I had been taught by my mother to always look for the neighbors and Crista Cowan has taught me to ALWAYS look at the original census, but what do I do with them once I find them? How do I use the neighbors to further my research? That was the topic of this first part session with Elizabeth. Excellent, excellent session! Part two will be tomorrow morning.
How do I top that? Well, my next session was with James Sweany and was about Pursuing your Genealogical Research in the Library of Congress without traveling to Washington, DC. Wow, I was blown away by all that can be found online through the LOC! I have visited their page and looked at the historic newspapers on the site but there is so much more to be found on their webpage. James was another national caliber speaker and the session flew by!
Before lunch I attended Suzanne Hahn's session on Navigating the Maze: Finding Indiana Records Online. I have been researching in Indiana for years and wasn't sure how much I would actually learn from this session but was pleasantly surprised. The syllabus for this session was also full of links and sites for Indiana research. I'm so glad I attended.
Off to lunch and another meet up with my genealogical idol......Anne Mitchell, or Ancestry Anne as some of you might know her as!
She was so kind and just as funny in person!
After lunch I attended a session I was so disappointed in that I won't name it here. How I wish I had gone to my second choice but while some people didn't mind getting up and walking out during a session I would never do that. Because I sometimes teach or give presentations, I know the work involved for the presenter and want to be sensitive to their feelings. So I stayed. My mother would be proud of me!
Because I had such a great Indiana session in the morning, I changed my mind about my last session of the day and hurried over to hear Michael Dean Lacopo present There's More Than Corn in Indiana: Finding Your Hoosier Ancestor. First of all I was surprised to learn that Michael lives in the same small town outside of South Bend that I do! He was incredibly knowledgeable about Indiana research and was able to organize for me which records are found where. He was the first and only speaker I stayed after to talk to. I got his business card and I'm sure I'll be in contact with him again.
After this last session of the day Lin, Margel, Robin and I walked the few blocks over to have dinner at Skyline Chili! While living in Tampa I was able to visit their location in St. Petersburg but since moving to the South Bend area 6 years ago I haven't been able to get my 4 way with beans! Best dinner I had the whole week! There are definite benefits to having the conference in Cincinnati!
What I learned today:
Don't be afraid to approach the presenters and speakers either after the session or in the Exhibitors Hall. Genealogists are some of the kindest people you will meet.
Also, those little old ladies that seem to be having trouble walking around? They will have a miraculous recovery when the doors open to a session with Elizabeth Shown Mills and need to grap a seat! Watch out, they will push and shove! Hahaha!
How I saved my pennies:
Frankly, I didn't this day. I dropped some dollars in the Exhibit Hall. Lots of dollars! No regrets, overall I stayed within my book budget!
I am really enjoying your daily summaries and getting great ideas on which conference cds to order. I also love you penny saving comments :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insights into the NGS Conference. They were very interesting. Cheers, Karen
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