Jamboree 2016 - Paula Hinkel receives FGS Distinguished Service Award

SCGS past president, former board member, officer, and Jamboree co-chair Paula Hinkel received the FGS Distinguished Service Award at the Jamboree Banquet Friday night, June 3, 2016.

David Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA, Chief Genealogical Officer for FamilySearch and past-president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies 
(FGS), presented the award, which is presented to an individual or an organization, in recognition of exemplary and outstanding service to FGS or to a member society. Paula was nominated by the SCGS Board of Directors.

Since joining the Southern California Genealogical Society in 2002, Paula Hinkel has been instrumental in increasing the visibility of the society and in easing it into the 21st century, thereby enabling it to continue to fulfill its mission of fostering interest in family history, preserving genealogical materials and providing instruction in accepted and effective research techniques.   

Among her many accomplishments at SCGS, Paula has volunteered as President and 2nd Vice-President of the society, as a member of the Long-Range Planning Committee, as champion of the 1890 Project, and as co-chair for the Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree from 2005-2014. Together with her co-chair Leo Myers, she grew Jamboree from a small, local convention into one of the most respected and well-attended genealogical conferences available to family history researchers.  From concept to marketing design and product development, Paula was instrumental in the successful evolution of Jamboree.  Paula was also the first to identify and market the use of an App for genealogical conferences at Jamboree.  She also expanded the society outreach by making Jamboree available to researchers who could not attend.  Her launch of live-streaming Jamboree sessions allowed members of the genealogical community to participate from all over the world.

In 2011, Paula pioneered the launch of the Jamboree Extension Webinar Series. This was the first time a genealogical society had offered regularly scheduled live webinar sessions.  This program is one of the most celebrated programs of SCGS, and has helped extend the awareness of the society and promote genealogical education around the world.

Paula has utilized her marketing skills through the redesign of the SCGS website, the development of the Jamboree website, and the design of both the SCGS and Jamboree blogs.  She was also one of the early champions of social media creating a presence on Facebook and Twitter for both SCGS as Jamboree. 

We have been extremely fortunate to have worked with Paula and are immensely proud of her and what she has accomplished. If you're at Jamboree, please join the SCGS Board of Directors and the Jamboree Committee in congratulating Paula!