After the Archives - FGS Conference 2011

Nametag and my geneablogger beads

After leaving the State Archives, I headed for the Prairie Capitol Convention Center and there I registered for Friday so I would be all set and wouldn't have to worry about a line.  Even though the registration lady had just packed everything away for the day, she allowed me to register and handed me a zippered  tote filled with the schedule of classes and assorted other papers.  I would have to pick up my nametag tomorrow.  Next I sent a text to Susan of Nolichucky Roots because I missed lunch and we planned to meet for dinner.  She was in class, and I wanted to check out the vendor mall. I was hoping for a demo of the Flip-Pal scanner and wanted to see if the Newberry Library had any genealogy programs that would entice me to make a trip to Chicago.  Because many attendees were in classes, it was easy to get up to the booths and talk to the vendors.  Three of us paused at the Flip-Pal booth and saw the samples and a brief demo.  While it was very appealing, I just couldn't bring myself to spend $150 yet. After circling most of the vendor area, I was standing in front of the Family Search booth when I received a text from Susan.  We went back and forth a  few times, and then I turned around and looked at the back of the person behind me.  "Susan?"  She turned, and we both started laughing.  The evening ended with dinner and a Geneablogger get together.

Back at my hotel, I planned to look over the conference guide and decide which classes I would attend the next day.  This was my ONE day so I wanted to fill it . . .and I did.

Class #1 - Irish Emigration to North America: Before, During, and After the Famine. Paul Milner   Being a newcomer to the land of conferences, I had never heard any of the speakers before.  Paul Milner is an outstanding speaker who filled his lecture with humor as he explained the migration patterns as well the events that influenced them.  Highly recommended. Since I arrived just as it was beginning, the room was already full and so I took a seat on the floor leaning against the wall.

Class#2 -  Pioneer Genealogy:  Tracing Your Ancestors on the Midwestern Frontier. James Hansen.  This was in the same room but I didn't notice that until I left the room and then had to get in line to get back in.  This time I had a seat and the room was packed. Without any slides, he kept everyone's interest.  Great speaker.

Class #3 - Using Records in the National Archives: A Researcher's View. Marie Varrelman.  Oh my, the level for this was listed as "All" but I was WAY over my head.  The National Archive has always beckoned to me, but after this class, I am more than a little overwhelmed.

 I had lunch with Susan and, of course, our conversation was all about our classes. The one person she recommended and told me that I had to hear if I ever had the chance was Thomas Jones.  So I pulled out the Conference Guide to check the afternoon classes.  What luck, Thomas Jones was one of the choices for the first session after lunch.  "Get there early. It will be packed" she warned.  She was right.

Class #4  Using 'Correlation' to Reveal Facts That No Record States. Thomas Jones.  This was fabulous and his examples were in order of increasing complexity.  I loved this lecture.  Mr. Jones told us that this was a new presentation for him and that we were his first audience for this lecture.  Wow.  The following day, a person demonstrating  in the Family Search booth told me that Mr. Jones would be in Salt Lake this Fall and they intended to tape this lecture and make it available for free online.  Look for it by December.  Don't miss this one.

Class #5 - Gateway to the West: Researching in Ohio. Diane VanSkiver Gagel  My brain was beginning to turn to mush by this point but enjoyed the information in this lecture.  A number of my ancestors lived in Ohio and several brick walls reside in this state.

Class #6 -  Using City Directories:  Following a Family's Migration From Ohio to Illinois. Deborah Abbott  I am a  fan of City Directories and hoped to get some new information.  Mostly it was a review of what I already knew, but for anyone who hadn't used them, it should have inspired them to search out city directories for their ancestors.

By the end of this day, I was exhausted.  When Susan asked if I wanted to join them at the banquet for dinner, I chose to drive back to my hotel.  I was asleep by 8:30.

Saturday was my last day and I with a five hour drive home, I wanted to leave by early afternoon.  My one and only class was by Paul Milner, Irish Maps and Tools for Finding the Right Place. It was just as fantastic as the first one. Ireland can be very confusing and Mr. Milner had numerous resources for maps many newly online. I decided to order a copy of the lecture because I knew there was just too much information for my skimpy notes to do justice.

