Tomorrow afternoon, 4 April 2012, Legacy Family Tree will be presenting a free webinar entitled, “The Pursuit from Genealogy Hobbyist to Professional,” featuring John M. Kitzmiller, II, AG and Claire V. Brison-Banks, AG.
According to Legacy’s website,
Several terms are applied to individuals that are interested in their ancestors. Those who are fascinated by the story but not really interested in the data could be termed amateurs. Moving up a rung on the ladder would be the hobbyists, who gather photos, letters and family memorabilia to share with others. They quite often are members of societies, are familiar with local history, and help others to find their ancestors. This group is quite underestimated, in that many have self-taught expertise and are quite knowledgeable. However, most of them do not charge money for their assistance. The next step is to operate at the “professional” level, which requires perspective, attitude, methods, process, and some business skills. This webinar will discuss various ways to make that transition. Join John M. Kitzmiller, II, AG and Claire V. Brison-Banks, AG for this special webinar, sponsored by the The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen).
For more information, and to register for the free webinar, visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp.
Planting the Seeds 
Wonder if this is an opinion based presentation or if there are studies to back the grouping of “amateurs”, “hobbyists”, or “professionals”. The studies I have read tend to move away from these terms.
I thought the same thing when I read the webinar description. I cannot be sure if these definitions were created by the presenters, specifically for the marketing of the webinar, or the definitions were created by the sponsoring organization ICAPGen.