BillionGraves 2015 March Madness

It’s March again–and basketball fury’s in the air. The NCAA’s March Madness tournament has begun! U.S. College basketball might not be for you, so we’ve decided to host our own BillionGraves competition! It’s the “March 2015 BillionGraves Madness”!

PRIZES:

*For international winners, due to shipping restraints by shipping providers, a gift card worth the same USD monetary value to the prize you have won will be sent to your BillionGraves registered email within 4-6 weeks of the close the competition.

Prizes
Top Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card
Top Two: Portable Device Charger (a $20 value)*
Top Four: BillionGraves T-Shirt*
Top Eight: BillionGraves Original Collectors Pin
Top 100: 1 Month Free BillionGraves Plus

It can’t be any better than doing your favorite thing- taking pictures of headstones and transcribing them, AND winning prizes!

So take advantage of the rising temperatures to capture some headstone images at your local cemetery or get your transcribing game on. The more you do, the higher up on the bracket you’ll be! You won’t want to miss out on these awesome prizes!

Do a weekly check of the BillionGraves blog or March BillionGraves Madness page to make sure at the end of the month you walk away with one of our awesome prizes!

Good luck!

-All images uploaded from midnight (GMT) March 1st to midnight (GMT) March 31st 2015 are counted toward the March Madness Competition.
-Make sure you have permission and are welcome to take pictures in your local cemetery before doing so. Remember, private cemeteries require permission of the owner before taking any pictures.
-If you or another user marks a headstone picture as “bad” we deduct it from the uploader’s total images.
-Winners will be announced at the end of the month on the BillionGraves blog. Prizes must be claimed by the 15th of the following month via email to qualify for shipment of prizes.
-Promotion is open to all to participate for free. Registration is required.
-More than one individual may contribute to a single account, however, the limit is one prize redemption per BillionGraves account. [UPDATE: If user places in the bracket they will receive the prize pertaining to their standing and not the sum of all prizes. However; all 50 top transcribers and photographers will receive the March Pin]
-Items will ship in 6-8 weeks after contest closes for winners in the U.S. Please allow 8-12 for winners outside the U.S.
-Recipients will be required to provide a mailing address for physical items.
-All images must be uploaded/transcribed no later than midnight (GMT) on the last day of the month.

BillionGraves and Findmypast team up in world-wide initiative!

Day 2 of RootsTech and FGS 2015 means our 2nd exciting new partnership! If you missed our release yesterday with FGS and genealogical societies around the world read the article here:

Now back to our exciting new announcement!

Findmypast and BillionGraves announce partnership to make rich historical content accessible to everyone for free

Industry leaders are working together to make more than 12 million grave markers available to everyone, making it easier for families to discover their unique story for free.

Salt Lake City, Utah, 12 February 2015.  Findmpast and BillionGraves announced today that they will partner to add more than 12 million grave marker indexes to family history websites mocavo.com and findmypast.com. With the shared goal of making family history more accessible to everyone, this unique content will be available on all three websites for free.

New records: 12 Million Grave Marker Indexes Available for Free

The partnership will offer all Findmypast and Mocavo subscribers free access to more than 12 million headstone records including GPS tagged headstone indexes and images that will link back to BillionGraves.com.

BillionGraves preserves precious records found in cemeteries throughout the world, using modern technology to capture images of headstones with their GPS locations so users from across the world can access those records anywhere.

Findmypast is making it easier for everybody to discover their family history. The BillionGraves mission complements that goal, and along with Findmypast’s commitment to offer more free data and innovative search tools, the BillionGraves partnership will make it easier for everybody to explore their family’s story and bring their past to life.

The two organizations will also work together to provide other initiatives that will help make family history and preservation efforts more accessible to the entire community.

Findmypast Executive Vice President Ben Bennett said, “This new partnership will help our customers to make new connections in their research.  It marks another step in Findmypast’s journey to make more data accessible for more people who want to connect with their family.”

Hudson Gunn, President of BillionGraves said, “We are delighted to work with Findmypast to make the BillionGraves collection accessible to their growing user base world-wide. At BillionGraves we are working to provide a comprehensive family history database for records and images of the world’s cemeteries-but it’s not something we can do alone. Collaborating with Findmypast in this and other initiatives in the future will provide incredible value for millions of families and preserve this valuable data for generations to come”.

-ENDS-

About Findmypast
Findmypast is an international leader in online family history and genealogy research with customers and operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. Its searchable online archive includes over two billion family history records, from parish records and censuses to migration records, military collections, historical newspapers, the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) and lots more. For members around the world, the site is a crucial resource for building family trees and making family connections.

