{"id":547,"date":"2006-09-03T15:33:46","date_gmt":"2006-09-03T22:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/2006\/09\/03\/the-fgs-conference-and-a-surprise-for-steve-danko\/"},"modified":"2019-02-18T13:34:59","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T21:34:59","slug":"the-fgs-conference-and-a-surprise-for-steve-danko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/547","title":{"rendered":"The FGS Conference and a Surprise for Steve Danko"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s\u00c2\u00a0article\u00c2\u00a0is written by Barbara Poole, who kindly offered to write about her experiences at the FGS Conference, and then surprised me with the report that\u00c2\u00a0my Blog was featured in one of the lectures at the conference!<\/p>\n

I, myself, will\u00c2\u00a0be\u00c2\u00a0attending the Annual Meeting of the Polish Genealogical Society of America later this week,\u00a0so I’ll be taking a few days off from writing this blog to get ready for that conference .\u00a0 Enjoy Barbara’s report!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As a favor to Steve Danko, the owner of this site, I am giving him a break for a day or two by writing about the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference held in Boston last week. This is my 3rd guest blog\u00c2\u00a0on this site\u00c2\u00a0and the FGS Conference was the\u00c2\u00a03rd large genealogy conference I’ve attended .\u00a0 I know from personal emails\u00c2\u00a0that Steve\u00c2\u00a0has been\u00c2\u00a0anxiously waiting for this report and I know he will be surprised at some of the things I am sharing here.<\/p>\n

The annual FGS Conference was held in Boston beginning August 30, 2006 and lasted four days .\u00a0 Because this conference was held close to where I live (over an hour commute), I wanted to take advantage of attending many lectures and volunteering as much as possible .\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0On\u00c2\u00a0Tuesday, Aug. 29 (the day before conference), I\u00c2\u00a0spent much of the day\u00c2\u00a0at the convention center spending\u00c2\u00a0assembling conference\u00c2\u00a0materials and inserting them into the black canvas briefcases for the attendees .\u00a0 These briefcases were strong enough to hold the syllabus, a four-volume set of about 1200 pages -\u00c2\u00a0a volume for each day .\u00a0 My bag, books & printed materials weighed 8 lbs., so I built up some muscles during the convention.<\/p>\n

There was a nice group of volunteers, some of whom I already knew through the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS<\/a>) or through genealogy clubs .\u00a0 Meeting new people through volunteering is a bonus. Two volunteers were from California, and they spent time helping out when they could have been doing something fun in Boston .\u00a0 At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, early registration began, and attendees could pick up their registration packets and bags .\u00a0 There were so many people who wanted to get their hands on the goodies immediately .\u00a0 Fortunately, I was able to get mine early – a\u00c2\u00a0benefit of volunteering!!!<\/p>\n

The conference began on the following day .\u00a0 Now, this was not a small conference, it was huge!\u00c2\u00a0 It was hard to\u00c2\u00a0pick\u00c2\u00a0one lecture to\u00c2\u00a0attend when the choices could be as\u00c2\u00a0many as 19 selections for one particular hour!\u00c2\u00a0 A total of 379 lectures were offered for the four day period!!\u00c2\u00a0 What did I enjoy?\u00c2\u00a0 The lectures of course,\u00a0but I also enjoyed\u00c2\u00a0seeing people I knew, not only from my area, but from other places, as well .\u00a0 I\u00c2\u00a0saw two people I knew from Washington, DC, one of whom is a genealogist who worked at the DAR when I did, and\u00c2\u00a0who got me started on the hobby (I didn’t even know she was going to be there) .\u00a0 You never know whom you will see at a conference .\u00a0 While on the registration desk, several people came up to me and inquired if somebody was either registered or had checked in.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, while waiting for the exhibit hall to open, I saw Cindy Rowzee, an instructor for a number of online classes through MyFamily.com<\/a> .\u00a0 Both Steve and I took several of her classes, and that is how he and I met .\u00a0 Cindy and I went into the exhibit hall together, heading to Ancestry.com<\/a>‘s exhibit, and later I ran into her two more times, now like old friends.<\/p>\n

The exhibit hall is the place where\u00c2\u00a0attendees have the opportunity to meet the vendors and find out about new products and services .\u00a0 I\u00c2\u00a0learned that ProQuest<\/a> will be adding 6,000 new books to their book section of HeritageQuest next month .\u00a0 The Ancestry.com booth had new books, and the authors were there signing them .\u00a0 Another instructor Steve and I know from the MyFamily.com classes, George Morgan, was there signing his book, so I said “Hi!” for Steve and me .\u00a0 I chatted with the author of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter<\/a>, Dick Eastman, whom I’ve met a few times in the past .\u00a0 Dick was interested in seeing this blog, so I promised to send him the address this week .\u00a0 I also met the publisher and editor of Internet Genealogy<\/a> magazine Mr. Halvor Moorshead .\u00a0 Since Mr. Moorshead wasn’t too busy, I told him that I loved his magazine and how I had mentioned it in my previous guest columns on\u00c2\u00a0Steve’s blog .\u00a0 Well, he checked out\u00c2\u00a0my articles, and was impressed .\u00a0 He wrote down\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0URL, so who knows what will happen!<\/p>\n

