SCGS 2015 Jamboree – Day 2

Since I’m staying at a hotel close to the convention center, I didn’t have to hop out of bed as early as I did yesterday from home. Last night I updated My Schedule on the SCGS Conference App and chose some interesting classes. Here’s what my line up looks like, subject to change.

I have a conflict with some morning classes. I’ve hear all three excellent speakers in the past so it’s going to be tough to choose.

9:45 am to 10:45 am - Thomas MacEntee – Creating a Community Indexing Project

Or
10:00 am to 12:00 pm - Jean Wilcox Hibben – Society Support & Share Open Forum
Or
11:00 am to 12:00 pm - Drew Smith – Crowdsourcing Your Brick Walls

EXHIBIT HALL opens yay!

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm – Michael Brophy – Paddy on the Net: Irish Genealogy Databases

     I don’t have Irish ancestry but I’m helping a friend of mine with her maternal line. Since I haven’t done any Irish research before I’m going to start at the beginning.

2:30 to 3:30 pm – Michael D. Locapo – Methods for Identifying the German Origins of American Immigrants

     German is my mother’s paternal line.

4:00 pm to 5:00 pm – Cindi Ingle - Time lines: The Straight Line Between You and Your Ancestor

Another conflict:

5:30 pm to 6:30 pm – Michael D. Lacopo – Finding and Utilizing German Church Records
Or
Thomas MacEntee – Genealogy Do-Over – A Year of Learning from Research Mistakes
      I’ve been following the Do-Over on Facebook and plan on jumping into the next round when it starts over on July 3.

Well that's it for today. Going to be a long day, but looking forward to it!

©2015, copyright, Gayle Ficarra Wolcott

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.

Getting Ready for SCGS 2015 Jamboree!

I'll be attending the Southern California Genealogical Society's 2015 Jamboree  this year. It's being held in Burbank, CA. I love going to this national conference because it's "in my own backyard" so to speak. I live about an hour away in Ventura County. No airplane ticket or car rental to hassle with. I'll be attend from Thursday through Sunday.

I’ve barely given the conference much advance thought, but in reality, it's this week! My pre-planning has begun.

This year I signed up for a Digital Scrapbook workshop on Thursday; it's an all day event. I've got the photos, documents, maps and other files I want to include in the scrapbook in a folder on my laptop's desktop.

1. I've downloaded the conference App and started looking through the schedule. I love the Apps the conferences have been implementing. Everything I need is on my Samsung S5 Android phone.
2. I'll print out my personal trip checklist so I don't forget anything I can't live without.
3. I've been going through the syllabus and select the classes I’ll plan to attend. I've also started printing out any handout that have been supplied.
4. I need to go through the list of exhibitors and note the ones I want to make sure I see. I plan on updating my genealogy software to the newest version.
5. Think about the people I want to try to meet.

I look forward to this conference each year and meeting up with friends I haven't seen in a year.

2013 Jamboree - Day 1

I've been coming to SCGS Jamboree for about 10 years.  I look forward to all three days.  I've always blocked out those days early on our family calendar. Sent in my registration, packed my bag and my genealogy info.

This year was no exception. I downloaded the 2013 App; got it all setup with my schedule. I had reserved a room at the Marriott for three nights. I even got here extra early just to get a parking spot in the lot.  Didn't want to have to park over at the airport and then schlep my luggage.  I was so ready, prepared, excited, just forgot one little thing.  I forgot to send in my early registration.  Tomorrow, I'll be standing in line at 12 p.m. as a walk-in registrant.

This won't dampen my excitement about being here in Burbank. Hope I get into all the classes I want.  If not, I have backup classes I can dash to.

Roots Magic User Group meeting

Today I attended the Roots Magic User Group monthly meeting. I'm a member of Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS), the meetings are held at their library. Since the library is in Burbank, I have almost an hours drive to get there.

I've been using Roots Magic for the past year, these user meetings have been so helpful. I really love the program and feel I have "tech support" every month. Today's meeting was a recap of Sources and Citations. The woman who was teaching is just wonderful. She's a grad student home for the Thanksgiving holiday studing in Boston.

I'm currently the publicity chairman for my local genealogy society. I need to get our monthly newsletter out this week, but have put it off to put in some genealogy time for myself. Busy week ahead.