Findmypast has an unrivalled record of innovation in the field of family history, and works closely with the genealogy community, including local libraries, archives, societies, and other organizations from around the world, to preserve, digitize, and provide access to historical records. Findmypast’s historical records, advanced search tools and accurate data work together to help both professional and budding genealogists discover, explore and share their family stories.
About BillionGraves

With more than 12 million GPS headstone records created by more than 140,000 volunteers in just 3 short years, BIllionGraves is the largest resource for GPS gravestone and burial record data on the web.  BillionGraves collection reaches every country and supports 25 languages for desktop, iOS, Android, and now Windows phones making it the most versatile application for genealogists all over the world. BillionGraves’ mobile GPS tracking technology in its mobile applications perpetuates this progress, bringing a wealth of genealogical information right to your fingertips.

For more information please contact press@findmypast.com or info@billiongraves.com

To kick start this great new partnership, we have teamed up to offer a yearly World Subscription for 50% exclusively to all of our users! To take advantage of this great deal and gain access to their exclusive collections around the world visit HERE, or use coupon code BGFMP50 during checkout!

Buy today as this offer is only available for a limited time! So take advantage of this great offer from Findmypast and BillionGraves!

 BUY NOW!

Thank you again to all our volunteers around the world who make this possible! We couldn’t be growing so fast without all of your hard work!

Exciting things are in store for you at BillionGraves.

-The BillionGraves Team

Tips and Tricks: BillionGraves Photo Requests

BillionGraves Photo Requests:

Photo Requests and Maximizing their Potential!

The Photo Request tool is a great new feature on BillionGraves. It has been optimized and revamped to help the hundreds of thousands of users and requests we have at BillionGraves!

First of all, what is a BillionGraves Photo Request?
Photo Requests are requests from a BillionGraves registered user for one or more photos to be taken in a specific cemetery. The user is looking for a particular headstone and is requesting that another BillionGraves volunteer that lives nearby, go find the headstone and take a photo of it for them.

Many of you have already utilized the tremendous power of the Photo Request board and have gone to social media to share your experiences! Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers who are so eager to help other genealogists in need!

What does a Photo Request look like?
As many of you have noticed, emails of new Photo Requests are now being sent to your BillionGraves registered email for requests that are near your location.
 
Here is an example of a Photo Request email:

How do I Help with a New Request? 
It is very easy to help with a Photo Request! First you need to Accept the Request.
To do this, simply click on “Accept Request” in the email or on the request board HERE. By accepting the request, you are now able to communicate with the user who requested the photo. Use the comment board if you have more questions about the request, or need additional information in order to fulfill the request.

Notice that multiple people can accept the request and collaborate to get the photo, transcribe, and even provide additional sources and information regarding the grave-site. You can always accept and un-accept requests. It’s very easy to do all from the request board HERE.

How do I Fulfill a New Request?
Fulfilling a request is easy. After you have accepted the request on the request board HERE, simply click on “Complete Request” on the top right corner and enter in the record information or other pertinent information to complete the Photo Request.
 

Please do not click on the “Complete Request” until the photo has been taken, uploaded, and transcribed into a record. If possible, please include the URL to the record pertaining to the photo request!

Already we have had thousands of requests fulfilled by users all over the world! This is an amazing tool whether you are looking for an ancestor in a far away cemetery or an amazing opportunity to help fellow genealogists find their relatives grave-site!

View this wonderful example of our BillionGraves users in action: View Example Request.
Within hours, our BillionGraves users had a photo, source records from multiple partner websites confirming the birth and death dates. City cemetery burial records and even more offerings for additional help with possible other family names! THIS is what BillionGraves and genealogy is all about! Collaboration! Thank you to all who have participated and contributed to requests!

Tip and Tricks for  Photo Requests:
Now that you know the basics of the Photo Requests, here are some tips to make the most out of these requests and to better help those looking for requests.

First thing is to please update your location on your BillionGraves dashboard! HERE

Note: Before continuing, please delete your computer browser’s cache!
The request emails are generated based on your designated location on your dashboard. (Which unless you provided it for us, is automatically generated from your IP address when you registered. Which can often times be very different than your actual location!)
 

Grab the white/grey dot in the center of the circle and drag it to your location. Then click the blue “Save” button above. This will update your requests to be more relevant to you.

Learn by watching? Follow along with this short video to update your location in seconds!

Collaborating together as a team makes BillionGraves and Photo Requests a very powerful tool for genealogist around the world! Next time you are headed to the cemetery, look for any Photo Requests and take a few extra pictures for others in need! You never know when a picture can be the difference between finding your family or not! (http://goo.gl/1ia6K6)

 
As always, we are incredibly grateful to all of our volunteers and supporters around the world! We know we could not do what we love and help families around the world without your help and support!
 
-The BillionGraves Family!

BillionGraves is and will always be FREE for everyone to search and contribute! BillionGraves Plus is an OPTIONAL ADD-ON feature that provides enhanced insight into the records that have been collected!

