Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

No Plus Edition Email This Evening

I usually send the Plus Edition newsletter by email to all subscribers on Sunday evening, although I also add a disclaimer. I often state "...except when my travel schedule interferes" or some similar words. Tonight is one of those occasions.

I have to get up early in the morning to catch a plane from London, England to Orlando, Florida. I have decided to not stay up until 2 AM, as I often do, to compile and send the Plus Edition newsletter, especially since I have to get up at 5 AM. I'm going to get some sleep instead.

On the Road Again

This is a short note to let you know I will be offline and incommunicado for several hours starting later today. I am flying to London, England to attend the Who Do You Think You Are? Live! event being held this weekend. This is the largest genealogy conference in the English-speaking world, possibly the largest anywhere.

While over the Atlantic for several hours, I won't have online access. Once I land, I should have full online access again, using the 3 Network "air card" that I purchased on one of last year's trips. While in London, I hope to write new articles that describe the events at this year's Who Do You Think You Are? Live! show.

See you on the other side!

 

Largest Ever EOGN Dinner Held After RootsTech 2012

After most major genealogy conferences, I host a dinner for newsletter readers. This is a tradition started years ago with an informal "pick up" dinner at a local restaurant. The dinners have since grown into far bigger events, now held in hotel banquet rooms. Last Saturday evening, a few hours after RootsTech 2012 ended, the largest ever such dinner was held at the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown in Salt Lake City. 112 genealogists gathered for dinner.

These events are always completely informal with no presentations or speeches, except for a few welcoming remarks by myself. I also awarded doorprizes to several attendees.

On The Road Again, This Time to RootsTech

I travel often, as has been mentioned before in this newsletter. However, this week I am trying something new: I interrupted travel in order to travel someplace else.

For the past month, I have been living in a motor home. However, today I will park the motor home in a storage lot, drive to a local airport, and fly to Salt Lake City. I will spend the next few days at RootsTech 2012, the largest genealogy conference in North America. The event will be held Thursday through Saturday, February 2 through 4.

I have been told that the organizers already sold 3,000 tickets in advance of the conference and also expect to sell a few more tickets at the door.

Update: EOGN Dinner at RootsTech in Salt Lake City

If you would like to join more than 100 other genealogists for dinner after the close of RootsTech, you need to sign up NOW! Ticket sales end tomorrow (Monday, January 30) at 9 AM Eastern time. The end date of Monday is required as I have to notify the hotel of the headcount. In turn, the hotel needs to order enough food no later than Monday in order to be prepared for everyone on Saturday evening.

As of the time I am writing this article on Sunday morning, 106 genealogists have signed up to attend the dinner. We may get a few more last-minute additions.

Update: EOGN Dinner Following RootsTech2012 in Salt Lake City

Will you attend RootsTech 2012 in Salt Lake City on February 2 through 4? If so, would you like to attend dinner with a bunch of genealogists on Saturday evening, shortly after the close of RootsTech? Indeed, you can join at least 91 other genealogists for dinner!

I often sponsor "pick up" dinners with no set agenda after the close of major genealogy conferences. These typically have no presentations, no speeches, no commercials, and little other organization. Most of the time, it is a bunch of people with similar interests going out to dinner together. The highlight of the evening is the conversations to be held over the dinner table. However, a rumor from a good source states that door prizes also will be awarded at this dinner. These will include at least one valuable door prize.

This Newsletter is Sixteen Years Old!

I'm opening a bottle of champagne. I rarely drink champagne but today is a time of celebration.

Boy, the time does fly! Sixteen years has slipped by in almost the blink of an eye. It seems like only yesterday that I sent the first e-mail newsletter to about 100 people, mostly members of CompuServe's Genealogy Forums. None of them knew in advance that the newsletter would arrive; I simply mailed it to people who I thought might be interested. In 1996 nobody objected to receiving unsolicited bulk mail; the phrase "spam mail" had not yet been invented. I shudder to think if I did the same thing in today's Internet environment.

Here is an excerpt from the first newsletter sent January 15, 1996:

Well, it's started. This newsletter is something that I have been considering for a long time, but I finally decided to "take the plunge." I've subscribed to several other electronic newsletters for some time now and have found them to be valuable. On many occasions I have said to myself, "Someone ought to do a weekly newsletter for genealogy news." One day the light bulb went on, and I decided that perhaps I was that someone.

I hope to collect various bits of information that cross my desk and appear on my screen every week. Some of these items may be considered "news items" concerning events and happenings of interest to computer-owning genealogists. Some other items will be mini press releases about new genealogy software or other products and services that have just become available. I may write a few articles about things that are not genealogy-related but still seem to be of interest to me and probably to the readers. This may include articles about online systems, operating systems or other things that affect many of us.

I'm Back

This is a quick note to let you know I have been discharged from the hospital and am now back in my motor home, enjoying life once again.

My thanks to all the people who took the time to write notes of best wishes and to offer suggestions. It is heartwarming to read all the messages. I can't possibly answer each one individually but I have read each one and I certainly appreciate the kind thoughts.

The doctors have assured me that the chest pains were minor and are not an indication of heart problems. In short, I was told to not worry about it. Once the incision from Tuesday's surgery heals, I am to go on with my life the same as before.

I Might Be Offline For a While... Again

I just arrived in Florida a few days ago and have enjoyed the first few days of living in the motor home when a new problem arose. I experienced some significant chest pains and decided I had better get checked out. Two or three hours after arriving at the emergency room of a local hospital, I was in an operating room having a coronary catheterization procedure performed.

The doctors and nurses have assured me it is minor procedure, performed dozens of times every day across the country or even across the world. However, it is never minor when it is YOUR body! I must admit, however, that it was a rather easy procedure from my sedated vantage point.

