Once upon a time I was a Journalist. I wrote for magazines and newspapers. I did many, many interviews. But that was long ago and far away. (More years than I care to count I can assure you.) So when I decided to write a blog I immediately knew I wanted to interview someone. Since I teach beginning genealogy classes I wanted to interview someone who could advance my students. To me advancement usually means gaining new knowledge. That means learning new things…that means classes…that means Louise St. Dennis.
Louise St. Denis is the managing director of the National Institute for Geneological Studies (Genealogical Studies.com) the certificate program offered through the University of Toronto.
I cornered Louise at RootsTech (not hard to do, she never seems to leave her booth…she’s very dedicated). She is also passionate about her product. I told Louise I was new to blogging and that I wanted her to be my first interview and she said she would be happy to oblige me. She suggested I Skype her. I left Louise’s booth and made my way to my friend Tami.
I have to confess; when Louise suggested I call her for the interview using Skype I probably turned a paler shade. I had never Skyped. I knew what it was because I had seen my son do it; but that was the end of my knowledge. Once again I turned to Techie Tutor extraordinaire, Tami Glatz.
While I was not new to interviewing I was new to the technology I would be using. Tami assured me that there was nothing to it and when we had finished our day at RootsTech she gave me a Skype lesson.
There really was nothing to using Skype. Basically I downloaded Skype to my computer and then entered the name of the person I wanted to contact (their Skype name which may be different than their given name). Then hit the button marked with the little phone icon. It works pretty much like a cell phone; with the added bonus of being able to see the person you are speaking with, should you choose to.
Give it a try…if you don’t have a child or grandchild handy that is using Skype, call me…I’m Kimmyvon.
