As we approached capturing the one millionth image for the Dunedin Probate Records Project, we decided to have a contest for the archive staff..... guess when we will capture image number one million. Elder Rob & Sister Brenda Dickey had captured the first 700,000 images before we arrived in July 2015 and we were now approaching a million. All entries had to be submitted by Feb 2nd and the guesses needed to include the day, hour and minute.
Everyone was excited to participate in the contest. We gave them our current totals before they submitted their guesses in sealed envelopes. We then gave them weekly updates until the last week when we gave them daily updates. One million happened late in the day on March 1st. We invited them all into the room to witness the image capture. We then invited everyone to sit at the camera and hit the retake button so that everyone had the opportunity to take the one millionth image. When we were finished, it was about quitting time for the day. We waited until the next morning to open the envelopes and crown the winner.
 |
| Alison ended up being the winner. She amazingly guessed the right day. Here she proudly wears her medal. |
 |
| For her desk, Alison received a statuette appropriately named "Will". |
 |
| Along with "Will", Alison received a box of goodies..... and the medal. |
 |
| After
Alison received her treasure trove of goodies, we remarked that it
didn't seem fair that she was the only one to get a prize. We then gave everyone a Million Dollar Bar. It was actually a large Cadbury candy bar with
an enlarged Million Dollar Bar wrapper around it. Cadbury is a local
favorite..... they have a chocolate factory in downtown Dunedin. |
 |
| We also provided a little celebration for everyone which included chicken-salad rolls and various treats from our favorite Danish Delights bakery. It's yum!! |
Follow-up to the story:
During the first week of June we received a call from the Public Affairs Department of
the Church. They heard about our contest and wanted to do a story about it. They came to Dunedin and
took some photos and then wrote a story that recently appeared on the Mormon
Newsroom Pacific website. Here is a link to the story:
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/article/dunedin-archivists-celebrate-digitization-of-one-million-family-history-records
The contest was all about having fun and doing something special for the people we work with at the archives. All in all, things turned out perfect.