*No purchase necessary to participate to earn BillionGraves Plus. This feature is available to every registered BillionGraves user. Registration to BillionGraves is 100% FREE!. Monthly totals are calculated on the first day of each month and conclude on the 1st day of the following month. Bad/flagged photos or transcriptions will not count toward monthly totals.

Want to Join BillionGraves!?

1. Start by registering for your free account now -> HERE
2. Download the FREE app for your iOS and Android devices
3. Head out to your nearest cemetery and start taking pictures!

Don’t forget to show the love and follow us on Facebook -> HERE

A State of Growth – 12 Million Records | 137,000 Users!

The BillionGraves team is proud to announce that we have reached 12,000,000 million GPS headstone records, and 137,706 users! This is a big milestone in growth of BillonGraves! Thanks to all the contributors around the world! For those of you who prefer to see stats in a pretty little picture, we’ve created this small info graphic for you!

Even with the cold weather and holiday season, our contributors are still cranking out millions of records! This time, it only took 66 days for our transcribers to create another million records! With new partnerships and dedicated contributors, we are growing our headstone record database internationally! With 646,000 records coming from the US, that means that nearly 354,000 records are coming from outside the US! That is a huge change for us and a huge advantage to those searching for ancestors overseas!

We want to thank everyone who helped us reach 12,000,000 so quickly! We couldn’t have done it without the wonderful contributors who are visiting and photographing cemeteries throughout the world as well as all those transcribing all those images!

If you want some additional stats to feed your craving, here are some additional statistics:

FINAL HOURS! 30% OFF BillionGraves Plus ★ SAVE BIG On 5 Great Products!

Last Chance for Cyber Monday Savings!

Save 30% on BillionGraves Plus Premium Services

Last Chance for Big Savings on all BillionGraves Plus Services!

That’s right. Today, is the last day to take advantage of our Cyber Monday special! Don’t miss out on these HUGE saving! BillionGraves Plus features are 30% OFF originally marked pricing! SAVE BIG on 5 amazing features that are sure to help you in your genealogy endeavors! What better way to start the holiday season than by using BillionGraves Plus to add those elusive family members to your family tree!

Act NOW! Offer ends TONIGHT: 11:59 PM, Friday December 5th MST. 

Get all 5 amazing features found ONLY on BillionGraves Plus for 1 low discounted price!!

Map It “Global Mapping”

With our GPS technology, turn your cluttered search results into a world-wide interactive map! The new BillionGraves Map It feature shows you within seconds exactly where your ancestors are buried.  (Learn More)

BillionGraves.com Ad Free!

Get rid of the distractions and clutter from unwanted ads on the BillionGraves website! Faster search results, bigger photos, and larger maps. Now get nothing but content that leads you to the conclusions you are looking for! A cleaner, faster, ad free BillionGraves is only a click away! (Learn More)

Virtual Walk-through (Enhanced!)

BillionGraves Virtual Walk-though lets you visit cemeteries as if you were really there, from the comfort of your home! Our GPS technology and high resolution photographs allow you to experience a virtual tour of any cemetery like no one else can provide.  (Learn More)

Record Notifications

No more searching day after day looking for a particular ancestor! Let us do the work for you! Set up an on-going search that notifies you the second your results are available! No need to keep searching again and again. We’ll email you a photo and a link to the headstone details as soon as it is available.  (Learn More)

BillionGraves Priority Support

Prompt help when you need it makes all the difference. BillionGraves Priority Support GUARANTEES that you will receive the fastest personal support possible no matter what your question is! With a dedicated support staff, all Priority Support questions go to the top of the list! (Learn More)

ADDED BONUS!

Like we mentioned above, BillionGraves will be releasing new features, products, and improvements constantly! By buying BillionGraves Plus TODAY you will receive all new features we add to BillionGraves Plus FREE OF CHARGE!* 

We take pride in providing the BEST possible products and experience possible! If for any reason we have not met every one of your standards, we will happily provide you a prompt refund!

It’s that simple!

As always, we are incredibly grateful to all of our volunteers and supporters around the world! We know we could not do what we love, and help the people we help, without your help and support! 

-The BillionGraves Team!

BillionGraves is and will always be FREE for everyone to search and contribute! BillionGraves Plus is an OPTIONAL ADD-ON feature that provides enhanced insight into the records that have been collected!

*No purchase necessary to participate to earn BillionGraves Plus. This feature available to every registered BillionGraves user. Registration to BillionGraves is 100% FREE!. Monthly totals are calculated on the first day of each month and conclude on the 1st day of the following month. Bad/flagged photos or transcriptions will not count toward monthly totals.

Want to Join BillionGraves!?

1. Start by registering for your free account now -> HERE
2. Download the FREE app for your iOS and Android devices
3. Head out to your nearest cemetery and start taking pictures!

Don’t forget to show the love and follow us on Facebook -> HERE