Saturday EOGN Dinner at RootsTech 2012 in Salt Lake City

You are invited to the EOGN Genealogists' Dinner!

This will be held at 7:30 PM, immediately after the close of the RootsTech 2012 Conference in Salt Lake City. You can make reservations now at http://eogn-slc-2012.eventbrite.com

Join us for dinner! You are invited to join other genealogists on Saturday evening after the RootsTech 2012 conference for dinner. Rumor has it there will also be a few door prizes.

Update: On the Road Again

As mentioned in my earlier article at http://goo.gl/UIDLS, I plan to live in a motor home for the rest of the winter and much of the spring. This week, I drove to Florida and retrieved my motor home from the storage facility where I left it earlier and have now moved on board. I am presently in Jacksonville but plan to move every week or two. I'll be in Florida for about two months, then will move to Texas for a few weeks.

On the Road Again, This Time for a Long Time

Yes, I am traveling again. I've been home for four weeks, which is a long time for me. However, I'm now leaving on an extended trip of four or five months. I don't expect to be back home until April or May. There may be some impact on this newsletter although I hope to minimize any possible changes.

In short, I am moving into my Winnebago motor home and plan to live there all winter and much of the spring. The motor home is presently parked in Jacksonville, Florida, although I don't plan to leave it there very long. I'll leave home tomorrow morning and will drive to Jacksonville. That cross-country drive will require several days, depending on the weather. I'll then spend two or three additional days preparing the motor home, and I also need to purchase a tow bar (trailer) to haul my car behind the motor home. About a week or so from now, I'll leave Jacksonville and commence my adventures. In late winter I'll be driving to Texas and then later to Ohio before returning home in the spring.

You are Invited: Saturday EOGN Dinner after RootsTech in Salt Lake City

Join us for dinner! I would like to invite you and all other EOGN newsletter readers to dinner on Saturday, February 4, in Salt Lake City. The dinner will be held at 7:30 PM, shortly after the close of RootsTech.

The EOGN Dinner will be held at the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown at 215 West South Temple. This is only a few steps from the RootsTech conference venue at the Salt Palace. If you are attending RootsTech, there will be no need to grab a taxi or bus or light rail or to drive to the dinner. 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. It will be a genealogists-only evening!

I Am Taking a Couple of Days Off

I won't be posting any new articles on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I have decided to take some time off and spend it with my family.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very merry holiday season and hope that you can also be with your loved ones in this season.

eogn.com is the 13th Most Popular Genealogy Web Site in the World

I was pleased to read John Reid's latest article comparing the most popular genealogy web sites, based on data from Alexa. John's list shows the site you are reading right now, eogn.com, is the 13th most popular genealogy-related site in the world.

In fact, it was #1 of all the sites that have no online genealogy records, no software to download, and no DNA tests to perform. Not bad for a news and reviews site! I'm proud of that.

Details of all the most popular genealogy sites worldwide are available on John Reid's blog at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2011/12/genealogy-site-rankings.html

On the Road Again

Yes, I am traveling again. This time it is a trip to the Denver, Colorado area. I'll be leaving Monday morning, December 12, and returning on Wednesday, December 14. At this point, I will insert the disclaimer that I seem to have used frequently this year:

I will be traveling with a 2½-pound laptop computer, a 4G/3G wireless card, and wi-fi capabilities as well. In theory, I should be able to continue publishing articles in the same manner as when I am at home. The only difficulty I can see is with time management. Due to almost constant traveling, I will be busy. Please do not be surprised if I miss a day or two of new articles. I most likely will "catch up" when I do connect online again.

My Presentation in Sudbury, Massachusetts

If you are in or near the greater Boston area, I'd like to invite you to attend my presentation this Saturday (December 10) at the Middlesex Chapter of Massachusetts Society of Genealogists. I will be speaking on "The Family History World in 10 Years Time." This will be a bit of a look into the crystal ball. While I will talk about computers, online access, DNA, and other technologies, I will also talk about the changing demographics of genealogists. In short, the world is changing around us.

The meeting starts at 1:30 PM at the Goodnow Library, 21 Concord Road, Sudbury, MA. Best of all, the event is free and open to the public. I hope to see you there!

On the Road Again

It's travel time again. So what else is new? By the time you read this, I should be in Florida, moving into the motor home for a few days. However, I'll only be there for a week.

Part of the reason for living in the motor home for only a week is to perform a bit of a "shakedown cruise" and make sure all systems are operational, ready for a longer stay. I hope to have full Internet access during my stay and should be able to post new articles here on a regular basis. However, if the computer gods don't smile at the right time, there is a risk of not being able to post new articles.

Back in the USA

This is just a quick note to say that I am back in the U.S. and am online once again. I just finished a GREAT genealogy cruise, hosted by the folks at Wholly Genes Software. At the moment, I am at the Fort Lauderdale airport. I won't be home until after midnight tonight.

After fighting with extremely slow to non-existent Internet access on the cruise ship, it was a pleasure this morning to sign on at 4G speeds by using the Sprint wireless air card as we entered the harbor at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. Sometimes we forget what a great luxury that high-speed Internet access can be!

Incommunicado at Sea

As mentioned in an earlier article, I am on the Wholly Genes genealogy cruise this week, visiting Aruba and Curaçao. I have been on cruise ships several times before and I expect Internet access to be slow. However, Holland America's access isn't slow, it's glacial.

Seven minutes from initial log-in until the next screen appears. If I click on any icon I have to wait five to seven minutes for the next screen to appear.

I give up. I can't post articles or even read email. I'll be back online next week.

- Dick Eastman
(in an Internet cafe in Aruba)