Madness Monday- Final Thoughts on the NGS Conference

Now that I'm back home, I've got a day to get caught up before heading out on another trip.  I wanted to put down my final thoughts while they are still fresh in my mind.

As a first time national conference attendee and newbie blogger, my goals were:

• Education
• Networking with other genealogists and bloggers
• Research at the FHL

Those goals were met and exceeded.  I will be absorbing and assimilating notes from the sessions and FHL research for weeks to come.  The networking and social aspect was fantastic.  I met many fun and interesting people during the week. 

I was particularly honored to be able to dine with or otherwise extensively visit with the following bloggers:

AC Ivory - Find My Ancestor
Amy Urman - The Genealogy Search
Donna Pointowski - What's Past is Prologue
Deborah Large Fox - Irish Genealogy: Help! The Faery Folk Hid My Ancestors!

During the week I also met the following bloggers (in no particular order):

Denise Levenick - The Family Curator
Randy Seaver - Genea-Musings
Kathryn Doyle - California Genealogical Society & Library
Diane Haddad - Genealogy Insider
Mary Clement Douglas -Notes That Matter
The Ancestry Insider - The Ancestry Insider
Steve Danko - Steve's Genealogy Blog
Sheri Fenley - The Educated Genealogist
George Morgan - The Genealogy Guys Podcast

Check out their blogs and see what they had to say about the conference.

Overall, I was extremely impressed with the way the conference was run.  Sessions were on time, there were plenty of designated people around to ask for help or directions if needed, the banquets were great from the standpoint of food, service and speakers, the exhibitor hall was fantastic, the dining/cafeteria area was never overly busy and from what I heard the food offered was good (expensive but good).  I really have no criticisms of anything.  OK, the weather didn't cooperate but then I wasn't exactly there for the weather either.

I only have two regrets:

1. I didn't attend the "Celebration of Family History."  I am a huge fan of David McCullough and had been looking forward to hearing him speak.  Alas, hunger and exhaustion had taken over.
2. I did not attend the group viewing of "Who Do You Think You Are" on Friday night.  It would have been another great opportunity to meet some fellow bloggers.  The exhaustion thing was creeping in once again and since I had to check out of my room first thing Saturday morning, the suitcase was calling to be packed earlier rather than later.

Overall,  I am glad I went and will jump at the opportunity to attend another conference in the future.  I encourage you to do the same if you are able.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

NGS 2010 - Day 4

Saturday was the last day of the conference and I made a last minute decision to listen to Daniel Lynch's presentation, "Google Your Family Tree."  It was divided into 2 talks and I listened to both.  I already have his book but listening to him speak was a real treat and I learned a lot about Google during those 2 hours.

Before the talk started, I ran across lady who lives in the teeny, tiny town of Tum Tum, Washington, where my grandmother grew up.  Her extended family was pretty much the entire town way back when. This very nice lady knows everyone and numerous descendants of my ancestors still live there.  It was really fun to have the opportunity to talk with her!  What a small world.

I'll have a wrap up posting on my experiences at the conference and some follow-up postings in the coming days.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

NGS Conference Day 3

I had forgotten that learning can be so exhausting and exhilarating!  It didn't help that I closed down the Family History Library at 11 last night either.

This morning I played hookie and slept in, missing the first session.  It was time well spent.  The rest of the morning was spent in, "The Master Genealogist Advanced" where Bob Velke went over filters, tag groups, sources and reports.  It was all the meat and potatoes kind of information that I wanted to learn from this excellent speaker.  He finished up with some of the very cool features that will be coming out in version 8.

After lunch, I perused the never ending vendor hall and became a member of ISFHWE - International Society of Family History Writers and Editors.  They have a number of great benefits and at $15 a year, is an excellent value.

After lunch, I listened to, "The Science of Keeping Records" given by Christopher McAfee who is a conservator.  His talk was excellent and right up the alley of this "family archivist/keeper of everything."

