Totally Random Thoughts on Attending Conferences

This week at GeneaBloggers the discussion is all about conferences.  Today's specific topic is asking for comments from attendees on what they would like to see at conferences.

Thomas MacEntee and Randy Seaver have provided some very well thought out comments and suggestions on their blogs.  I don't think my thoughts are going to be quite so organized.

Here are some random thoughts:

• I would like to see a GeneaBloggers Lounge and more focus on helping bloggers meet at conferences.  
  
  
• I would love to see an empty room set aside with a sign-up schedule much in the way RootsTech had impromptu mini-sessions.  I would love to see speakers with the same interests be able to meet together with conference attendees to more thoroughly get into a discussion of a topic.
  
  
• I want to see more technology and writing topics at conferences.  I'd also like to see talks on how to transfer your research into another form that can be shared - whether that be a book, scrapbooking, multi-media cd, etc.
  
  
• I would like conferences to focus more on distributing information through all venues such as email, twitter, Facebook,website etc so that I can be sure that the way I prefer to receive information is covered.
  
  
• I want to know about internet access fees, parking fees and other items like this clearly and prominently available before I make reservations.
  
  
• I would like to see the daily newsletter/event list published each day on the conference blog and fed out to Facebook and twitter.
  
  
• I think it would be fun if conference attendees could submit "tags" during registration to share their interests so that they could connect with other attendees during the conference that have the same interests.
  
  
• Wouldn't it be great if there were a central system so that conference attendees could walk up to a computer and type in a question, whether specific to research or to conference details, and be able to get a response to their question from anyone else at the conference?
  
  
• Likewise, it would be nice if there were a hospitality computer, where attendees could stop and see videos of the local area, local repositories or look up information on local restaurants.  I know you are thinking the internet.  But I'm thinking that local businesses might be willing to create videos such as these if asked.
  
  
• I'd like to see more virtual/live streaming conferences so that people like me who can't travel to national conferences much can participate without leaving home.

• I'd like more unopposed exhibitor time so I can actually get through an exhibit hall and see everything and talk to all the vendors.
  
  
• I'd like to see more exhibitors writing about their conference experience and their products on their blogs they way Mel Wolfgang of Jonathan Sheppard Books does so that I can see what they have to offer before I arrive. 

I could go on and on but I think that's enough for now.

Tell me what you want to see from conferences!

Getting More Out of Conferences. I Need Help!

Previously I wrote "How to Attend the Perfect Conference" which touched on how to make sure you fulfill your research needs at a conference.

But there's been something about attending conferences that won't let go of me.  When I attend a conference it's wonderful to see old friends and meet new ones.  But I am always bothered that I never really have the time to connect with certain people.  And I would like to have more conversations.  I mean actual conversations not just the two minute meet and greet between talks.

For instance, Denise Levenick, the author of The Family Curator blog, came all the way from California to attend the New England Regional Genealogical Conference.  Despite the fact that we were at the same conference for at least three days we never managed to connect. I think part of the reason was that we were staying in different hotels.  Regardless, I was very disappointed at not being able to meet her.  And unfortunately I probably won't be heading to California anytime soon.

So how can I fix my problem of not being able to get real face time with other genealogists? I'm looking for suggestions to hear what other people do.  The best opportunities I had for talking with seemed to be at meal time.  I did get to talk with a number of my colleagues at dinner which was nice.  But it wasn't really enough because many of the folks I dined with were colleagues that I see quite regularly in New England. I love them dearly but I know I'll be able to talk with them throughout the year.

How do you make a point of connecting with folks at a conference? Do you go so far as scheduling appointments?  Either time for coffee, meals or just plain old meetings?

If I could solve this problem I think I could say that I really attended the perfect conference.

Highlights from NERGC

Last week I spent four fun-filled days at the New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC) in Springfield, Massachusetts. The whole event was exciting but here are some of the top highlights of the event for me.

• Channel 22 - While I wouldn't call waking up at 4:30am enjoyable, it was fun to chauffeur Co-Conference Chair Pauline Cusson to the local Springfield NBC affiliate to be interviewed by Channel 22 morning news anchor Rich Tettemer. Rich transformed my view of news anchors for the better. He was approachable, polite and thoughtful. He followed-up with me later by sending a link to the interview online. That level of attention to detail was unexpected from a tv news person. And Pauline was a real trooper for agreeing to do the interview!

