Barbara Tien discusses her role as the “ringleader” of Project Kin on the Photo Detective podcast. After her startup, Ponga, shut down, Tien decided to keep her team together and transitioned to creating Project Kin, a community focused on storytelling and family history without any financial gain. She emphasizes the platform’s global reach, privacy importance, and its emphasis on story preservation and sharing. The platform is built on a foundation of helping members tell their own family stories, with tools and support provided for free. Tien also touches on her previous use of Substack to enhance community engagement.

• Project Kin fosters a community centered on storytelling and family history.

• It’s a non-profit initiative with a global outreach, particularly across English-speaking countries.

• Tien emphasizes privacy and the preservation of family stories in digital and physical forms.

• Project Kin offers regular events and resources to help members document and share their stories effectively.

Related Episodes:

Episode 237: How Storied.com Transforms Family HIstory into Captivating Stories

Episode 240: The Hidden Stories of Tattooing: Dr. Matt Lodder on Tattoos in Photography and Society

Links:

• ProjectKin on Substack.com 
• The Lafayette Project
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help preserving your photos? Check out Maureen’s Preserving Family Photographs ebook 
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out The Family Photo Detective ebook
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Barbara is the “ringleader” at Projectkin, a community of family historians hooked on stories. After a career in technology startups, she turned her long-time love of family history into a free, platform-independent community that encourages families to tell their stories. Through free events, tools, and articles, community members share creative inspiration, tips, and proven “recipes” for storytelling projects.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective^Òhelps clients with photo related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Episode 258: Exploring Project Kin: Barbara Tien’s Community for Storytellers and Genealogists appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

This week Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, is joined by Carol Cox, the founder and CEO of Speaking Your Brand, a coaching and training company. Carol and Maureen tackle one of the biggest topics out there right now: writing with artificial intelligence. Specifically, the two discuss the new ChatGPT AI–what it does, and how it can be used.  Their conversation even might spark some ideas on how you can use it for your genealogy work. They also talk about image generators that use AI with surprising results.

Related Episodes:

Bonus Episode: Tintypes Made for Movies and Television 

Bonus Episode: Lost History Discovered (in the Recycling)

Links:

• Speaking Your Brand
• ChatGPT
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Carol Cox is the founder and CEO of Speaking Your Brand®, a coaching and training company that helps high-performing, purpose-driven women entrepreneurs and professionals create their signature talks and thought leadership platforms. Carol is host of the weekly 5-star rated Speaking Your Brand® podcast and during election seasons serves as a Democratic political analyst on TV news. Carol was named as one of Orlando’s Women of the Year in 2021 and has been featured in Forbes. Through her company and content, her mission is to empower more women to find and use their voice, to tell the stories that need to be told, and to activate ideas for change.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective^Òhelps clients with photo related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Bonus Episode : ChatGPT and Image Generators: What You Need to Know appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

This week Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, is joined by Amy Johnson Crow, a professional genealogist, and author who is known for her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, as well as for promoting helpful tips and tricks for genealogists. Amy and Maureen discuss a critical search feature that many family historians are missing – Wildcards. They delve into how researching correctly and building better research habits is critical to being a successful genealogist.

Related Episodes:

Episode 68: 52 Weeks of Ancestors

Episode 48: Finding Family Photos

Links:

• Amy Johnson Crow
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Amy holds a Masters’s Degree in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. She has held a Certified Genealogist® credential since 1995. Amy has worked at Ancestry.com, served as the series editor for the National Genealogical Society Guides, published by Rutledge Hill Press, and was the co-author of Online Roots in that series.

