Update: Our first 2023 challenge has been announced: Ontario Ancestors
Hi WikiTreers,
Here is what we are talking about for the 2023 WikiTree Challenge.
We started the challenge in 2021 as the headline event of our "Year of Accuracy." We focused on the most challenging thing we could think of: the family trees of professional and leading genealogists. Could we make their ancestry more accurate and complete? We succeeded beyond anyone's expectations. WikiTreers broke over 600 brick walls for our guests. This video summarizes it nicely.
For 2022, we shifted the focus to guest stars and celebrities who aren't genealogists. We made it part of our "Year of Family Connections" and broadened the challenge focus beyond direct ancestors. Including broader family connections enabled more members to participate in the challenges and surfaced some interesting stories.
Both years succeeded in the most basic function of the WikiTree Challenge: to expose new audiences to the power of genealogy collaboration.
For 2023, we're thinking of combining what was best about the 2021 and 2022 challenges. What made 2021 really special was the relationships we built with others in the genealogy world. The inclusion of broad, collateral connections in 2022 helped us showcase the power of our single family tree and the connection tools that are unique to WikiTree.
We are considering calling 2023 our "Year of Community Connections." We'll go back to our 2021 roots by working with others in the genealogy community. That was fun. But instead of individuals like in 2021, we are planning to partner with groups -- other communities of genealogists. For example, one week we might work with American Ancestors (NEHGS). Another week it might be the Guild of One Name Studies, Ontario Ancestors, Society of Australian Genealogists, or Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. Instead of just one starting person for the week, we would have seven, chosen by our partner organization from the community on which they focus.
Challenge participants would grow connections for each of the seven out to seven degrees (7&7) in search of new discoveries and interesting connections. After the challenge, we'd show the partner organization what we discovered and how WikiTree's tools enable you to view genealogical connections in new ways. For example, imagine showing Afro-American society members how each of the starting people are connected to everyone on the 100 Greatest African-Americans list with just one click. (MyConnections on the category).
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions please post an answer below. (Comments at the top here will be hidden after they are read once.)
Thanks!
Chris, Mindy, Eowyn and the WikiTree Team
