Emma's Challenge Stickers

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Challenge stickers for Emma MacBeath

Contents 1 How I Make So Many Contributions During Thons 2 Connect-A-Thon 3 Source-A-Thon 4 US Black Heritage Connecting Challenge 5 Clean-A-Thon 6 Data Doctors 7 Miscellaneous

How I Make So Many Contributions During Thons

The answer might surprise you.

I've never prepped before any thons. I don't pre-source or pre-create anything. I do keep a running list throughout the year of profiles I run across that need family added or trees that need sources, but that's it.

My greatest weakness becomes a great strength during these challenges. I have a neurological condition that makes visual work very difficult for me because my eyes bounce around and can't stay on a target. Reading left to right in a straight line is hard. That means I have to visually memorize my environment and then skip over most of what I'm seeing, which is a little like flying blind. When anything visually changes on WikiTree, it throws me for a loop because I have to rememorize where things are and learn a new process of what I can visually skip.

During the thons, I create a pattern in my mind of what I'm going to do repetitively and go from memorized visual point to memorized visual point in a straight line, then go back and do it again. Repeat, repeat. Because of my visual limitations, I have to narrow my focus to only so many tasks during a thon, otherwise I will get visual fatigue very very fast. That's why I don't tick all the boxes or do every step on a profile. I do as much as I I know my limits will allow, but that's all.

So imagine an assembly line and you do a repetitive task all day long. That's what I do and I do it non stop. I rarely leave my chair during those 72 hours. I type about 70 words a minute so my fingers fly across the keyboard constantly as I go from one memorized visual point to the next.

Thanks to my neurological condition, I've also learned a lot of computer shortcuts that make life easier for me, but anyone can learn those. They're not secrets.

And that's it!

I've never used any computer programs to do work for me as one person suggested (Dear Lord, I can't code my way out of a paper bag, so there's no way I could even imagine how to do that!). I don't prep. I don't copy/paste work I've done ahead of time. I don't see the point. That's just doing double the work to prep it, then insert it later. I've always believed the true spirit of the challenges is to do the research/sourcing on the spot, so that's what I do.

Connect-A-Thon

• July 2023 CNAT Winners 9th place team, 5th place individual

• April 2023 CNAT winners, 6th place team, 3rd place individual

• January 2023 CNAT winners 9th place team, 7th place individual
• July 2022 CNAT winners 4th place team, 8th place individual

• April 2022 CNAT winners 5th place team, 5th place individual

• January 2022 CNAT Winners 2nd Place Team by average, 3rd place individual

• 2021 CNAT Winners 1st place Team, 2nd Place Individual

• 2020 CNAT Winners 2nd Place Team, 3rd Place Individual

• 2019 CNAT Winners 1st Place Team by Average, 5th Place Individual

Source-A-Thon

• 2021 SAT 1st Place Team by average, 3rd place individual (Team Roses sourced 4500 profiles)

• 2020 SAT Winners 1st Place Team by average, 2nd Place Individual (Team Roses improved 8134 profiles)

• 2019 SAT Winners 2nd Place Team, 6th Place Individual (Team Roses improved 8757 profiles)

• 2018 SAT Winners 1st Place Team, 4th Place Individual

• 2017 SAT Winners 1st Place Team, 5th Place individual (Team Roses improved 11,433 profiles)

US Black Heritage Connecting Challenge

Clean-A-Thon

• 2021 CAT

• 2020 CAT Winners 1st Place Team by average, 5th Place Individual

• 2019 CAT Winners 1st Place Team, 1st Place individual (Team Roses Cleared 26,141)

• 2018 CAT Winners 1st Place Team, 3rd Place Individual (Team Roses Cleared 43,393)

• 2017 CAT Winners 1st Place Team, 2nd Place individual (Team Roses improved 11,977 Profiles)

Data Doctors

• Data Doctors Challenge-DDay 2nd Place
• Data Doctors Challenge-Fathers 1st Place
• Data Doctors Names 1st Place

Miscellaneous

Date Night (add dates to profiles with none)