FGS Conference 2016 - Day 2

What a great day I've had! I was expecting dry, hot, and humid weather while in Springfield but it has been so beautiful. I think it was in the mid-70s all day with a nice breeze.

Here's the sessions I attended today, all were excellent!

Elizabeth Shown Mills:
Elusive Ancestors? No, They're Never "Too Poor to Trace"!

FamilySearch Luncheon:
FamilySearch: Past, Present and Future

Mary M. Tedesco:
Italian Genealogy Research in Italy and from Home

Michael D.Lacopo:
The German Immigrant Experience in the 18th Century

After lunch I decided to explore the Exhibit hall, so glad I did. I was able to go around to multiple vendors and get my Exhibit Hall Passport stamped. I'll need to get both sides of the passport filled with stamps to be eligible for the FGS Grand Prize Package of a 2017 FGS Conference Package. That is a grand prize worth working I wouldn't mind having. It was nice to have an almost empty hall. No crowds or lines to maneuver, perfect!

After the last session I went to the  President Abraham Lincoln Hotel ballroom dinner at the "Meet & Greet" sponsored by Ancestry.

Tomorrow will be more great choices that I can't wait to explore.

Illinois State Capitol

Copyright, 2016 Gayle Ficarra Wolcott

SCGS 2015 Jamboree – Day 3

The Ventura County (California) Genealogical Society, which I’m a member, brought new and used books to sell today at Jamboree. We usually get one small table in the foyer and hope for the best. Yesterday, a SCGS committee member asked if we would like to move into the Exhibit Hall on Saturday. They had an unexpected vacancy and asked us to fill it. We jumped at the opportunity to have four long tables and a prominent place in the Exhibit Hall!

I volunteered to help out with setting up the tables so I had to get to the Exhibit Hall by 7:30 am; the Hall opened at 8:00 sharp. I wrote up books titles on the sales slip, took money, made change, and helped where needed. There were several members helping so I was able to attend several classes throughout the day. Here’s the classes I attended:

10:00 am to 11:00 am – Michael Brophy – Irish Genealogy

2:00 to 3:00 pm – Jean Wilcox Hibben – America: Land of the Farm, Home of the Plow

      My German line were farmers, thought this would be a good class for me. Was not expecting a
      mini singing concert from her.

3:30 pm to 4:30 pm – Mark Olsen – Learn How to Discover New Ancestors Using Magic From MyHeritage

      My family tree is planted at MyHeritage.

5:30 pm to 6:30 pm – Rhonda R McClure – City & Rural Directories; More than Just Names

      I’m going to look for Farmer Directories for my rural ancestors.

A long day today but had fun and spent quality time with friends and helped my society!

©2015, copyright, Gayle Ficarra Wolcott. All rights reserved.

SCGS 2015 Jamboree – Day 1

I’m in Burbank, CA for the annual Jamboree put on each year by Southern California Genealogical Society. I’ve been a member for several years and try not to miss this national conference which is “in my neighborhood.” No airport, TSA screening, tight seats and recirculating air. I do like to have a hotel room for the duration of the conference because I hate driving 50 minutes to over an hour each way, each day from home.

I attended an all-day workshop titled “Creating a Digital Genealogy Scrapbook” by Barb Groth.

We needed to bring our laptop as the process could not be completed on a smart phone or a tablet.

Ms. Groth sent an email with instructions what to have ready before we came to class. We should have some (not necessarily all) of the following information saved to our desktop in a single folder:

·         Family photos – each should be a minimum of 300 dpi

·         Documents, such as census records, church records, naturalization, military, newspaper articles, etc.

·         Scanned memorabilia – medals, etc.

·         Maps or photos of places and/or locations your family came from or resided in

·         A few Word document with brief typed information about the family or person you are including in the album

We downloaded the free demo version of the software program “ScrapRoom.” http://scraproomsoftware.com/purchase.html  (Scroll down until you see the free demo version.)

We also downloaded free templates and elements to use in the program at http://www.simplyyin.blogspot.com/   (Scroll all the way down the page until you see: Mye De Leon FREE Demo Kit.)

She recommended to watch any scrapbook tutorials on YouTube.com and just have fun! Use Google to look for other free design layouts for scrapbooking.

Ms. Groth discussed the organization of photos, elements and documents on our computer, the ScrapRoom Software and its components, and the organization of the album. We began to design and develop the actual pages of the album. I wasn’t able to complete the album in class. We were learning the techniques, but felt confident I’d be able to complete the album on my own. We could also purchase the Guide that’s been written to help assist with step by step directions. I’ll probably pick it up in the Exhibit Hall tomorrow.

I’m looking forward to completing my album at home.

©2015, copyright Gayle Ficarra Wolcott. All rights reserved.

FGS/RootsTech Conference - Day 1

Yesterday was the official kick-off of the FGS Conference. The conference 
committee expect well over 22,000 people to attend before the weekend is 
through. I had a full day of traipsing up and down the halls of the Salt Palace 
Convention Center looking for the correct room my session was to be held. 
I've overheard more than once a remark of how many steps a person was 
using. Well over 10,000.

Here's a look at the classes I attended.

Thursday General Session

Took a spin in the Exhibit Hall as soon as it opened.

Organization for the Genealogist taught by Billie Stone Fogarty, M.Ed.

Attended the MyHeritage Sponsored Lunch.

