Don’t Forget to Say ‘Thank You’

It’s hard to believe that at this time next week I will be finishing up my first day of sessions and activities at my first national genealogy conference.  And after working on the FGS 2011 Conference for over a year, I must admit that I’m happy, yet sad, it’s almost over. 

Like many of the other wonderful volunteers that have worked hard to put this year’s conference together, I’ve been extremely busy and very focused on the conference and have had to put off some things…but it’s all been worth it.  I’ve had the chance to work with some great people and learn and grow from the experience. 

Which brings me to the title of this post.  If you are attending the conference, be sure to say “thank you” to any of the volunteers you come in contact with.  Volunteers come in many packages and include those who are working at the conference (i.e., room monitors) to committee chairmen.  When you see someone wearing an “Ask Me” button or the like, take a minute to say hello and thank them for their hard work in making your conference experience enjoyable. 

In addition to all of the volunteers who will be working various aspects during of the conference, don’t forget to thank the conference/committee chairmen for all of their hard work over the past year-and-a-half (plus) to put together a wonderful conference full of great sessions, speakers, and special events.  These folks include Pat Oxley, FGS President; Josh Taylor and Paula Stuart-Warren, National Conference Co-Chairs; Susie Pope and David Kent Coy, Local Conference Co-Chairs; and Janice Fritsch, ISGS President.  A full list of chairmen can be found in the right column of the FGS Conference News Blog.

As part of the conference committee, I do hope you have a wonderful experience at the conference this year.  I look forward to seeing you next week!

Walking Tours in Downtown Springfield

If you are attending the FGS 2011 Conference in Springfield next week and are looking for something fun to do in the evening, check out the walking tours provided by Springfield Walks.

Springfield Walks provides two different walking tours:  Lincoln’s Ghost Walk and The Haunted Dead Walk.  I personally have been on the Lincoln’s Ghost Walk tour and had a wonderful time.  It was a unique way to see some of the historical places in downtown Springfield, all of which are associated with Abraham Lincoln.  The tour guide was great and very knowledgeable.  I imagine the Haunted Dead Walk would be just as fun, and someday, I hope to do it.

Both of these 90-minute tours begin at the Old State Capitol Plaza at 6th and Adams, which is about five blocks from the Hilton and Prairie Capital Convention Center.  Details, such as days, times, and ticket information can be found here.

For other ideas on places to visit, see the FGS Conference New Blog’s “tourism” category.

Friday Finds – 08/26/11

Weekly column sharing genealogy-related things that I’ve found.

Online Articles/Posts

• GeneaBloggers Meetup at FGS 2011 – Get Your Bead On!
• US Yearbooks Collection Gets Major Upgrade / New Photo Sweepstakes on Facebook

New-to-Me Blogs

• American Genealogy:  Clues and Steps in the Ancestor Search

Print Articles

• “Genealogy in the Classroom,” by Elizabeth Drembus, NGS Magazine, July-Sept 2011
• “Breaking Through the Scholarly Divide: Open Access for Family Historians,” by Dawn C. Stricklin, NGS Magazine, July-Sept 2011

Websites

• Surname Index Search (via Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library)
• Fulton County (Illinois) Circuit Court Case Files Index, 1825-1876 (via Illinois State Archives)

Interesting Article on Noah Webster

Ran across the article “Man of Many Words,” by Chris Goodrich of the Brookfield (CT) Patch.  It’s a pretty interesting article about Noah Webster, creator of the dictionary.

As you may recall, I am related to Noah, although he is not a direct ancestor.  Instead, he is my third cousin eight times removed.

Can You Spare a Dime?

Back in April I wrote Are You Up for the Challenge? discussing the project that FGS is working on to digitize the War of 1812 pension files. 

In that post I reported that Indiana Genealogical Society stated a matching program where they will match contributions they collect up to $10,000.  I am happy to report that as of today, they have raised $9,700, just $300 shy of their goal!

IGS hopes to meet their $10,000 goal by August 31st, so if you have even just a few dollars to contribute to this worthy project, please head over to their website and make a contribution.  Not only will they match your contribution, Ancestry has also agreed to match all the donations, essentially quadrupling your contribution.

Remember, this digitization project aims to have the pension files available for free on Footnote.  And although they plan to have the digitization complete in 2015, they are busy working to get the files scanned and uploaded as they go…as of today there are 58,021 images available.

UPDATE 9/1/11 – It’s official…IGS raised $12,117 for the project, all of which will be matched by both IGS and Ancestry.  You can read more here.

Friday Finds – 08/12/11

Weekly column sharing genealogy-related things that I’ve found.

Online Articles/Posts

• False Government Death Reports Leave People in the Lurch
• Are You Preparing for the 1940 Census?  We are!

New-to-Me Blogs

• Family Matters (ok, not so new-to-me, but rediscovered after losing it to an RSS feed move)
• Donna Moughty’s Genealogy Resources (thank you Myrt!)

Print Articles

• “Which Isaac Purnell was Esau’s Father”  Unraveling Relationships in Wiltshire,” by Marci A. Despain, NGS Quarterly, June 2011.
• “An 1877 Same-Sex Marriage in Nevada: An Episode in the Unconventional Life of Sarah Pollard,” by J. Homer Thiel, American Ancestors, Summer 2011.

Websites

• The History Press (courtesy of Marian’s Roots & Rambles)

Friday Finds – 08/05/11

Weekly column sharing genealogy-related things that I’ve learned or found.

