What a fun, engaging and informative conference, thank you to The Photo Managers for allowing us to attend! We LOVE being one of the sponsors and enjoyed meeting so many of you!
Kate's interview describing Archoral
My journey to Ohio...
I was set to fly from Atlanta to Columbus on the morning of Wednesday, April 4th. All night Tuesday, Atlanta had severe thunderstorms and some tornado warnings. Into the wee hours, my phone was sending alerts, and the wind and hail pounded the house. But I was not going to let a lack of sleep keep me from being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I boarded the plane that next morning!
Once in Columbus, the chilly air and spitting rain greeted me. Still chilled to the bone, I found my way to the exhibit hall, and warmth wrapped around me like a fleece blanket! Everyone, from the staff to The Photo Manager Conference attendees, was so welcoming and happy to help me set up! Of course, LaVerns flight from Detroit brought her in right after all the heavy lifting was done…
Our Vendor Booth
We had so many inquisitive people stop by our booth with curiosity and collaborative suggestions.
I think the fact that we are a multi-media family history application really peaked a lot of interest. With Archoral your photos, documents, audio and video can all work together in one cohesive environment. No more having to set their clients up with multiple platforms, was the biggest hit.
We also had a record number of sign-ups for notifications of our launch date!
Our Spotlight Presentation
Thank goodness this was on day two of the conference so that I could get a little sleep first!
Being on stage with Cathi and addressing all conference attendees was a phenomenal experience.
The group was engaging and interactive, and afterward, many people came by the booth with follow-up questions. I was so happy to be with such an enthusiastic group!
I loved explaining how Archoral’s suite of tools can not only enhance their clients’ journey but also offer a wide variety of additional services they could provide if they chose.
Our Focus Groups
This was an invaluable experience; thank you to all who attended!
Here are my 3 lessons learned during these discussions
Lesson 1: Photo Managers don’t promote their businesses with Genealogy or Family History as key selling points.
Here’s why I think they should – A Photo Manager’s goal is to take unorganized collections and put them back into a lineage order, no matter how broad or narrow the timeline. They make family trees to identify people, list significant events to create timelines, and learn the stories of the people in those collections. By the sheer nature of what they do, they are building a Family History Archive for their clients, often piquing their interest in delving deeper into their family stories. This work is not just a service but a crucial contribution to preserving family history. Photo Managers are, in essence, the catalyst for many of their customers to start their research journey by conversing with relatives or diving into local archives. Giving their clients a jumping-off point allows them to move forward confidently, however they choose.
Lesson 2: People think Keywords and Tagging are the holy grail
Here’s why I think it’s not – Today’s standard for creating a searchable digital archive is adding keywords and tags to each file’s metadata. This allows you to “search and filter” each collection for those specific terms… but that’s it. You get the result of the query you posed. With Archoral, we believe in life beyond keywords and tags. We use a proprietary indexing system in which you place those keywords and tags in specific fields. This allows our system to curate your media into interactive profiles, timelines, maps, and so much more. Indexing enables the media in the collections to take on a new life and tell a more complete story.
Lesson 3: Family trees are drawn by hand or made in a spreadsheet
Here’s why GEDCOM files are a more efficient start – Almost everyone has a family member who has created a tree on Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, or various other genealogy websites. That information usually contains birth dates, death dates, and family groups. These files are exportable in GEDCOM format. Now, you can’t run to the printer and have that file spit out on paper… but you can import it into Archoral and have the base structure of the family already in place for you!
If no GEDCOM is available, don’t fret, we still have the coolest way to build one!
What makes Archoral’s family tree unique is how it can be built. In other applications, you have to build out each branch in order. You must have a parent before attaching a child, and so on. Archoral allows for “floating branches”. Relationships can be added in any order they are discovered, and once a relationship that connects a branch is added, our system will recognize that and do it for you. So feel free to have your clients identify relatives, friends, and neighbors randomly, and Archoral will build the tree in the background!
We are launching in 2024 so stay tuned for special Webinars and offers for The Photo Managers community!
The Photo Managers Conference 2025
We are already looking forward to being a sponsor for the 2025 Conference!
Members and non-members are welcome to attend, so get your tickets early!
PRICE INCREASES DECEMBER 31, 2024
Tidbits of information lie undiscovered in every photo, letter, document, and video we have.
Read on to learn how Archoral Profiles curate those tidbits and present them back to you with organized profiles for each person!
