The following announcement was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:
The early registration price for “Footprints of Family History,” the 2008 version of the Federation of Genealogical Societies national conference, will be honored until 1 July.
“We realize that people have been grappling with $4 a gallon gas and other economic issues,” said James M. Beidler, an FGS vice president and national co-chair for the conference. “But we hope that people will consider using their federal stimulus rebate checks for a registration and meals to the FGS conference.”
For those who’ve never been to a national genealogical conference – the first and only one held in the metropolitan Philadelphia area was the 1997 National Genealogical Society conference in Valley Forge – it’s a prime opportunity to pack a year or two of learning about family trees into just a week.
The conference theme is “Philadelphia: Footprints of Family History” and will be held Sept. 3-6. Conference activities will be held in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St., as well as the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, 1201 Market St. The two venues are conveniently connected with an enclosed sky bridge.
That’s because the opportunity to sample presentations from better than 200 offerings comes with the registration, along with a CD-ROM containing the syllabus handouts from all those lectures since up to 12 presentations run simultaneously (A paper copy of the syllabus is available for purchase separately).
Topics of the presentations vary from ones focused on research in Philadelphia, to those dealing with the “how-to’s” of genealogy, to other specialized talks on everything from ethnic groups to repositories.
The type of people who make the presentations varies, too. Some lectures are given by the heavyweights of the genealogical community– people such as Elizabeth Shown Mills, Marie Varrelman Melchiori, Kay Haviland Freilich, Patricia Law Hatcher, J. Mark Lowe, Paula Stuart-Warren, Henry Hoff, Tony Burroughs, and Steve Morse – but there will also be numerous “new faces” and local talent.
Another magnet drawing people to the conference is its Exhibit Hall, packed with vendors and societies that are all set to tell attendees about the products or services they provide to the genealogical community. A “first time ever” for this conference will be a Wednesday (Sept. 3) evening Grand Opening of the Exhibit Hall, which will feature three hours focusing on the vendors and other activities right in the hall.
There will also be several new features in the exhibit hall, including a “live events area” expected to be beamed out beyond the four walls of the conference as well as a “centerpiece display” with facsimiles of some interesting historical documents.
For more information, contact Federation of Genealogical Societies, PO Box 200940, Austin, TX 78720-0940; phone (888) FGS-1500; Web site, www.fgsconference.org.
