Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Fairfax (VA) Genealogical Society Call for Papers

The following announcement was written by the Fairfax Genealogical Society:

The Fairfax Genealogical Society is accepting proposals for its General Meetings, Education Classes, Fall Fair, and Spring Conference for 2010-2011. All events are held in Fairfax County which is in northern Virginia, just west of Washington, D.C. Please see the complete Calls for Papers at www.fxgs.org/callforpapers.htm for the exact details and dates. All submissions must be received between 01 July and 01 October 2009.

Upcoming Events

The Upcoming Events section of this newsletter is published as a newsletter article once per month, usually in the first week of the month. However, you can also view the latest list of events at any time by clicking on "Upcoming Events" in the Navigation menu near the upper right corner of the page at http://www.eogn.com.

Each event is listed with the name, location and dates. Click on the name to see the details, including a link to the event's web page or to an e-mail address of someone who will provide still more information. The EOGN list of Upcoming Events is also available as an RSS newsfeed at http://www.trumba.com/calendars/eogns_calendar.rss.

Two Days Left to Save on the FGS Genealogy Conference

The following announcement was written by the (U.S.) Federation of Genealogical Societies:

Wednesday, July 1st is an important date. That is the last day to register with a savings of $50.00 for the exciting Federation of Genealogical Societies 2009 “Conference for the Nation’s Genealogists.” The September 2-5 event is being held in Little Rock, hosted by the Arkansas Genealogical Society. The hospitality features of this conference will make us all feel right at home!

Southern California Genealogy Jamboree is a Huge Success

I just returned from a two-and-a-half-day genealogy conference in Burbank, California. The Southern California Genealogical Society held their annual Genealogy Jamboree this weekend, and it was a blow-out success. About 1,500 genealogists attended this year's Jamboree, making it one of the larger genealogy conferences of the year in North America. In fact, the attendance at this annual event has grown so much that it now meets or exceeds the attendance at some of the national events.

Comment: Successes and Failures of Genealogy Conferences

Warning: the following article contains personal opinions.

One thing fascinates me: almost everywhere I go, I hear genealogy society officers moaning and groaning about declining attendance at the events they sponsor. In fact, the two best-known national conferences in North America have had difficulty in recent years attracting attendees. Their numbers bounce up and down a bit from year to year, but neither of them have been able to attract the crowds that they used to attract a decade or so ago.

Sponsors of some local, statewide, and regional events offer many similar reports: some of their conferences are not like “the good old days.” Indeed, I have heard some society officers speculate that interest in genealogy is declining or that there is too much competition from the Internet.

I think we can put those myths to rest.

Wi-Fi at the Genealogy Jamboree

I was amazed at how many wi-fi Internet network connections were available at the Southern California Genealogical Society’s Genealogy Jamboree. Whenever I opened my computer’s wi-fi connection screen, one or two dozen wi-fi networks were listed. Most of them were closed networks, and attendees were unable to connect to those; but, a number of free and open connections were also on the list.

I brought my wi-fi networking hardware and offered free wi-fi connections to attendees all day long in the exhibit hall. The "EOGN-free-wi-fi" signal was strong in the hall and even provided a useable signal in the "relaxation area" with tables and chairs outside the hall. Anyone with a laptop or a handheld computer with wi-fi capabilities could sit and check e-mail at no charge. Similar free wi-fi networks were also available in the adjacent Marriott hotel's lobby and in restaurants across the street.

32nd Annual Acadian Festival in Madawaska, Maine

The 32nd Annual Acadian Festival will take place June 25-28 in Madawaska, Maine. The festival celebrates the culture and heritage of the Acadians who, driven from Nova Scotia during the 18th century, ultimately arrived in the St. John Valley and established settlements that later became American and Canadian towns.

Much of the Festival will take place at St. David Church on U.S. Route 1. I paid close attention when I read about that location as I have many ancestors who were christened, married, or eulogized in that church. I have been to the church myself for a couple of family weddings. If you don't know where Madawaska is, get out a map of Maine and look at the northern part of the state, the very northernmost tip. That's where you'll find Madawaska.