60 Minutes --60 Ideas: Workshop to Jump Start YOUR Personal or Family 
History taught by Tom Taylor.

Problem Solving with Probate taught by Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, 
FASG, FUGA, FNGS

Build and Manage Your Family Tree with My Heritage Mobil App taught by 
Daniel Horowitz

Took another spin through the exhibit hall, talked and asked questions with 
several vendors. By the time I left to go back to my hotel, I was literally 
dragging my bag behind me. So tired and pooped. Can't wait until morning!

Copyright 2015, Gayle Ficarra Wolcott

2013 NGS Conference - Day 4

I set the alarm last night so I could get up early enough to shower and actually sit down in the Paradise Cafe for breakfast.

My first class was at 8 am, presented by Elissa Scalise Powell - Baker's Dozen Steps to Writing Research Reports. She gave a very detailed lecture of the process of compiling and writing that all important report that I should have been doing all along. I've been jumping from ancestor-to-ancestor, record-to-record, collecting information I thought I needed. Not realizing that I should be documenting all the steps of positive and negative research results. I've taken several of these classes from the different Skill Building Tracks during the conference. I'm so glad I attended this session.

My next class was at 9:30 am, presented by Laura Murphy DeGrazia - Of City Slickers and Straphangers: Tracing Urban Ancestors. This speaker was fun to listen to. She was from Long Island New York, and even poked fun of her own accent. When I was at Rootstech this past March, I hung out with a woman who was also from Long Island New York. If I closed my eyes, Laura sounded just like her; her topic was great. Stressed the need to know the locality, ethic and religious background of your ancestor who was a city-dweller. She gave us great examples of her written works, problems and strategies with URLs for more research.

I took a break and went over to the Exhibit Hall and purchased a book from the NGS booth. I got a signed copy of his new book, Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones. I attended several of his sessions this week. Several of the speakers have referenced different books in their talks. "Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians" and "The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy: 3rd Edition". Since one of the book sellers was marketing a 10% discount and free shipping, I ordered both books. That will save me from having to schlep them home in my luggage.

At 2:30 pm I'm going to attend the session, presented by Gordon Atkinson - Getting to Know Fold3. I took Gordon's first class on Wednesday, very informative so I believe this one will be an overview of the resources available on Fold3. Looking forward to it. Our local library has a free trial of Fold3 until June.

After that class I'm going to drop off my excess baggage in my room, then jump on the Monorail for a ride to the end, MGM Grand. I'll be back in time to attend Dick Eastman's After the Conference Dinner being held tonight at our hotel

2013 Family History Expo in Mesa, AZ

Tomorrow I'll be attending the Family History Expo in sunny Mesa, AZ. I have two reasons to be glad to be here. My only sister moved here last year. So I flew in on Wednesday and I get to visit while attending the Expo. The second reason is the Expo itself.

I've attending the Arizona Expo several times and always enjoy the speakers, facility and of course the desert weather in winter. I've been trying to figure out which lectures I'm going to attend tomorrow. Such a variety and so many choices. The Exhibit Hall is always fun. New, experienced, and returning vendors, all good. I try and stop at each and every table to hear about their products.

I'll put my good walking shoes on and be ready...can't wait!

FGS Conference - Thursday

The Mayor of Springfield welcomed FGS Conference attendees to Springfield.  The Keynote speech was given by the Archivist of the United States, David S. Ferriero.  The conference statistics were shared.  2,000 attendees from 48 states (including Alaska and Hawaii) and five countries.

The Conference is held at the Prairie Capital Convention Center, right next door to our hotel (boy, how convenient is that!)

The Exhibit Hall opened at 10 AM sharp.  We had an hour to shop and drop our door prize tickets into vendors door prize boxes before heading off to sessions at 11 AM.  What a scramble!  Had to go back to several vendors later in the day.

I snagged a ticket for the Illinois State Genealogical Society Luncheon.  Great food and speaker at lunch time.  The afternoon had me pulling Room Monitor duty for one of the sessions.  Not a bad gig.

The Exhibit Hall was open until 8 PM.  FamilySearch handed out large cookies and bottled water.  As she walked from booth to booth calling out door prize winners, Patricia Oxley, Exhibits Chair, had a line of potential winners following her all around the exhibit hall.  Really funny to watch.  Great fun!

2011 SCGS Jamboree - Day 3

Today was the last day of Jamboree until next year.  I hit the Exhibit Hall HARD.  I shopped, renewed a yearly subscription and shopped some more.  Oh so many goodies to look, feel and try-out.  My credit card got a full workout and my Jamboree bag became a shopping bag.  Couldn't wait to get home and start using everything.

I must say, the PINK SHEETS SCGS put together for us were great, I never left the convention center without one.  The Pink Sheets were the key to information about Jamboree.  It had the daily schedules for presentations and other activities.  They were the "must have" document throughout the weekend.  Thank you SCGS for making the process of finding the classes easy.

My first session of the day started at 7:30 a.m. (what was I thinking!!)  Since I'm a lax quilter, I attended the "Quilts - The Fabric of Family History" class.  The quilts were wonderful and the speaker, Don Beld was delightful.  He had a regular trunk show.  It took me back to when I use to belong to my local quilting guild, and breakfast was included.

The other sessions I chose:

RootsMagic: FamilySearch Made Easy

Sidestep Genealogy

Many Records Lead to Grandma - No Source Stands Alone

I met new friends, learned so much, had FUN and shopped until I dropped.  What a great way to spend a three day weekend.  I LOVE Jamboree!