Later this week, I head to Ottawa to attend the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa’s 21st annual conference. (Info below.) I look forward to the learning experience, visiting the marketplace, and hanging out with genealogists.
It will, however, likely be a tough time because there are so many excellent speakers and concurrent sessions. Choosing which presentation to attend will be a challenge.
And there is another reason I will attend this conference. On Sunday I will be speaking about 21st Century Genealogy: Taking Advantage of Social Media for Your Research.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles, FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Top 20 reasons why I attend genealogy conferences
- Learn about new resources and techniques.
- Free pens. Without fail, I look for free pens in my delegate bag and on the exhibitors’ tables.
- Schmooze with leaders in genealogy.
- Buy books. I visit the exhibit hall to find new genealogy books.
- Browse the exhibit hall. In addition to buying books, I like to visit the other exhibitors’ booths. It is a way to meet people from genealogy societies, historical societies, archival centres, publishing houses, genealogy database providers, and special interest organizations.
- Talk to people who share my passion. It is great hanging out with people whose eyes don’t glaze over when anyone says ancestor or genealogy.
- Opportunity to attend pre-conference workshops. I enjoy the intense workshops.
- Variety of topics scheduled. I like a conference that offers several educational tracks.
- Handouts. More good stuff to put in my delegate bag.
- Hands-on assistance in the research lab. These labs are a good way to try subscription databases.
- Dinner. Genealogy conversation flows better when wine is included with the meal. If dinner is not part of the conference, find a posse of lost-looking genealogists and ask them to join you at a local restaurant. I’ll be arriving with a posse from Quebec.
- Discover new products and services. I saw my first Flip Pal scanner in the exhibit hall at a conference.
- Discount coupons from conference sponsors.
- Catch up with old friends.
- Make new friends.
- Meet online friends in person. Through Facebook, we make a number of online friends. It is nice to finally meet some of them a the conference.
- Free pens. Did I mention I like receiving free pens?
- Deliver a presentation. I enjoy the challenge of speaking at a conference, in part because it makes me learn about topics in depth, and hopefully, what I share helps genealogists in their research.
- Opportunity to visit local research centres. I always try to devote an extra day before or after the conference to research local records that are not available online. This year, my friends and I plan to spend a day of research at Library and Archives Canada. I have already ordered a box of records to review.
- Wine. Those post-conference debriefing sessions each evening always go better with a glass or two of chilled Chardonnay.
Conference and marketplace
Information about the three-day conference at the Ben Franklin Centre, September 18 to 20, is available here. The marketplace features a number of exhibitors and vendors, and it is open and free to the public Friday evening, and Saturday and Sunday.
If you see me at this weekend’s conference, please say, “Hi,” and introduce yourself. I’ll be the redhead looking for free pens.
Genie conferences ARE fun, and you’ve come up with excellent reasons, especially the pens as well as the meeting and making new friends!! Enjoy your conference 😉
Oh Gail, I’m sorry to say that I dont think I’ll be bringing any ancestry pens this year! I gave them all away at the One world one family conference! 🙁