It will take a while for me to sift through all of the new information and resources but it was a wonderful experience and well worth the time and cost.  If you have ever thought about a national conference, take a chance. You don't have to go for the whole time, you too can just dip your toe in.  This may have been my first conference, but it won't be my last.

Oh My, I'm Feeling Lazy

  Well it has been almost over two three weeks since I have posted.  What has kept me so busy?  Absolutely nothing major, just bits and pieces of life that I am trying to "accomplish" before I go back to my job as a teacher.  For the record, school starts on Wednesday, but I will drop in for a couple of hours on Monday to start dragging out my boxes of resources and try to get the opening day papers copied before there is a two hour wait for the copier.  We have been told that we should not stand on chairs to put up anything in our rooms due to two new workman's compensation claims already.  Now how can I decorate the top of the six kitchen cupboards in my room without standing on a chair?  I really don't see one of our overworked custodians artistically arranging my stuff while I stand on the floor and direct.

  I also just returned from a quick trip to Clinton, Iowa.  I hesitate to call it a research trip because it was not that organized, and I only spent about 24+ hours in Clinton, but I did find some new resources, new information and had a lovely 2 hour visit with my  first cousin twice removed who just celebrated his 90th birthday. I had never met him before but his mother and my great grandmother were sisters.  I'd say that was pretty good for only one day. Actually, the opportunity to meet him was the primary motivator for the trip.  I will write more detail in a later post as I am was so intent on my mission that I only took one photo.  Clinton is about a four and a half hour trip from my house, but the road goes through the southern part of Chicago so planning your trip to avoid rush hour is a definite consideration.  I promised myself that I would get back to Clinton this summer and once school starts, my summer is over.  I hoped that my brother and I could go together since our first and only time was such a great experience.  And, let's face it, it is much cheaper when you can split the gas and the hotel room. I am a very practical person, but our schedules didn't mesh.

  The other issue plaguing me is the fact that my desktop computer bit the dust due to a power outage/surge during a storm three weeks ago.  I have everything backed up in three other places so my research is safe but my email and addresses from newly acquired relatives is still residing in that black blue hole sitting on my desk.  With that computer gone I have also lost access to my printer and my scanner.  I know what you are thinking . . . why didn't you just go out and get another one?  Welllllllll . . . I hate pre-fab computers.  I am annoyed by all of the trial versions of programs I don't want that seem to worm there way into every crevice.  I don't like the cheapo keyboards that come with them, and I am worried that my perfectly good all-in-one HP Officejet and Epson scanner will not work with Windows 7 along with a few software programs like EQ5. Additionally, I wanted to see if anything could be salvaged from my old computer - like the email! Then  I remembered an amazing computer-technology-programming teacher I had in a summer school class two years ago.  He told us that he occasionally moonlights and builds computers.  I contacted him, didn't hear anything, contacted using another email and hear the great news that he does still build computers on the side, and he asked a few questions which I instantly answered in a return email.  That was over a week ago and despite several additional emails, I have heard nothing.  I am puzzled.  So yesterday, I stopped in to Best Buy (yuck!) to see what my choices were. They assured me that all of my old hardware would work with Windows 7 . . . I'm not sure I believe them.  What is a girl to do? 

  Here it is a week and a half later . . . . I still don't have a computer which means I still don't have a scanner or printer.  Somehow I don't feel like it is a real blog post without photos and so I have stalled and stalled hoping that I would have a working computer.  Every time I think of all the work to get it all up and running as well as reinstalling all of my software and downloading new drivers, my stomach starts churning.  It turns out that it was my hardrive that failed from the power outage but the good news is that it can most likely be salvaged. Yes, I did have it backed up elsewhere.

  While I was dealing with frustration over the computer situation at home and getting my classroom ready for a new school year, I made a decision about the FGS conference . . . I'm going!!  So I filled out the personal leave forms at school, and turned them in on Friday.  If I leave after school on Wednesday, I can make it to Springfield by 9:00 p.m., and I have a reservation at a non-FGS motel. Since I will be footing the whole bill, I have to trim costs where I can.  I have some concerns because in general I do not like traveling by myself.  I am too much of a chatty Cathy and talking to strangers is not the same as exchanging opinions, observations, and laughter with a friend.  Wish me luck!