The day was wrapped up by Barry Ewell's fabulous presentation, "Digital Photography for Genealogists."  It was jam packed with excellent tips.  He could have gone on for another couple of hours and kept my attention.  Afterward, I went right to work putting some of what I learned to good use by grabbing my camera and heading out to take pictures of the beautiful tulips in the area around the hotel.  I can't wait to apply some of his other techniques.

One more day...


© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

NGS Salt Lake City - The Halfway Mark

Well, I've made it halfway through this year's NGS Conference in Salt Lake City. We've experienced a warm sunny day, a terribly windy afternoon, and now snow, more snow and wind. The weather has been interesting to say the least!


The conference is huge and from what I hear maybe one of the largest they have ever had. Every one of the speakers have been excellent and I leave the conference at the end of the day exhausted from all of the wonderful learning that has gone on. From what I have been able to see, it has been extremely well run - an impressive feat!

Favorite speakers so far:

• Thomas W. Jones - Five Ways to Prove Who Your Ancestor Was
• Barry Ewell - Photo Editing Software-Tricks, tips and applications for genealogical novice to expert
• Bob Velke - Using the Master Genealogist

A huge benefit to attending a conference of this size has been the opportunity to meet and sometimes talk extensively with a lot of really fun and interesting people, including quite a few fellow Geneabloggers. Being new to the Geneablogger community, it has been wonderful to meet some of these people in person.

I'm off to the Family History Library. 

More to come...


© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

NGS Conference - BCG Education Fund "Putting Skills To Work"

I arrived in Salt Lake City before lunch on Monday.  Amazingly my room at the Plaza was ready so I was able to check right in, unpack, grab a bite to eat and head for the library. 

I guess I am spoiled.  My only visits to the Family History Library have been in December and July when things are fairly quiet.  It is pretty busy but I brought my new camera to try out by photographing microfilm and was able to avoid standing in line to make copies to my flash drive.  It seems to be working out great.  I was able to stay in my cubby, take pictures of deeds and be fairly productive.

Today, Tuesday, was the BCG Education Fund's "Putting Skills To Work."  It started with Kip Sperry's session on "Reading Early Handwriting" which was excellent.  I feel like I really struggle with this subject and after this morning, I am much more comfortable and competent in reading what previously often looked like a foreign language to me.

At lunch, the table that I sat at got into a really good discussion about various genealogy education routes to take and the certification process.  There were lots of different experiences from the group to draw from and it was a group of really nice people to spend an hour or so with!

After lunch, Pamela Boyer Sayre presented "Sunchronized Research and Reporting"  where I picked up a lot of really good methods and tips.

After a quick trip to the library and then the grocery store, I am beat and it's only day one!  But it's been a very good day.

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Madness Monday-Time to Pack for NGS in Salt Lake City

The NGS Conference is a week away!  It's time to start thinking about packing for a week in the world's genealogy research mecca.

For my FHL researching needs:

• Research plan for my Ballinger family.
• List of books to copy pages from.
• Laptop and "periphery".
• Flash drive to copy documents to instead of having to print them out.  I have enough stuff to tote back and forth without having to add a bunch of papers this trip.
• Camera.  I'm going to try taking photos of book pages and maybe even of microfilm this trip.  We'll see how it works out.
• FHL copy card.  I think I still have some money left on it from the last trip.
• Healthy snacks.
• Paper, pens, pencils, folder or two.
• Yellow sheet of paper to aid in reading films

For the conference:

• A list of books I already own so that I hopefully won't purchase any duplicates.
• Clothing such as jackets/sweaters so I can dress in layers.
• More healthy snacks.
• Some really comfortable walking shoes.

In general

• Copies of Janet Hovorka's excellent articles with suggestions on where to eat.  Hmm, there seems to be a food theme emerging here.
• Maps of the area so I can find those yummy restaurants.
• Great attitude and mental preparation to meet lots of new people.  After all, isn't that half the fun?

I'm sure there are some things I haven't thought of.  I still have a few days to figure it out.


© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum