2021 Source-a-Thon Wrap-up

+37 votes
946 views

Hello WikiTreers!

Our sixth annual Source-a-Thon has come to an end. 

The goal of the event was to clear out as many Unsourced Profiles as possible. We spent 72 hours adding sources to profiles that had none.

It was an amazing weekend and a great success! Thank you to every one of you that participated. Every single profile improved is one step closer to a healthier, more reliable tree. It was great to see the community come together and accomplish such a task!

This year we added sources to 56,972 unsourced profiles! What an incredible accomplishment!

Here are some highlights from the event:

Top 5 Teams:

  1. Virginia Sourcers
  2. Wizards of Aus
  3. Mighty Oaks Roots
  4. Mighty Oaks Branches
  5. Team Roses

Top 5 Participants

  1. Leandra Ford
  2. Sandy M. Patak
  3. Emma MacBeath
  4. Pip Sheppard
  5. Jim D. Loden

Top 5 Teams by Team Average (the number of team contributions divided by team members): 

  1. Team Roses
  2. Virginia Sourcers
  3. Wizards of Aus
  4. Mighty Oaks Roots
  5. Super Sweepers

Twenty-eight teams participated and 17 of them broke 1,000! Five hundred and fifty-seven members participated – 5 of them broke 1,000, 10 of them broke 500 and 169 more broke 100!

Check out all the statistics here.

Thanks so much to everyone who joined in and contributed to another fun, successful marathon!!!

in The Tree House by Mindy Silva G2G Astronaut (1.1m points)
I think 15 of us broke 500 profiles. And we were definitely slowed by the changes at FamilySearch.  Geez.
It was deadly.    I truly think if we had the old version the numbers would be double

I am just happy we got our name on Top five "by team average". I struggled too with searching and FamilySearch. A couple other of my favorite searches didn't give info this year without blocking some stuff. ugh. 

Notice how those lists are all the BIG teams!!

The best of the smaller teams came in 6th on the Averages list - or so someone said in the wrap up video.

So can I say thank you to those Kiwis who helped out!! For getting the Kiwi Crew to 6th place on the Averages list!!

GO Kiwis!!

Robynne Lozier
Captain of the Kiwi Crew.

PS Congrats to our Aussie neighbours for coming in 2nd. That was very well done!!

5 Answers

+34 votes
Can we get a "how I did it" post for those who broke 1000? Do you just have no regard for your health and wellness during Source-A-Thons? Or are there tips you could provide to us mere mortals?
by Jonathan Crawford G2G6 Pilot (274k points)
Hah! I'd like to see that too. Will they reveal their secrets? (Not that I could follow in their footsteps, for the sake of my own health and wellness.)
Honestly, I didn't do anything special. Unlike some, I put lots of sources on most profiles I touched and rewrote their bios. Two things that helped were attempting to stick to profiles with sources from 1800 or later (I used the Suggestions tool) and using Rob Pavey's Sourcer extension (listed on the Apps page).

I do know that the serious contenders keep personal lists of profiles to work on and they limit how much they do to each one.

I found that when I found a source I linked it and then landed up updating the Bio because I felt bad that the Bio had so little in it.  Before I knew it I landed up down a rabbit hold writing a book on each one I touch, just my OCD nature that everything has to be just exact.smiley 

In my past career, I have had to manage "war rooms" for technology software releases and be in call centers (mostly standing) for hours & hours at a time so maybe my body/health is use to being up without sleep for the odd long weekend here and there.  Discord & coffee really helped too.

But, to truly answer your question, "How I did it"....   I stumbled on one WikiTree'er that has (now had) well over a thousand profiles, or connected to orphaned profiles, that were completely Unsourced.   It was a rabbit hole that never ended.  And FamilySearch had sources for 99.9% of them.

Ok, so locate high counts of unsourced by created. Interesting
Another good idea is if you find a large family that all appear on the census together.
@Anna, what you did is what I did. I did a personal tally and recorded that I added at least 97 sources but to only about 22 profiles. (My score was only 21 because I forgot to mark the challenge tracker for one of the profiles I added sources to before I closed its window.) I feel pretty good about what I was able to accomplish even though my score looks relatively low compared to others.
Definitely no regard for health and wellness. Anti-inflammatories for the shoulder burn, and more sleep for two days afterwards. During the event a selection of alcohol, snacks, good coffee and sourcing music.
+19 votes

Thank You Team Roses For Your Genealogy Source Mining Inspiration ! BooDad .. 

C'est Bon Magnifique ! 

by Stanley Baraboo G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
You always have the best graphics that always make me smile. Thank you!!!
+26 votes
What a wonderful learning experiance.  As a 1st time "Thon" participant, it really will help me with my profiles in the future.

Thanks so much "Little Team On The Prairie" Captian Judi for all your help.
by Randi Zurcher G2G6 Mach 3 (30.8k points)
I'm so happy to hear that, Randi! I always have fun with the thons.
That's really nice to hear. Thank you for posting this, Randi.
+22 votes
When I first joined wikitree, I was a little lost.  Did some tutorials and joined the cemeterist project and learned a lot!  Then I participated in the connect-a-thin and learned more.  This weekend I did the source-a-thon.  Every time I participate, I learn more!  I sourced 57 Alabama profiles.  Now back to my cemetery
by Nanette Rohrbaugh G2G6 Mach 3 (37.9k points)
And it was very much appreciated Nanette!
That's great Nanette! Hey, I learn stuff all the time still on WikiTree. What a great community!
My pleasure!
Dear Nanette,

    Excellent sourcing.  And excellent name.

Nanette Pezzutti , aka Gahn-22

We even spell it the same ❤️

+18 votes
I did a lot less than I planned to (32 total only) but it was a lot of fun! and it's cool to see even my tiny bit contributes to make the tree more accurate.

Congrats everyone!
by Léa Haupaix G2G6 Mach 9 (93.4k points)
Every little bit helps Léa! Thanks for participating.

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