I am headed out this week to Hartford, Connecticut. I'll be attending the New England Regional Genealogical Conference, often called "NERGC."
While I will be carrying a laptop computer and various wireless network devices, there is always a possibility of being left incommunicado. Don't be surprised if there are no new articles posted to the daily newsletter for a few days. Next Sunday's weekly Plus Edition e-mail newsletter also might be delayed by a day or two. Luckily, Hartford is a short trip from my home so any delays should be minimal.
NERGC looks like it will be a great conference. I heard "via the grapevine" that the conference has already exceeded the organizers' expectations on the number of admission tickets sold in advance. You can read my earlier article about the NERGC conference at http://tinyurl.com/2mrwje. You can also find the long list of scheduled seminars, taught by many of today's leading genealogy experts, on the conference's web site at http://www.nergc.org.
Of course, my favorite area at most conferences is the Exhibitors' Hall, and I expect to spend many hours there at NERGC 2007. I am sponsoring a booth there for this newsletter. I hope to meet as many newsletter readers as possible. When you enter the Exhibitors' Hall, go all the way to the back right corner to find booths 55 and 56. Chances are I'll be there. If not, I'll be back soon.
Admission to the Exhibitors' Hall is free, anyone in the Hartford area is invited to come in and browse the hall, even if you are unable to attend the conference.
If you have a Wi-Fi equipped laptop or PDA, bring it along, and you can check your e-mail or perform other tasks on the web from the Exhibitors' Hall. The wireless networking signal should be strongest near booths 55 and 56 although I expect it will cover the entire hall. Look for a wireless network that is broadcasting an SSID of "eogn." This free network access is being provided by Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.
The eogn network is shared, so please use it wisely. I encourage you to use the wireless network to check your e-mail and similar tasks. However, please do not start downloading huge files or otherwise saturating the connection. If you are a vendor, please do not use it for customer-facing purposes, but feel free to check your own e-mail whenever you wish. If the connection gets overloaded, I'll be forced to turn it off. If we all use it wisely, more people can benefit.
If you can be in Hartford this Friday or Saturday, I think you might enjoy this event.