Jewish Genealogy Seminar Calls for Papers

The Israel Genealogical Society (IGS) and the Jewish Family Research Association (JFRA) announced a call for English or Hebrew academic papers in advance of the fifth annual Jewish Genealogy Seminar. The December 1 seminar will take place at the Museum of the Diaspora on the Tel Aviv University campus. This year’s theme is “Preserving Memory: Family and Community” and will discuss various methods of recording and transmitting family and community history.

Family History Expo Call for Papers

The following announcement was written by Family History Expo:

Colorado Family History Expo June 12-13, 2009 Submissions ~ closed	Wyoming Family History Expo July 17-18, 2009 Submissions ~ closed	Salt Lake City Family History Expo August 28-29, 2009 Submissions ~ closed
California Family History Expo October 16-17, 2009 Submissions deadline ~ June 19, 2009	Mesa, Arizona Family History Expo January 22-23, 2010 Submissions deadline ~ July 20, 2009	St. George, Utah Family History Expo February 26-27, 2010 Submissions deadline ~ August 31, 2009

Submissions will close once schedule is fully selected. Don't delay submit today!

Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado

Family History Expos has sponsored a number of excellent genealogy expos in several western states. You can watch a YouTube video with Lisa Louise Cooke and myself describing the company's genealogy expo in Mesa, Arizona last November at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlU2XKmFE90 and also read a number of my earlier articles about the same company's St. George, Utah conferences by going to http://tinyurl.com/qkrspu. Now the same company will sponsor a genealogy expo in the Denver suburbs in Loveland, Colorado next week on June 12 and 13. If you can be in Loveland, I suspect you will enjoy this event.

Photos from the 2009 OGS Conference

One of the nicer conferences I have ever attended is that of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Sadly, I could not attend it this year. However, Elizabeth Lapointe was in attendance and sent along some photographs of this year's event. She also kindly gave permission to post the photographs on this newsletter's web site.

You can see the photographs at http://blog.eogn.com/photos/2009_ogs_conference.

You can also read more about the 2009 OGS Conference in Toronto on Elizabeth Lapointe's "Genealogy Canada" blog at http://www.genealogycanada.blogspot.com.

Two Weeks Left to Save $50.00 on the FGS/AGS Genealogy Conference

The following was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:

The Federation of Genealogical Societies and Arkansas Genealogical Society invite you to four full days of genealogical education (and fun) surrounded by others who understand what you do and actually want to talk about it. The 2009 Conference “Passages through Time” will be held September 2-5, 2009 in beautiful and amazing Little Rock, Arkansas. Four days? Arrive on Tuesday, September 1st and make it 4.25 days!

Report from Raleigh

The annual "Conference in the States" ended last night. This four-day event was co-sponsored by the National Genealogical Society and the North Carolina Genealogical Society. It was held at the Raleigh Convention Center, a state-of-the-art facility that served as a nearly perfect venue for the event. I never heard the final attendance figures but am guessing it was approximately 1,500 people.

This was my 21st NGS conference in the past 22 years (I missed the 1995 conference due to a family conflict), and I believe this year's event was one of the better ones. My hat is off to the organizers.

This year's conference was similar to most past NGS conferences: more than 100 top-notch presentations were given by many of today's foremost genealogy lecturers, along with numerous workshops, sponsored luncheons with speakers, a Friday night banquet, various tours, and more. You can find a list of all the events in the online conference brochure at http://members.ngsgenealogy.org/Conferences/Program.cfm.

You can view Michael Murphy's photos of the exhibits hall at http://blog.eogn.com/photos/ngs2009/.

2010 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree Call For Papers

The following announcement was written by the Southern California Genealogical Society:

41st Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree
Friday through Sunday, June 11-13, 2010
Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center
Burbank, California

The Southern California Genealogical Society is pleased to announce an invitation to submit lecture proposals for the 41st Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, to be held at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Burbank, California June 11-13, 2010.  The 2010 edition of this conference is expected to draw nearly 1200 participants, speakers, and exhibitors.  Jamboree has a well-earned reputation as one of the largest and most popular genealogical events in the United States.

