NGS Annual Conference is Around the Corner!

In a few days I’ll be heading to Cincinnati for the NGS National Conference. I downloaded the syllabus a couple of days ago, and I’ve been busy reading through its 600+ pages, trying to lay out a plan for the four days I’ll be there. With ten meetings offered each hour, the choices are a bit overwhelming. Here’s my tentative schedule:

Wednesday

  • Begin with the Power Tools: Transcriptions, Abstracts, and Analysis – the Rev. David McDonald (this is part of the BCG skill-building track)
  • APG Lunch – Curt B. Witcher will be giving a talk on technology’s impact on the 21st Century genealogist
  • Genealogical Research & Writing: Are You a Saint, Sinner, or Bumfuzzled Soul? – Elizabeth Shown Mills (need I say more?!)
  • Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: The Evidence Presented Clearly Shows… – Barbara Vines Little on creating proof summaries

Thursday

  • BCG Certification Seminar – Laura Murphy DeGrazia, Alison Hare, and Thomas W. Jones on the certification process
  • Indexes! Indexes! Indexes! How to Find People Who Don’t Seem to Be There! – more ESM!
  • ISBGFH Lunch – J.H. Fonkert on British Genealogy Research (Jay’s in my NGSQ study group and I’m looking forward to his talk!!!
  • Red Herrings and a Stroke of the Dead Palsy: Analyzing and Correlating Evidence – Stefani Evans on complications from common names, impaired memory, and ongoing migration
  • War of 1812: Tracing the British Soldier – Paul Milner – could this explain why some of my male British ancestors went missing???

Friday

  • Okay, I “Got the Neighbors’: Now What Do I Do with Them? – ESM (I know this will be a great session)
  • Lineage Society Papers: Guidelines for a Successful Application – C. Ann Staley (A continuing dream of mine, but I do get requests for this, so even if it personally never works out for me…..)
  • Documentation: The What, Why, and Where – Dr Tom Jones on citations (I loved him in the Boston University program and I’ve been fortunate enough to hear him speak before, I don’t think anyone should miss an opportunity to sit in on one of his talks!!)
  • Advanced Word: Automatic Numbering for Genealogists – Alvy Ray Smith. Mastering this would be a big time saver!
  • Common Sense for Genealogists – Kay Havilland Freilich, something I can always use more of 🙂

This schedule is tentative. There are several other lectures I’d like to see, including:

– Federal Records Relating to Rivers and Canals

-Locating and Understanding the Law

-Advanced Probate Research

-Lost in Pennsylvania? Try the Published Pennsylvania Archives

-Making the DNA Connection

But…..it’s just not possible to fit everything in

 

Aside from lectures, I’ve also got plans to meet some fellow BU alums for dinner, attend a dinner for geneabloggers, stop by the Nat’l Institute for Genealogical Studies booth to say hi to Louise and Sue, and try to get together with some of my ProGen13 and NGSQ study group co-horts. Oh, and the NGSQ 100th anniversary reception should be fun as well!

It’s going to be a great trip!!