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

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

Post - Family History Expo

I had a great time at the Arizona Family History Expo last month held in Mesa, Arizona.  So many knowledgeable speakers and so many classes to choose from.

On opening day, Friday, January 18th, I attended:

Opening Keynote Address, Ancestors & Other Persons of Interest by Barbara Renick

Breaking Through Your Brick Wall by Cathi Weber

Five C's to Success in Genealogy Today by Barbara Renick

Census Techniques and Strategies for Finding Elusive Ancestors by Danielle Batson

Evaluating What You Have Found:  The Third Stage of Research by Barbara Renick

On Saturday, January 19th, I attended the following classes:
Cemeteries Go Digital by Geoff Rasmussen
Coming to America:  U.S. Immigration, 1820-1954 by Danielle Batson
U.S. Naturalization: Navigating the Records by Danielle Batson
Closing Keynote Address by Holly T. Hansen

Sometimes when you choose a class that you know nothing about the subject, or you think you already know the subject pretty well, you get pleasantly surprised.

I enjoyed each and every class I attended.  The one that really stuck with me was the class given by Geoff Rasmussen, Cemeteries Go Digital.  The very next day I downloaded the smartphone app of OneBillionGraves.com.  I then got to use it on the following Monday morning.  My sister and I visited the Veteran Cemetery in Phoenix.  We located our uncle's and friends of my sister's headstones.  I took photos of all their headstones with the OneBillionGraves app, uploaded the photos right there in the cemetery to the OneBillionGraves server.  By the time we got home, the headstones were already transcribed on the Internet.

I will definitely be using this app more and more.  I love learning new techniques and strategies.  The Family History Expos are closer to you than you think. Give them a try, you won't be sorry!