•  Seeing Friends - One of the best things about a conference is having the time to hang with friends, old and new. I got to see many of my friends from around New England and actually had the time to stop and talk.  And meeting many of my Facebook friends for the first time was a real treat too, some came from as far away as Florida and Wyoming.

• The Keynote Banquet Talks - I always debate whether to go to the banquets or not.  This year I am very happy that I did.  Paul Milner and John Philip Colletta both gave interesting and entertaining talks.  It was also a lot of fun meeting new people at the table.  At the Saturday night banquet I actually ended up sitting at a table with the father of one of my highschool classmates.  What a coincidence!

• The Ancestors Roadshow - I volunteered as a consultant at the Ancestors Roadshow which provides the opportunity for conference attendees to get some professional help with their research challenges.  My consultation appointments were particularly fun because two of the groups were my Facebook friends and the last one was a graduate from the Boston University Certificate Program.  It is wonderful talking through research problems and trying to guide researchers in the right direction.  I hope that I was able to help those folks get farther in their research.

• An Unexpected Surprise - For the very last talk of the conference I had planned on going to a particular talk.  But then I realized it was in the other building and I didn't want to walk all the way over there. So I re-assessed my options and decided to go to a talk on First Generation Immigrants by Margaret Sullivan.  I'm so glad I did.  Margaret's talk was absolutely terrific.  It was full of creative genealogy, research challenges in Irish immigration all the while tied together with funny or poignant stories.  It was a real delight.

I'm sorry that my time at NERGC is over. It was all together too short.  But I am eagerly looking forward to attending in 2013 in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Photo Captions:


Top photo: Rich Tettemer, Channel 22 news anchor and NERGC Co-Chair, Pauline Cusson


Bottom Photo: Keynote speaker, Paul Milner and APG New England Chapter President, Tim Firkowski

How to Attend the Perfect Conference

Ok, I admit there is no perfect conference. At least not on paper anyway.  The conference organizers do they best they can to present offerings for all their attendees.  But inevitably they always fall a bit short, at least with some people. But every conference can be nearly perfect and I'm going to reveal to you the secret how.

At the New England Regional Genealogical Conference which I just attended, I met a woman named Maria at a banquet luncheon.  Maria had a Portuguese background and was a little disappointed that there weren't any offerings for her particular ancestry.  I told her not to worry because we had one of the best New England genealogical experts on the Portuguese right there at the conference - Ruy Cardoso, CG.  Even though Portuguese research wasn't on the menu at this conference Maria was still able to talk to a Portuguese expert.

The Secret Revealed

Attendees at conferences include not only hobbyist genealogists but also many professional genealogists.

If you find that the talks in the conference brochure don't meet your needs try these techniques to make the conference perfect anyway.

Ancestors Roadshow

At the New England Regional Genealogical Conference we have what they call an Ancestors Roadshow.  I suspect that they have this at other conferences across the country.  At a roadshow,  conference attendees can have a private one-on-one consultation with a professional genealogist.  This can give you new insight and direction for your genealogical challenges.  To get the most out of a roadshow appointment come prepared.  Have a specific question in mind to present to the professional.  Also, be sure to provide them with a one-page summary of what you know and a list everything have already checked, including searches that turned up empty.

APG & BCG

At many conference you will find booths in the exhibit hall for the Association of Professional Genealogists and for the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Both of these organizations are a good place to find genealogical experts.  Stop by their booths and tell them what you are looking for.  They will be able to let you know if someone who specializes in the area of your research need is attending the conference.  They may be able to help you connect with that person.

Conference Organizers

Lastly, the staff of the conference itself are a great resource.  They are often familiar with all the speakers as well as professionals who are attending that are not speaking.  Stop by the registration booth or the hospitality table and see if they can connect with someone with the right expertise or at least someone who will be able to tell you who you need to talk to.

Get Creative

Making a conference a success is much more than just accepting the program that is printed in the conference brochure.  By reaching out and talking to many new people at the conference you will have a much more fulfilling experience.  And you will be enriched by connecting with folks with similar interests.

So the next time you go to a conference don't leave your success up to the conference organizers.  Take matters into your own hands and create your own success. You will never be disappointed!

I'm headed to a conference!

Tomorrow I am headed to the New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC) in Springfield, Massachusetts. This is the largest, most dynamic genealogical event in New England.

The conference is sponsored and supported by the efforts of 22 organizations across New England who come together to make it happen.

