CGS member Linda Darby loves a good conference. She sent this report from the Federation of Genealogical Society Footprints of Family History Conference in Philadelphia, September 4 to 6, 2008:
Conference attendees remained cool, inside the spacious Philadelphia Convention Center, while the City of Brotherly Love baked in record high temperatures. We were greeted by that renowned genealogist Benjamin Franklin, and also welcomed by Ms. Betsy Ross. The conference had numerous sessions on German, Irish, and Pennsylvania research. All attendees obtained a CD of the syllabus, could download specific sessions from the FGS website, and a hard copy could be purchased for $32. Many folks don’t like the weight of all that paper. And, printing is pretty pricey these days. Many sessions were recorded, and the recordings on CD could be purchased, so as invariably happens, if you are interested in more than one session at a specific time, you can hear them both.
In addition to gleaning information from the session, another incalculable benefit of attending conferences is talking to other attendee and sharing information. One such incident occurred at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania the Tuesday before the conference began. Many folks attending the conference had come in early to do some local research. I was no exception. While browsing in the Scranton City Directories, I encountered another attendee. We began chatting. She was from Boston. She was looking for a family from a small town near Scranton. My family is from this same town. What surname? Incredibly, she was looking for a collateral line of my family! We exchanged business cards, and I’ve passed along her information to a cousin in that line. He was astounded. You just never know.
Next year, the FGS Conference, Passages Through Time, will be held in Little Rock, Arkansas, September 2-5, 2009. Y'all come!
Linda Darby
Photograph courtesy of Cathy H. Paris, Apr 19, 2008, Salt Lake City, Utah.
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