Report #2: NGS 2009 Family History Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina

CGS member Jeffrey Vaillant sent this report on day two, Thursday, May 14, 2009:

This proved to be a very full day which got me behind in reporting. The day started with a brisk walk from the Clarion Hotel to the Conference Center (about one mile) past the State Capital built between 1830-35 and some beautiful limestone constructed churches – a pleasant walk before the humidity sets in.

The session started with a three-hour seminar for the Board for Certification for Genealogists (BCG) process lead by Laura Murphy DeGrazia, Alison Hare and Thomas W. Jones. Since I intend to be certified, this was a most helpful session and when combined with two portfolios at the BCG booth gets the battery charged up.

Next up was Elizabeth Shown Mills” presentation on Finding Females: Wives, Mothers, Daughters & Paramours.

Then it was time for the BCG Luncheon and speaker Kathy Gunter Sullivan's talk Late Night Ruminations. The lunch left a great deal to be desired but I did not come for the meals.

Afterwards there a bit of time to visit the trade show floor with its 150-200 vendors and all kinds of genealogical goodies. The biggest booths belong to ancestry.com and familysearch.org.

Back to class on the run to hear Thomas W. Jones’ Strategies for Finding “Unfindable” Ancestors, followed by Elizabeth Shown Mills’ Finding Origins and Birth Families: Methods That Do or Don’t Work. I was definitely on information overload by this point and loving it.

Then time to meet up with other Professional Genealogy Study Group members to walk to the Big Easy for dinner and conversation. There were fourteen of us gathered from each of the three groups. It was good to see the faces behind the e-mails and instant messaging, but not much time to relax before we had to head back to the Conference Center.

Ancestry.com had an hour presentation on what they are doing domestically and internationally with content additions and their daily struggle between content and quality.

Summing up day two: I am tired and glad to have had all these experiences and only half way through the conference. I'm already thinking about the APG/FGS meetings in Little Rock in September.

Read the entire series:
Day One: NGS 2009 Report
Day Two: NGS 2009 Report
Day Three: NGS 2009 Report
Day Four: NGS 2009 Report

Report #1: NGS 2009 Family History Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina

CGS member Jeffrey Vaillant took time out of his busy schedule to send this report from the NGS 2009 Family History Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thanks, Jeffrey!

The conference opened Wednesday, May 13, 2009 with what appeared to be about 1500 people in attendance. The Opening Session included a significant announcement – the recognition of Thomas W. Jones as a Fellow in the NGS. He was pleasantly surprised. The opening presentation was an entertaining event with Ira David Wood III sharing his theatrical experience with his family history using the Romeo and Juliet line: "Romeo where art thou?" which he read as "Romeo who are you?"

There are 250 sessions of information to choose from. I am basically being a Thomas W. Jones and Elizabeth Shown Mills groupie. Their presentations are fantastic, combining methodology theory with practice research examples. You can view the full conference program online at the NGS website.

At 5:00 p.m., thirty-two genealogy societies, primarily from North Carolina and Virginia, set up tables to display their wares. There were lots of tempting books to purchase. That was followed by presentations at 7:00 p.m. I attended the one by the Trading Path Association on trails in North Carolina in the 1600-1700 period. It was a full day to be followed by another.

Read the entire series:
Day One: NGS 2009 Report
Day Two: NGS 2009 Report
Day Three: NGS 2009 Report
Day Four: NGS 2009 Report

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
May Membership Meeting
Saturday, May 9, 2009
CGS Vice-President Steve Harris

Photograph courtesy of Tim Cox, Oakland, California, 5/9/2009.

Book Repair Workshop Returns June 12, 2009

The California Genealogical Society is taking reservations for the popular Book Repair Workshop to be held on Friday morning, June 12, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Taught by Book Repair Committee Chairman, Bill O'Neil, the workshop is limited to ten enrollees.

Book Repair Committee Chairman Bill O'Neil

Workshop participants learn book repair techniques by creating a book for themselves. Pages are provided and the pupils create the binding. The finished product will be a copy of a "how to" pamphlet written by the late Dick Thrift, founder of the CGS Book Repair Committee. Everyone goes home with a self-made instruction book and souvenir of the day.

PLEASE NOTE:
• Workshop is limited to ten.
• $25 charge for materials.
• Reservation form and pre-payment of fee required.

Download the registration flier and mail with a check for $25 to CGS. Questions? Call CGS at 510-663-1358 or E-mail CGSLevents@gmail.com

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, Oakland, California, 1/13/2009.

DNA and Genetic Genealogy: A Morse and Morse Presentation

DNA and Genetic Genealogy
Saturday, June 13, 2009, 1:30 p.m.
California Genealogical Society and Library
2201 Broadway at 22nd, Suite LL2
Oakland, California

Please join us for this special program by noted lecturer Steve Morse and his daughter, Megan.

Stephen Morse is the creator of the One-Step Website for which he has received numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a computer professional with a doctorate degree in E.E. – Electrical Engineering. He is well-known as the architect of the Intel 8086, which sparked the PC revolution. But his best accomplishment was that of fathering his daughter, Megan.

Megan Morse holds a bachelor's degree in "E.E.", but hers stands for Evolution and Ecology. She works as a wildlife educator and animal handler for Wildlife Associates, a non-profit wildlife sanctuary in Half Moon Bay, California. She raises and trains everything from anteaters to porcupines, cats to snakes and foxes to hawks. She travels with these animals to schools, libraries, and recreation centers throughout the Bay Area to give educational presentations.

Megan, with her formal training in evolution and her knowledge of DNA, complements her dad who is self-taught in these areas. Together they explain genetic genealogy and how it applies to the human species as well as the larger animal kingdom.