On the Road Again, This Time in Mesa, Arizona

If you read this newsletter regularly, you already know that I travel quite a bit. Right now I am in Mesa, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix) for tomorrow morning's opening of the 1st Annual Mesa Arizona Family History Expo. The Expo is being held at the Mesa Convention Center at 263 N. Center Street, Mesa. I can't believe they start at 8 AM! (yawn)

For details about this Family History Expo, you can read my earlier article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/11/mesa-arizona-fa.html as well as look at the Expo's web page at http://www.fhexpos.com/events/upcoming.php?event_id=43.

Please note that the keynote address and exhibit hall are FREE to the public. Please feel free to drop by. If you do, please drop by the Footnote booth to find me and to say "Hi." I should be in or around the Footnote booth in the Exhibits Hall most of the time and would love to meet newsletter readers. However, I will be giving one presentation at 4:30 PM on Friday so I will not be in the Exhibits Hall at that time.

If you cannot attend this event, you will be able to read my report in this newsletter on Sunday or Monday.

If you are at the Expo, bring your laptop or Wi-Fi-equipped PDA. I will be offering wireless networking to all once again in the Exhibits Hall. Simply turn on your computer and look for a Wi-Fi network that is broadcasting an SSID of "eogn." The network is available for personal use only at no charge. No user name or password is required. The Wi-Fi network is offered on an "as is" basis and might disappear at any time. I suspect it will disappear on Friday at 4:30 when I give my presentation as I need to take the wireless networking hardware into the lecture hall where I will be speaking.

This is also the spot where I insert my normal disclaimers about new articles being posted in the newsletter. I may be busy for the next few days. The laptop and/or networking equipment I use might fail. In any case, there may not be as many articles as normal in the next couple of days.

Actually, I have already arrived in Arizona and this article is being written from my hotel room. The laptop and networking appear to be working well so far.

See you at the Expo!

Comments

[Judy]

Mesa is not a suburb of Phoenix! It is east of Phoenix but the two cities do not share a border. From Wikipedia: "Mesa is one of the United States' fastest-growing cities, and currently ranks as the 37th-largest. 2006 Census Bureau estimates put the city's population at 460,155. The city has a larger population than better-known U.S. cities such as Cleveland, Miami, Minneapolis, Saint Louis, or Tampa!"

I used to live there so I thought I'd mention it. In genealogy, you gotta know the territory!

[Michelle Kolbe]

Hi Dick, Good to see you at the Family History Expo here in Mesa. Thanks also for providing the wifi network for us. It is so nice of you to do that. For those of you not at the expo, it is really great and the speakers are fabulous!

[Robert B.]

I have to give the nod to Dick on this one - While those of us who live in areas near larger neighbors may not like it and like to emphasize our size/independence we are by definition - Suburbs.

Robert B.
North Las Vegas, NV

Suburb \Sub"urb\, n. [L. suburbium; sub under, below, near + urbs a city. See Urban.]

1. An outlying part of a city or town; a smaller place immediately adjacent to a city; in the plural, the region which is on the confines of any city or large town; as, a house stands in the suburbs; a garden situated in the suburbs of Paris. ``In the suburbs of a town.'' --Chaucer.

[Dae Powell]

Suburb or not ... Mesa ROX! Seldom have I visited a city wherein I felt welcome and comfortable as I do here in Mesa, Arizona. It is a charming town with friendly people and every convenience I could want.

The EXPO here was professionally done with excellent speakers and an outstanding selection of topics. I've not met anyone who was dissatisfied. My only regret is that I could not attend all of the sessions, as so many were held simultaneously and each given only once.

I love this place and these people. I will return for the Jan 2010 EXPO here. Thanks, Holly and Kim for the wonderful time we all had.

Happy Dae.
http://www.ShoeStringGenealogy.com

[Dick Eastman]

According to the Mesa, Arizona Chamber of Commerce, the city of Mesa is a suburb of Phoenix. See http://www.mesachamber.org/links.htm for the reference.

[Edwin Bailey]

I had a great time at the Expo.

The Mesa Convention Center seems to be a wonderful convention site -in not too big a downtown area that drives prices up, yet having a relaxed, spread-out, semi-tropical ambience, with all the amenities nearby.

There at this recent gathering, there seemed to be no lack, from this relative beginner's viewpoint, of impressively knowledgeable people involved in dispensing really good information about genealogical practice. I took four classes on how to continue delving into my Swedish roots -top drawer stuff, in my opinion. And on and on, for example with a genetic testing class, through which I gathered the information to feel confident and stop procrastinating and send in a sample now, and by the way through this process save half price of the test with a coupon obtained on site -this savings incidentally promises to more than cover the Expo entry fee. Not to mention two really valued books found and purchased.

Hurrah for you Dick for advertising this Expo in advance, and for being your genial self there. Thanks.