The following article was written by Maggie Loughran. Please note the rather significant special offer for readers of this newsletter mentioned near the end of the article.
It was way back in 1991 that I attended my first British genealogy conference – organised by my local genealogy society. I was still wet behind the ears – as far as genealogy was concerned anyway and long before genealogy became my profession.
Nevertheless I immediately saw the value of attending such events. Attending a conference gives you the opportunity to meet and interact with like-minded people, who share your enthusiasm for the past. Many established researchers attending such events will be only too happy to give a helping hand to those just starting their research, those who have hit a brick wall or those just wishing to add shoots to their roots.
Enjoy basking in the conference atmosphere; share the vibes of the live lecture, which can only be experienced by actually being there. You have the opportunity to attend a large number of lectures, seminars or workshops - given by guest speakers face to face: each an expert in their own area. Plus get guidance and advice specific to your needs, increasing your knowledge on the subjects of your choice along the way. Attending a conference can be something special, a wonderful experience and above all, conferences are great fun.
The next British national conference is being hosted by the Halsted Trust from 28 to 31 August 2009, and is being held at the East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham, England.
Entitled ‘Open the Door & Here are the People,’ and taking on board the needs of both the current generation of researcher as well as those well-seasoned in their studies, the conference will cover a broad spectrum of subjects of interest to the family, local and social historian. There will be experts, information and celebrity speakers on subjects as diverse as the workhouse to exploration, the military to industrial Britain, medieval research to one-name studies - with much else in between.
Speakers include military historian and author Richard Holmes, historians and authors Kate Williams and Sarah Wise, Nick Barratt, TV genealogist and medieval historian, George Redmonds, historian and renowned names expert. Other presentations will include experts from many of the major national, local and specialist archives and record offices.
These include the British Association for Local History, FamilySearch(TM), The Galleries of Justice, Institute for Name-Studies, King's College, London, The Library & Museum of Freemasonry, The Media Archive for Central England, The National Archives (London) National Maritime Museum, National Monuments Record, Parliamentary Archives, Royal Geographical Society and The Women’s Library.
Sunday will be Ireland Day featuring three speakers from Ireland’s renown research and publishing company Eneclann - Brian Donovan, Elizabeth Cuddy and Rachel Murphy - plus Audrey Collins from TNA. They will cover subjects from basic Irish research, Irish land and property records, to records for Irish research held at The National Archives, London.
The UK’s Society of Genealogists will be providing a series of sessions covering the basic sources for research in the changing environment of the 21st century.
The all inclusive cost of this 4 day conference is £369 (approx. $606) and includes en-suite accommodation, free wifi internet, all meals (including tea/coffee etc), lectures, and entertainment. The day rate, cost of partial attendance, booking form, and full programme are available at www.openthedoor.org.uk
Readers of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter can save £40 ($66) on the full conference price - reducing it to £329 (approx. $540) by going to www.openthedoor.org.uk/booking.html clicking on the special offer code tab, then entering DE123 into both the 'user name' and 'password' fields. The deadline for booking is 20th August.