Cherokee Ancestry Event in Tahlequah, OK

Gene Norris, Thomas Mooney and Roy Hamilton will be the featured speakers at the eighth annual Cherokee Ancestry Conference June 12-13 in The Restaurant of the Cherokees, 17793 Highway 62, Tahlequah.

I'll be at the NGS Conference This Week

The U.S. National Genealogical Society is holding its annual "Conference in the States" this week in Raleigh, North Carolina. If you can be in Raleigh for one day or more, you will enjoy this event. It starts on Wednesday, May 13, and continues through Saturday, May 16.

This year's event will feature more than 160 educational sessions and workshops conducted by many of the top names in family history research from North Carolina and around the nation. The variety of topics—from beginner workshops, to understanding and using DNA testing for family history, to finding resources for Native American, African-American, Scots- Irish, and other ethnic groups, to complex problem-solving, and more—provide tools for everyone from the merely curious to those who aspire to become credentialed or professional genealogists.

Wi-Fi With Your Laptop or PDA in Raleigh

The National Genealogical Society's annual conference is being held in Raleigh, North Carolina, this week. (See: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/05/ill-be-at-the-ngs-conference-this-week.html.) I expect a thousand or more avid genealogists will congregate at the Raleigh Convention Center.

One of the things I have always disliked about traveling is the feeling of being incommunicado. That is, simply because you are on the road doesn't mean that you should be isolated from your e-mail, stock market reports, sports scores, or other news from back home. If you attend this year's NGS conference, you won't need to feel isolated.

"Land Cruise" Lectures Announced

The following announcement was written by Wholly Genes, Inc.:

The 5th Annual Genealogy Conference and "Land Cruise" will be held in a beautiful historic resort in the Shanendoah mountains of Virginia, 26-30 Aug 2009.  At less than $400 per person (_including_ meals) for this four-day event, it is not likely that you'll find a more cost-effective way to learn how to be a better researcher, with presentations by some of the most popular and experienced professional genealogists in the country.  The schedule even includes an all-day research trip to Washington D.C. so you can put some of your new skills to immediate good use at the National Archives, Library of Congress, and DAR Library, among others.

NERGC 2009 is a Success

I just spent three pleasant days at the New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC) in Manchester, New Hampshire. I must say that this year's event was well organized, and most everything worked as planned. I never heard the final attendance count but am guessing it must have been close to 800 genealogists. The venue was great, just about the perfect size for an event of this type. Everyone I talked with seemed to enjoy the conference.

I could go on and write about the conference in detail, but you can already find lots of information in previous articles that I wrote at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/04/this-week-at-nergc.html and at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/02/new-england-regional-genealogical-conference.html as well as more information on NERGC's web site at http://nergc.org/2009/. Everything there talks about the "upcoming event," but I can report that most everything happened as planned.

I will share a few of my own observations about the conference, however.

On the Road Again: to NERGC in Manchester, NH

I will be traveling for the next few days so I'll issue the same disclaimer that I write every time I travel: I do expect to be traveling with an assortment of laptop computers, a wireless "air card" and wi-fi equipment, modem, and other gadgets. I expect to post articles to this newsletter more or less daily during my travels. However, don't be surprised if I miss a day or two because of hardware malfunctions or travel constraints.

This should be one of my easier trips: I'll jump in the car and drive to Manchester, New Hampshire. That's only a bit more than a one hour drive for me. In fact, when I travel to distant genealogy conferences, I often fly out of the Manchester airport. This time, however, instead of going to the airport, I'll go downtown and check into the Radisson Hotel.

I'll attend the New England Regional Genealogical Conference, otherwise known as NERGC. This conference is sponsored by a consortium of more than twenty genealogy societies. I expect that it will be the largest genealogy conference of the year to be held in the northeastern United States.