For the next four days I am going to:

• Attend talks by some of the best genealogists in the country
• Attend a society fair to see who else can help me find my ancestors
• Participate in an Ancestors Roadshow as a volunteer professional consultant
• Give a talk on New England Probate
• Spend time with other folks who love genealogy as much as I do
• Wander through the Exhibit Hall and try to restrain myself from buying everything I see
• Catch up, hopefully, with some distant cousins
• Meet loads of my Facebook friends for the first time 
• Catch up with old friends
• Volunteer just a few more times before it's over

If you love genealogy and you have a day or two or three free this week, then consider heading over to Springfield.  If you can't get off work, consider coming for the day on Saturday.

Don't have the money to spend on registration?  Then stop by the Exhibit Hall or the Society Fair. They are both free and open to the public.

If you pass me in the hall, be sure to stop and introduce yourself! I would love to meet you.

See you in Springfield!

What Genealogists Want! Conference Organizers Take Note.

Genealogy conference organizers should have been paying special attention to the recent RootsTech conference.  Genealogists have spoken with their feet, their wallets and their broadband and they have spoken loudly!

If you want your conference to be a continued success in the future perhaps you should implement changes to answer the call of genealogists.

Here's the message I heard from observing the conference from afar:

1) Technology Topics - Genealogists don't want conferences just to be lectures on traditional aspects of research and methodology.  They want to hear lectures on technological tools that can help them in their research.  That means topics on software and gadgets.

2) Bloggers - Many conference organizers have not embraced bloggers yet.  Those that haven't will soon find themselves far, far behind.  Bloggers provide the number one source of timely information for genealogists - both hobbyists and professionals.  Bloggers will help you get the word out about your conference ahead of time and let people know how great it is during and after.  Provide a dedicated blogger lounge at your next conference and designate official or honorary bloggers.

3) Blogging - Not only are bloggers important but genealogists want to learn about how to blog.  Lecture topics need to include introducing genealogists to blogging so that they can share their family history on the web.

4) Virtual Attendance - RootsTech proved that not only is virtual attendance viable but the wave of the future has already arrived.  Anyone who tuned in to the live streaming of certain lecture sessions was wowed just as I was.  It will be interesting to see who will be embracing the concept of live streaming first to provide a discounted registration fee for virtual attendees.  Let me tell you, I will be one of the first to sign up.

5) Media - The blogger booth in the middle of the exhibit hall for recording live interviews was shear brilliance.  It was a win-win situation for everyone - the bloggers doing the interviewing, the exhibitors who got exposure, the speakers and the attendees.  We want more video interviews from conferences.  And we want them posted shortly after on the web/blogs.

6) Twitter - Conference organizers have long been afraid of Twitter. They are afraid that it is copyright theft or a distraction to the speaker.  What RootsTech taught us is that Twitter helps non-attendees and virtual attendees engage in the process by following their favorite Tweeps.  Not only that, in at least one specific case, questions were taken from Twitter during the lecture and answered by presenters.

7) Wifi - One of the messages that came across loud and clear was that genealogists want wifi access.  The exhibit hall didn't have wifi access but there was an internet cafe set up to help alleviate that need.  This often isn't an issue that conference organizers can change but in the future they can look for venues that overcome this problem.

Yes, RootsTech was specifically a technology conference.  But at 3,000+ strong, and I've heard the largest attendance record ever for a US genealogy conference, who can deny the writing on the wall? When was the last time you had 3,000+ people at your genealogy conference?

I'm sure I've missed other points.  Genealogists please let me know what you think were some of the key take-aways from the RootsTech Conference.

Why I attended My First Genealogy Conference

I started to get very active in genealogy and the genealogical community in 2006.  I was actively following the APG (Association of Professional Genealogists) list and absorbing everything from uber genealogists such as Elizabeth Shown Mills. It must have been on that list that I learned about the New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC).

While I was actively engaged in writing on the APG list I still wasn't coming face to face with other genealogists.  In February 2007 I attended my first APG meeting.  There I met Melinde Lutz Sanborn who ran the meeting and Polly Kimmitt, who was also a first time attendee.

Between the APG list and the APG meeting I really felt that I needed to attend NERGC so that I could, first and foremost, learn from the sessions and secondly to meet other genealogists.

The conference in April 2007 was held in Hartford, CT which was a big help.  I had grown up near Hartford and my Dad still lived in a nearby town.  I could stay with him, save some money and have my big adventure.

I was nervous because I didn't know anyone except the few people that I had briefly met at the APG meeting a few months earlier.  But my desire to attend was greater than my fear of not knowing anyone.

