About

Hi!  I am Valerie Elkins. I am a professional genealogist and heir searcher. I am member of the Association of Professional Genealogist and numerous national and local genealogical societies. I have been doing genealogical research for over 20 years. I also have professional experience in publicity, marketing and social media strategy.

I love family and a great story! Many genealogist are great at research, but often lose their audience when it comes time to sharing what they have learned. My desire is to share ways to get their stories out there!

Come join me as I find, share and discover ways to help you share your family history research - convert them to great stories and help you develop your personal brand.

Professional Experience:

• Professional Genealogist specializing in Japanese and American Research & Heir Search
• Research consultant on TV show "Generations Project" episode to air 2012
• Research consultant for TV production company of "Who Do You Think You Are" possible episode
• Publicity and Social Media Strategist for genealogists, societies and small business owners
• Publicity Chair for Utah Genealogical Association 
• Publicity Chair for Story at Home Conference 2012
• Publicity Committee for Federation of Genealogical Societies 2011 National Conference
• Founder of United States Records Study Group (US-REC)
• Family History Library Consultant (International Floor)

Educational Coursework:

• ProGen Study Group 12
• Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG): Professional Genealogy by Kory Meyerink, MLS, AG, FUGA;  Advanced Genealogical Methods by Dr. Thomas W. Jones, CG,CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS 
• Attended numerous workshops at RootsTech, National Genealogical Society, and regional and local conferences as well as online webinars.
• Family History Consultant training at the Family History Library Salt Lake City

Onsite Research Experience in Courthouses, Cemeteries and Historical Societies:

• United States: South and Midwest, Hawaii and California 
• United States: Research at the Family History Library - Salt Lake City
• Japan

Comment policy: I love comments and hope you will do so! I reserve the right to edit or delete any  comments for any reason that I deem appropriate. Comments containing more than 3 links will automatically be deleted as spam.

Privacy policy: I will not sell to a third party information or email addresses collected about visitors to this site.

Copyright: All blog postings on this site are copyrighted. You may forward blog postings on the blog to interested parties, but please do not reproduce contents without securing permission from me. Thank you!

Disclaimers:

This policy is valid from 28 November 2011

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements.

I am not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely mine. If I claim or appear to be expert on a certain topic or product or service area, I will only endorse products or services that I believe, based on my expertise, are worthy of my  endorsement. Any product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.

This blog does contain content which might represent a conflict of interest. This content will always be identified. I have affiliated links on my website, but I am not captive to any one company for product. I have not been paid to endorse any product, however, I do receive compensation through the affiliated links.

Family Tree Maker 2012 has provided me with a copy to use at no charge to me. I am under no obligation to return the product but can keep it for my own personal use. I also use Google Ads on my website.