Geni, the Genius Genie

Oops...I'm not going to be writing about Genie in a Bottle or a Genie from Alladin's magic lamp. This is the Genie I discovered on the internet some long time ago. This Genie has phenomenally helped me connect to different people in my own family. This Genie has helped me know many unknown people in my own family ...wait...unknown?? Yes, that's correct - unknown. Read on to know more...

In late 2007, during some loose internet searching on a topic related to genealogy, I bumped into this wonder-full website called Geni. As expected from any inquisitive internet searcher, I went ahead and got myself registered with this service. That was it....I never even cared to get back to this website from the next day on (as my objective was different at that point in time - to search for some information related to genealogy).

It was in early December of 2008 (just a few weeks ago!) that my dad suddenly came up to me, asking me if I could help him document our family tree that he had written down long time ago. Ah, that triggered a thought in me - Why don't I see what Geni had in store? Does Geni still exist? As I was in front on my laptop (which I am most of the time!), I quickly went on and revisited Geni....and to my surprise, I did remember the password and username I had registered with!

What has happened from then on is something really spectacular. Today, I am connected to more than 2733 people in my own family!! I've been able to send birthday and anniversary wishes to so many people in my own family, that I was simply amazed by the sheer Human Network this helped me create from within my own family.

From my experience I can say one thing for sure - There is nothing in this world that's more powerful than a good human network! Networking and Collaboration is the key that enables communities, businesses, cultures and policies. Geni precisely does this - enables an ever-growing and self-participating human network within families across the world. Once you add a relative and his/her email address, Geni gives them the power to add people in their family (your extended family!).

Behind the scenes, Geni uses the GEDCOM specification. GEDCOM is a standard file format used to save, transfer, and transport genealogical information. To know more about GEDCOM, here is the Wikipedia page link.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and take the plunge! Create your family network on Geni, and I'm sure the rest will fall into place automatically. Begin the new year with everyone in your family!! Good Luck and Best Wishes!