Volunteer Role
Recognizing Excellence Across TXGenWeb
The Awards Manager coordinates TXGenWeb's website review and recognition programs, working with a team of volunteers to help county sites remain strong, useful, and consistent with project standards.
A Team Effort
The Awards Manager oversees a large statewide program and is encouraged to recruit volunteers to share the work. A dependable assistant should also be familiar with the program and able to step in when needed.
You are not expected to review all 254 counties by yourself. Surfers divide the counties into regions and help with the monthly review process.
Coordinate the Surfers
Each TXGenWeb county site should be reviewed regularly to make sure it continues to meet the project's basic requirements.
- Recruit and organize surfing volunteers.
- Assign surfers to regions and rotate assignments in January and July.
- Avoid assigning surfers to regions where they coordinate a county unless that county is already in the Hall of Fame.
- Give new surfers a smaller region when possible while they learn the process.
- Report unresolved basic-requirement problems to the State Coordinator.
County of the Month
The monthly surfing process also supports the County of the Month (COM) program. Surfers submit nominations during the first half of the month, and the finalization committee votes during the second half.
The Awards Manager acknowledges nominations, prepares the list of nominated counties, coordinates voting, and announces the winner.
Manage Awards Communication
The Awards Manager coordinates communication with the surfing team and maintains access to the mailing or group tools used for nominations and voting.
The Manager also uses the official TXGenWeb communication channel to recruit volunteers and announce County of the Month and County of the Year winners.
Dedicated County Coordinator Award
This award recognizes County Coordinators and Co-Coordinators who have served TXGenWeb for at least ten years and have made an exceptional contribution to their counties.
Eligible recipients may be recognized as appropriate; an award does not have to be presented every month when no one currently meets the criteria.
The Awards Manager or an assistant keeps track of eligible volunteers and updates the Dedicated County Coordinator award page when an award is presented.
Service Awards
Each January, TXGenWeb recognizes coordinators for years of service in five-year increments.
The Awards Manager reviews service records, identifies volunteers reaching a new five-year milestone, updates the Service Awards page, and provides the appropriate award graphic to recipients.
The Bigger Picture
More Than an Awards Program
The surfing program is not simply about choosing award winners. Its most important purpose is helping TXGenWeb identify county websites that may need attention so researchers continue to have reliable access to useful genealogy resources.
Basic Website Requirements
When surfers find a problem, they may contact the County Coordinator or report the issue to the Awards Manager. Problems that remain unresolved should be referred to the State Coordinator.