There were some great highlights of the conference for me.  The best perhaps was attending the sessions and speaking with Hank Z. Jones, the Palatine expert.  I have a Palatine ancestor and had spent hours intimately pouring over his books.  He was a wonderful speaker and very accommodating when I approached him.

Another highlight was hearing Sandy Clunies.  She was a terrific speaker, entertaining, engaging and knowledgeable.  I also went to see a talk by Diane Rapaport who spoke about her book The Naked Quaker.  I was captivated by that talk as well.

I think I went to every talk by Megan Smolenyak and Colleen Fitzpatrick.  I approached Megan in the Exhibitor's Hall and spoke with her briefly.  I was petrified at the time.  But I really wanted to tell her about this crazy research idea about the Edwards family owning Manhattan.  I'm not so scared to talk to Megan now but I am still trying to sell her on the Edwards family!

I remember seeing Melinde Sanborn in the Exhibitor hall as well. I caught her at a moment when she wasn't talking with anyone else.  I don't remember what we talked about. I just remember wanting to meet her again and let her know how interested I was in genealogy and how happy I was that I attended the APG meeting.  Melinde has this incredible way of engaging people in conversation, identifying their potential and then forcing them, with the softest words, to be their absolute best.  Not all at that one moment of course, but over time.  I remember she made me feel so welcome.

During the course of the conference I randomly passed a man in the hallway named George Silver.  I stopped him and asked him if he was one of the Silvers from Kincardine, Scotland.  We compared notes and indeed he was.  I had found my first cousin.  Besides being a distant cousin, George happens to be one of the most delightful people you could talk to.  I was so happy to see him again at NERGC 2009 and fully expect to see him in 2011 as well.

By the end of NERGC 2007 I found myself wandering over to Melinde and offering to volunteer to help with NERGC 2009.  Yes, I admit, after my first conference experience I wanted to get involved.

Did NERGC 2007 change my life?  Absolutely! It may not change yours quite as much as it changed mine but I'm sure you will have no regrets if you decide to make this your first experience at a genealogy conference.

The Perceived Age Demographic in Genealogy

Thomas MacEntee over at High Definition Genealogy has written a very thought provoking article about the perceived age demographic in genealogy.  He discusses a recent article in Family Tree Magazine that focuses on young genealogists while noticing that the surrounding advertisements target a much older generation.

Here are some of my thoughts in response:

Genealogy Conferences

I definitely believe that the age perception garnered from a genealogy conference is not accurate.  As Tina and some of the other commenters to the blog post have mentioned, money is an issue.  The older generation is the one with the expendable money and free time to spend on such events.  Young adults (gen-x, gen-y) are too poor or too busy trying to build a career or going to school.  And young(ish!) families have huge time and budgetary constraints.  Until recently I was an under 40 genealogist (oh, how quickly time slips by!).  While money was not always the issue preventing me from attending a conference, time constraints and managing a family definitely were.  Though I would love to attend a national conference I have yet to do so. 

The national genealogy conferences often come at times that are difficult for parents and gen-x/y students.  The NGS conference typically occurs in April while school is still in session.  Parents can't attend if they have K-12 students still in school.  And most gen-x/y students are still attending college classes.  Similar problems occur with the FGS conference, though it tends to vary its schedule in a more helpful way.  Often FGS is held the same week as the start of K-12 school, a particularly stressful (yet joyous!) time for parents.  This year however, it was held a few weeks earlier in August rather than September which was most helpful. Until the national conference organizers are willing to change the dates of the conferences the demographic won't change.

Magazines/Publications

I think the same thing applies to magazine subscriptions.  The older generation has the extra income to spend on such things.  The younger folks, on the one hand get their information more from the internet rather than printed material, and on the other, they also seek out free sources on the internet to save money.

Where can we find an accurate metric measurement?

A demographic breakdown of Ancestry.com subscribers would probably provide a more accurate view of genealogists but it would still be skewed more toward the folks that have money. And it would exclude all the users who access Ancestry.com at libraries.

I don't believe there is any one source that can provide an accurate assessment of who genealogists are.  The genealogical arena is broken down into too many "channels", in much the same way that the main stream news media shifted over the years from three major network channels to an information free-or-all on the internet.  For instance, if we could analyze the viewers of Roots Television perhaps we would discover a much younger demographic and find those genealogists who prefer to absorb information through video.

The next question

Instead of analyzing traditional venues for a clue to genealogical demographics, perhaps the question we should be asking is where are today's genealogists getting their information? And what are they looking for while they are there?