Online Articles/Posts

• NEHGS Announces Mason Membership Cards, Surnames M-P for Massachusetts added to database

New-to-Me Blogs

• 1 Ancestry 2 Little Time
• Katie’s Grove

Print Articles

“The Secret Provider,” written by Dawn Raffel in the November 2010 issue of Reader’s Digest.  The article discusses how the book A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness--and a Trove of Letters--Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression by Ted Gup came to be.  It’s an interesting story and I can’t wait to read the book.

Websites

• join.me – Great, simple screen sharing tool.  Hope to write a blog post within the next week or so about using it.
• Upper Canada Genealogy

10 Tips For Attending a Genealogy Conference

Since I’m gearing up for the FGS 2011 Conference that is now a month away, I have conference on the brain.  On Monday, I posted Reasons for Attending Genealogy Conferences and today I bring you tips for attending.

1. Choose your sessions wisely.  Pick topics that will enhance your knowledge or that pique your curiosity.  While choosing topics you already know a good deal about isn’t a bad thing (hey, we can all use a refresher), but if you could be the presenter for the topic, use this opportunity to learn something new.
2. Arrive early for those sessions!  Venues have strict codes they have to follow regarding room occupancy.  Once it’s full, it’s FULL!
3. Bring business or “business” cards.  I realize not all genealogists who attend conferences are professionals, hence the reason one instance of the word business is in quotes.  In my opinion, all genealogists (professional or not) should have a card that can be handed out when attending conferences (or visiting libraries, archives, etc.).  The “business” card would list your name and contact information; mine also includes a listing of my high-priority surnames on the back.  See my post Genealogy Business Card for more information and an example.
4. Collect business or “business” cards.  And be sure to write your own notes on the back like “could be linked to Garrison line” or “specializes in colonial Connecticut research.”
5. Use your down time to visit the exhibit hall.  This is your chance to explore vendor products and services firsthand.  And don’t just stop by a table and pick up everything; say hello and engage in small talk…you never know when that contact will come in handy.
6. Network!  This is probably one of the most important things about attending any type of conference, but for genealogists, it’s also very personal.  While you’ll want to network with professional genealogists and vendors, it’s just as important to converse with everyone you run into…one of those people could hold the key you’ve been looking for to unlock that brick wall.
7. Attend social events.  Although many people view social events (meals, special events, etc.) as networking opportunities, they also allow you to kick back and relax a bit from all the hustle and bustle of the conference.
8. Dress comfortably.  Temperature control always seems to be an issue in large venues, so be prepared by dressing in layers.  And don’t forget comfy shoes!
9. Sit by people you don’t know.  How can you meet new people when you hang out with your comfort group?  View this is a learning and networking opportunity.
10. Bring your tool kit.  Be sure you have pens/pencils, highlighters, paper/notepad, laptop, and camera.

There are plenty of other tips out there, but for me, these are the big ones.  Feel free to post your own conference attendance tips in the comments of this post.

Hi, My Name is Julie and I Have GOCD

Catching up on blog reading, I came across Randy’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post from a few days ago.  Michael John Neill wrote a post “10 Signs You Have Genealogy OCD” and Randy’s challenge encouraged GeneaBloggers to come up with more signs and symptoms of GOCD.  There were a lot of great posts out there, so I thought I’d share links to my favorites, in case you missed them. 

• Deb Ruth at Adventures in Genealogy
• Lisa at 1 Ancestry 2 Little Time (this is a new geneablogger…let’s give her some love!)
• Denise Levenick at Family Curator

Reasons for Attending Genealogy Conferences

On Saturday, James Tanner, author of Genealogy’s Star blog, posted the article “On Attending Genealogy Conferences.”  Reading his post got me thinking about why it’s important to me to attend conferences and why I’m excited about attending my first national genealogy conference in September.  While I’m gearing up for a big, multi-day conference, my reasons are the same for smaller conferences, in addition to workshops, seminars, and the like.

Learning Opportunity – Conferences provide many opportunities to learn about available records, methodology, technology, and other topics of interest to genealogists.  Sometimes these things are new to us and sometimes they are a refresher.  Either way, conferences allow us the opportunity to enhance our current skills, learn how to conduct effective and efficient research, and stay current on new developments or trends.

Networking – While I am a big proponent of using Facebook for networking, especially in the genealogy world, I still feel that face-to-face contact is still a wonderful thing.  It’s amazing what you learn just by having a casual conversation with the person sitting next to you before a lecture or during a meal.  There is something special about the face-to-face contact we have at conferences as opposed to our virtual world behind Facebook walls.

Motivation – Attending conferences and learning something new is a great way to get motivated.  For some of us, there is always something that hinders our research, be it time, other obligations, money, record access, or simply being overwhelmed by a vast database with brick walls all over the place.  When you learn about a new record type or problem-solving method, you feel invigorated and will usually find a way to fit research back into your life.  It’s exciting when you learn about something that might just help you break down a barrier and answer questions you’ve had for years.

Sharing – Everyone has a story to tell, and your story may be just the thing to kick-start someone else’s challenging research.  My ears particularly perk up when I hear people discussing adoption and War of 1812.  And of course I have my own knowledge to share on the topic of certain locations and records.  Learn from others and share what you know!

Having Fun – Let’s face it, genealogists are a fun group of people when we get together and kick back outside of a library, courthouse, or archive.  Although I welcome any sort of learning opportunity, this is the part I look forward to the most; hanging out with fellow genealogists and having a good time!