It really is fun seeing what is being offered to genealogists .\u00a0 FamilySearch.org<\/a> was there as were many other vendors, too many to name all .\u00a0 Some vendors were offering door prizes and attendees received 30 coupons to fill out and then decide where to place them .\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Among the\u00c2\u00a0prizes were a $50 gift certificate for Barnes & Noble, a seven-night stay in Salt Lake City, many specific books and other things .\u00a0 Most of the exhibiters\u00c2\u00a0gave away\u00c2\u00a0pamphlets, brochures, candy, pens, and staple removers .\u00a0 I was lucky enough to\u00c2\u00a0pick up\u00c2\u00a0free issues of\u00c2\u00a0three recently printed magazines and a free CD with a 30-day trial of The Master Genealogist<\/em> software.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, I attended a lecture\u00c2\u00a0about blogs entitled Dear Genealogy Diary: Today I Made a Great Discovery<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0by Drew Smith .\u00a0 As\u00c2\u00a0Drew was setting up his presentation, I saw that he had Steve’s blog on the screen!\u00c2\u00a0 Steve had asked me to say “Hi!” to Drew, and with Steve’s blog on the screen, it made it very easy for me to introduce myself .\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0As it turned\u00c2\u00a0out, a good part of the lecture was on Steve’s site.<\/p>\n

If you’re interested in reading more about the FGS conference, I know Dick Eastman will have something on his newsletter at http:\/\/blog.eogn.com<\/a>, and George Morgan\u00c2\u00a0and Drew Smith will be talking about the conference on the Genealogy Guys Podcast at http:\/\/www.genealogyguys.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even if you can’t\u00c2\u00a0attend an FGS\u00c2\u00a0conference, you can still listen to many of the\u00c2\u00a0talks by going to Fleetwood Onsite<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I hope in the future many of you can get to a conference .\u00a0 Every year, there are several large conferences presented by different organizations .\u00a0 Next year, the National Genealogical Society (NGS<\/a>) at will hold their conference in Richmond, Virginia, and FGS<\/a> will hold their conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana .\u00a0 But, you don’t have to go to a large conference,\u00a0since there are many smaller\u00c2\u00a0conferences being held all the time, all around the country .\u00a0 Often, the same speakers will present the same lecture at both a large national conference and a small local conference .\u00a0 As a case in point, Diana Smith presented a talk on Why Use\u00c2\u00a0Those Blankety-Blank Forms?<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0at FGS, and will present the same talk on October 7, 2006 at the Fairfax Genealogical Society<\/a>‘s 3rd Annual Genealogy Fair .\u00a0 Since most lectures take a lot of time to prepare, the same talks are often\u00c2\u00a0presented at multiple events and in multiple locations.<\/p>\n

Even though this FGS conference lasted four days,\u00a0an attendee\u00c2\u00a0could register for just a single day or for the entire conference .\u00a0 Many, or I really think most, of the attendees went by themselves .\u00a0 Almost everybody I knew went alone .\u00a0 Very few people knew one another in the lecture halls; so in essence, everybody was doing their own thing alone .\u00a0 Dress was very casual, I began the first day wearing low flats, the next day it was sandals and the other days I was in sneakers .\u00a0 There was so much walking, and I have blisters to show for it .\u00a0 These lectures are for all levels, beginner and advanced, with a wide range of topics.<\/p>\n

Last notes, my husband went with me on Saturday to check out the exhibit hall .\u00a0 The hall was free for the public, and I saw many people there, learning about genealogy .\u00a0 So in closing,\u00a0the FGS conference\u00c2\u00a0was a wonderful experience, and I truly hope you will all be able to attend\u00c2\u00a0a genealogy conference\u00c2\u00a0soon.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2006 by\u00c2\u00a0Barbara Poole<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s\u00c2\u00a0article\u00c2\u00a0is written by Barbara Poole, who kindly offered to write about her experiences at the FGS Conference, and then surprised me with the report that\u00c2\u00a0my Blog was featured in one of the lectures at the conference! I, myself, will\u00c2\u00a0be\u00c2\u00a0attending the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27],"tags":[189,192],"class_list":["post-547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-journal","tag-genealogy-conferences","tag-guestblog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pyBfX-8P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21246,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions\/21246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}