Amy is the author of 31 Days to Better Genealogy, a resource guide filled with practical tips you can put into practice right away, as well as more than 40 articles in various genealogical publications. She has presented at genealogy’s top events, including RootsTech.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen is a frequent keynote speaker on photo identification, photograph preservation, and family history at historical and genealogical societies, museums, conferences, libraries, and other organizations across the U.S., London and Canada.  She’s the author of several books and hundreds of articles and her television appearances include The View and The Today Show (where she researched and presented a complete family tree for host Meredith Vieira).  She’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, The Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living, Germany’s top newspaper Der Spiegel, American Spirit, and The New York Times. Maureen was recently a spokesperson and photograph expert for MyHeritage.com, an internationally known family history website and also writes guidebooks, scholarly articles and online columns for such media as Smithsonian.com. Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Episode 177: Wild about Wildcards with Amy Johnson Crow appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

This week Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective, is joined by Ariel Servadio, from Gaylord Archival, who helps museums and conservation professionals preserve our cultural heritage. Ariel developed YourStory (with Ronda Buck, Product Manager) a collection of the same archival-quality materials professionals use to make it simple for genealogists to preserve their own family history.

Save 25% on Gaylord products with coupon code PD25

Save $10 on a Single Photo Consult on MaureenTaylor.com with coupon code podcast

Related Episodes:

Episode 109: Portable Photo Preservation with Shotbox

Episode 103: Collect, Preserve and Share with Collectionaire

Links:

• YourStory by Gaylord Archival
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Ariel Servadio has been working in the preservation industry for over 10 years for Gaylord Archival, helping museums, archives, and conservation professionals to preserve our cultural heritage. She developed YourStory, a collection of the same archival-quality materials that professionals use, to make it simple for genealogists to preserve their own family history to share with future generations. She has exhibited and presented at NERGC, FGS, and NYG&B conferences.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen is a frequent keynote speaker on photo identification, photograph preservation, and family history at historical and genealogical societies, museums, conferences, libraries, and other organizations across the U.S., London and Canada.  She’s the author of several books and hundreds of articles and her television appearances include The View and The Today Show (where she researched and presented a complete family tree for host Meredith Vieira).  She’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, The Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living, Germany’s top newspaper Der Spiegel, American Spirit, and The New York Times. Maureen was recently a spokesperson and photograph expert for MyHeritage.com, an internationally known family history website and also writes guidebooks, scholarly articles and online columns for such media as Smithsonian.com. Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Episode 162: Preserving Your Life with Gaylord Archival appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

A Loupe

These small magnifiers come in handy.  This small plastic Kalt Afga loupe is indestructible. It fits in my purse and goes everywhere with me so that I can examine details in pictures. Most photo stores carry them.

This isn’t my only loupe. I also own a jeweler’s loupe (with a built-in light) for looking at daguerreotypes and the Lens Mag adapter. It turns my phone into 15X magnifier.

White Cotton Gloves

Gloves are an important part of your photo ID toolbox. At some point you’re going to have to handle pictures.  Wear white cotton gloves or non-latex powder free examination gloves to avoid leaving residue from your hands on the images. You can buy the latter at your local pharmacy.

Soft Lead Pencils

There are a variety of pencils that you can use for writing on the back of pictures.  I like either an ebony pencil or an 8B (note the B for lead softness). Both are available at my local art store. Don’t forget to buy a sharpener for the ebony pencil.

Non-PVC Sleeves

After looking at pictures I place them in a non-pvc sleeve for protection/preservation.  They come in a variety of sizes and designs. I prefer sleeves that are open on one side so that photos don’t slide out.  DON’T buy sleeves with a sticky edge though, you can catch the images on the glue and destroy the pictures.  Library suppliers, special stores like ClearBags.com and Amazon.com sell non-pvc sleeves.

A Scanner

Clients want to know what type of scanner I use. There are a lot of different models on the market but I’m a loyal Epson fan.  I like to examine the little details present in a photo. A good scanner is key for scanning at a high resolution. Those all in one machines don’t scan cased images well and those mobile scanners don’t either.  Invest a couple of hundred dollars in a desk-top scanner. Watch the holiday sales online to get the best deal.

I carry these items (except the scanner) in a zip bag that fits in my carry-on.  I never leave home without it.

Learn More About Tools & Organization With the Photo Essentials Course

The post 5 Must-Have Photo Identification Tools appeared first on Maureen Taylor.