

All the respected UK genealogy speakers and writers, such as Nick Barratt, Peter Calver (who writes the Lost Cousins newsletter), Colin Chapman, Else Churchill, Audrey Collins, John Hanson, Celia Heritage, Janet Few, Michael Gandy, Emma Jolly, Chris Paton, Alec Tritton and John Titford, are included in the list. I feel very honoured to be included in such illustrious company.

Genetic genealogy is well represented with all the big names from the US receiving nominations. I'm one of four genetic genealogists flying the flag for the UK. I am in excellent company with Maurice Gleeson, Chris Pomery and Geoff Swinfield.

John Reid's intention is to provide a resource to help volunteers select speakers for their events. The nominations on the list can serve as a useful starting point but it's also a good idea to get feedback from other genealogists in each country who have worked with the individuals concerned before booking a speaker or commissioning an article or book.

Before you vote I urge you to read Janet Few's blog post on Rockstars and unsung heroes. Janet very eloquently and humorously sums up my thoughts on the contest, and says all that needs to be said.

Thank you to John Reid for organising the poll.

Make sure you cast your vote here. You can vote for as many people as you want but make sure you use your votes wisely.

Update
Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I was honoured to be placed third in the list for England. Scotland and Wales though I'm still very uncomfortable with the whole idea of holding such a poll.

Here is the full list of gold medallists: http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/rockstar-genealogists-gold-medalists.html

Here is the list of silver and bronze medallists;

http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/rockstar-genealogists-2016-silver-and.html

John Reid published a further blog post in which he published the comments received by the voters. There were some interesting comments raised some of which, if true, are a cause for concern for the genealogy community: http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/rockstar-genealogist-2016-comments.html

Kerry Scott at the Clue Wagon blog questions the validity of holding such a contest and I share her concerns: http://www.cluewagon.com/2016/09/the-rockstar-genealogist-contest-is-a-fiesta-of-awkward-lets-change-this/