Join us for dinner! Join us for door prizes! Join us for Genealogy Jeopardy!
After dinner, match your knowledge of genealogy technology with that of three prominent genealogists. Do you know what you think you know? Do you know what you ought to know? Come watch this exciting, live, genealogical version of America’s favorite game show. You will know the topics, but will you know the questions that fit the answers? You can find out at the EOGN Dinner.
You are invited to join other genealogists on Saturday evening after the RootsTech conference for dinner, door prizes, fun, and games.
Yes, there will be games. And I know there will be fun. We will play Genealogy Jeopardy.
We will also award door prizes. One lucky attendee will even take home an Apple iPad!
When I attend genealogy conferences, I like to hold dinners for newsletter readers and their invited guests. I have been hosting dinners at the end of genealogy conferences for the past 23 years, even before this newsletter first appeared. Wow! It doesn't seem that long. In the past, these have usually been informal events at local restaurants events with little or no formal plans. There have been no agendas, no presentations, no speeches, and as little planning as possible. For lack of a better name, I call these the EOGN Dinners. "EOGN" stands for Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.
The dinners have grown, and this time I am planning a special agenda. We will hold dinner in a hotel's banquet room to allow more of you to join us.
The highlight of the evening will be Genealogy Jeopardy, a special genealogy version of America's favorite television game show. Contestants will have an opportunity to display their genealogy knowledge. Audience members also can match their knowledge against that of the contestants.
In Genealogy Jeopardy, all the normal trivia questions about history, literature, the arts, pop culture, science, sports, and geography, will be replaced by questions about genealogy and family history. The unique Jeopardy answer-and-question format will be preserved: contestants are presented with clues in the form of answers and must phrase their responses in question form.
The role of Alex Trebek will be played by well-known professional genealogist Kory Meyerink.
You are invited.
We will meet at the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown at 7 pm on February 12, shortly after the close of the RootsTech conference. The location is a very short walk from the conference site. In fact, even wheelchairs will be able to travel the very short distance from the convention center to the dinner location. We have a reserved banquet room at the Radisson. It will be a genealogists-only evening!
Dinner will be buffet style, and you can sit with friends or meet new friends, as you wish. A cash bar will also be available.
After dinner, we will clear the tables and Alex... uh, Kory, will take over with a game of Genealogy Jeopardy. You won't want to miss this exciting evening. Genealogy Jeopardy is a fast-paced game with answers, scoreboards, and more, all visible to everyone in the audience. Play along with three expert contestants.
We will end the evening with drawings for a number of door prizes. The grand prize is an Apple iPad.
Like past EOGN dinners, reservations are required. In fact, you will need to make a reservation online and print out your ticket(s) before you attend the conference. Only those with tickets will be admitted.
Unlike past EOGN dinners, payment must be made in advance. The charge is $35 per person, and payment may be made with a credit card. The $35 charge includes everything except alcoholic beverages. Payment for beverages needs to be made at the bar.
For the last two EOGN dinners, I used an online reservation system, and it worked well. It eliminated all the confusion, so we will use the online system again.
Okay, here's how to attend the dinner:
- You absolutely MUST have a reservation in advance. In fact, you need to make the reservation online and then print your own ticket(s) on your printer and bring the ticket(s) with you. If you don't have a printer available, please let me know, and I will print your ticket for you several days in advance and give it to you at the conference. Either way, you must have a ticket. No one will be admitted without a ticket. Tickets are non-refundable, as I have to pay the hotel in advance.
- If you are bringing a spouse or other invited guest, make sure you make reservations for everyone in your party. If there are two of you, you need two tickets.
- We will start accepting reservations at 9 PM Eastern time on Wednesday, February 2. That's 8 PM Central Time, 7 PM Mountain Time, and 6 PM Pacific Time. At that time, I will post a message here on http://www.eogn.com that contains a link to the reservation system. Read the message at http://www.eogn.com, click on the link, and the next screen you see will be the reservation sign-up form.
- Past experience has shown that these reservations fill up quickly. However, if we don't fill the reservation list this time, reservations will close seven days later, at 12 noon Eastern time on February 9. I have to call the restaurant and give them an exact final headcount on the afternoon of February 9. There can be no last-minute additions (unless someone cancels and you can obtain their ticket).
I'll see you at dinner! Join us at Genealogy Jeopardy! You could win a door prize, even an iPad! Bring your appetite and your friends!
