Oh, no. Say it ain’t so.
Almost nine months after the Manitoba Genealogical Society (MGS) announced the four keynote speakers for its first provincial conference, Celebrating 150 years of Manitoba, in June 2020, the society has called off the event.
It’s unfortunate news for the society and the genealogy conference world.
The submission deadline for the call for presentation proposals was May 31, and one can assume a lot of work had been done by the society members before and after. It must have been a tough decision to cancel.
MGS posted the news about the cancellation on its website on November 9, but not a peep was heard on social media until yesterday when John D. Reid wrote about it on his blog, Canada’s Anglo-Celtic Connections.
In its website announcement about the cancellation, the society wrote, “We wish to thank all the speakers that committed to speak at the Conference and hope that they will be able to re-arrange their schedules. MGS will be taking part in another heritage event to celebrate Manitoba’s 150thAnniversary at a later date. Please watch for further details.”
On the same day MGS released the news about cancelling the conference, it also announced that several members of the executive had resigned and been replaced by an interim team.
The society explained: “Following the resignation of several members of the MGS Executive, the MGS Council held a special meeting on Saturday, October 26. As per the MGS Constitution, the Council meeting appointed an Interim Executive to serve until a Special General Meeting to be held on Saturday, February 1, 2020. This Special meeting will elect Executive officers who will serve until the next Annual General Meeting in June 2020.”
Let’s hope this is a temporary rough spot for MGS and that the society will work its way through it and come out stronger.
