New here? Let me show you around.
I'll show you how our Projectkin community is here to help you in your family history storytelling journey. From corners, events, and opportunities, we'll highlight everything you need to know.
Creating a sense of community in an online world can be awkward. At Projectkin, we’re a global community, so most events are online. Some of us have been involved in online communities for over 35 years, so we’ve had some good role models to learn from.
Start with the goal: Stories
If you’ve found your way here, you’ll know we’re a community of family historians hooked on stories. Stories help us understand not only our ancestors and the world they lived in but also the world around us today.
You’ll find more about Projectkin and “Why it Starts with Story” in an article from July 2023, when we started as the “post-Ponga” community.
I was one of the four co-founders at Ponga.com, an innovative software platform that created a new way to share stories in pictures. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make a go of it, and after two years, we returned archives and issued refunds, taking the platform offline in May 2023.
In sharing the news with Ponga members, I realized that the platform had attracted like-minded, creative storytellers. These people were looking for a community where they could safely experiment with modern ways to share stories — independent of software platforms or tools. That was the genesis of the community.
It started in those first emails in April 2023 when I invited Ponga members to join me in a “post-Ponga” community. They did, and soon, they were inviting their friends. What started as postponga.com has become Projectkin.org. You may still find some references to the old names here…
Why “Projects?”
Projects is such a general term. A book, website, or film could be a project so that’s a completely valid question.
Members suggested the term “projects” precisely because it is so all-encompassing. With the advent of network- and media-rich creative tools, there are a thousand and one ways to tell a story.
Our role as a community is to encourage creativity by supporting each other with ideas, resources, and techniques. (Okay, a little enthusiasm, too 😉.)
WHAT is Projectkin?
Quite simply, it’s an online community. Our home is at Projectkin.org, but you’ll find articles and our members-only chat room here on Substack.
The chat gives you access to free resources and project recipes that are available to members. Our events are now hosted on Zoom, with free tickets available to the public on our Events page at Projectkin.org/events.
Can anyone join? Just subscribe, that’s it?
Yep, it’s pretty much that simple.
Our online events are a wonderful way to get to know each other as real people, and everyone is welcome whether you’ve been to the Projectkin.org site or not. All of our ongoing community events are free, and everyone is welcome. Every event is recorded, and recordings are shared directly with members as a link via email. Comments, chats, and more events keep the conversation going between meetings.
Meetings are held online with Zoom. All you need is a connection; you can even join by phone. With most events, we stop the recording after the hour-long program and continue the conversation for a little “after party” that isn’t recorded.
What’s a Project Recipe, and is food involved?
Great question. Unfortunately, since the events are online it’s a BYO thing..
Ideas, as they say, are a dime a dozen. What’s interesting is when someone has actually completed a project and is willing to take the time to explain what they did, how they did it, and what they might do differently next time.
A Project Recipe narrows all possible approaches down to one project that’s been completed. We then share that project as a step-by-step recipe, including resources and more. In that sense, it’s like a recipe you’d use in the kitchen. I borrowed a bit from the NYTimes Cooking app to come up with a standard format for all recipes. Who knows, we might even come up with a Cookbook. 😉
To learn more about our approach to projects, see “Project Recipes » Step-by-step creativity.”
How do we get access to the recipes and other goodies?
Recipes, resources, recordings, and other goodies are all available for free to subscribing Projectkin members. We distribute these as digital links here in Substack using the “Chat” feature that’s exclusive to subscribers.
After each event, we send an email with video recordings, recipes, and resources. Every new member can access all comments and articles, and video transcripts are now searchable. You may join the conversation from your browser or the convenient Substack mobile app.
Hold up. How is Projectkin free?
Great question. Always one of the very best questions to ask before investing your time (if not your money) in a platform or tool. Yes, it really is free.
Quite simply, I’m able to support this community as a free space because of the economics of scale for a platform like Substack. Substack is designed to create a space for writers to earn money for the work they love to do. Their fee structure ensures that they make money when publications charge for membership. Substack doesn’t charge me to create a publication or manage subscribers.
Projectkin + Family History
The day I opened Projectkin on Substack after the November holidays in 2023, I was delighted to discover a thriving community of family history writers here. Many graciously added recommendations and invited their friends. That experience inspired me to build a dedicated section, Substack + Family History, and a tour to help new family historians find their way around.
A new Members’ Corner
As I got to know more of our members, I realized that many wanted to share their family history work in essays, but were daunted by the effort to create their own Substack publication or newsletter. Unlike other Substack writers, they weren’t trying to make a livelihood of it, just write.
To respond, I created a “Members’ Corner” program to help our members share their work with other members and interested family historians. Launched with 11 contributors in its inaugural cohort at RootsTech, the program is already successful. You can view current posts at Projectkin.org/members-corner (which sends you to a page on Substack).
Learn more about the program and how to submit your own work here:
How do the economics work?
As a co-founder at Ponga.com, I have experience with the harsh realities of managing a startup expense curve. In founding Projectkin.org, I wanted to build something that only needed to sustain itself — not me or any co-founders. My focus has been on keeping costs very low and coming up with a means to raise funds so that the community could be self-sustaining.
As Projectkin gets off the ground, I can already see old-fashioned community fundraisers: special events, sales of a project recipe “cookbook,” or even branded totes. As we grow, these options only get easier to implement. Today, I’m funding modest monthly expenses like Zoom with generous tips added through a new BuyMeACoffee page.
For now, I’m being extremely careful to manage expenses and plan growth in a way that takes advantage of today’s remarkable platform economics. Learn more about our policies and me on our About page.
Are you excited by what we’re doing?
I’ve been honored by the extraordinary support I’ve received since sharing the idea for the effort in 2023. Our vibrant community has grown by supporting and encouraging each other.
If you’re comfortable sharing it, a voice of support would mean a great deal to me and will be very influential to others. Take a moment to recommend us and add a few words about why. I’ll add yours to the rotation of 3 “blurbs” on our Welcome page.
Note: Substack has more on how this works. Most importantly, you can only do this if you have a Substack (newsletter/publication) of your own. 😉
Finally, I’d love to know what brought you here. That will tell me what to invest more time on — or what other newsletters I might recommend for you:
Thank you again! Reach out any time with questions:
This is great. I love that you are building a community of family historians hooked on stories - but also that the stories are about the past and the present. I hope your community settles well into the lovely Substack world. I have found it to be very supportive, and full of resources.
Very soon I will begin posting stories about how I wrote my first memoir Mennonite Daughter, a family history from my perspective.