Category Archives: Genealogy Conferences

THE Genealogy Show 2021: A Review

I spent a good part of Friday and Saturday attending sessions at a brand-new-to-me conference, THE Genealogy Show, normally held in London.

I wish I could say I just returned from London, my favorite city in the world because of its history, but with pandemic conditions continuing on, it wasn’t to be.

THE Genealogy Show 2021 went virtual and, at the extremely modest registration fee of £20, about $27.80 U.S., price drop – £15 or $20.75 U.S. (see Marian’s comment below), it was more than a bargain.

I loved the conference!

First, although the live conference has concluded, all the sessions remain ON DEMAND for one month. Access costs only £20 – notice that is the same price as the Early Bird registration before the conference began!

The website is extremely easy to navigate. The Home Hub is visually fun and makes it very easy to move from area to area:.

From left to right, the Community Room allowed attendees to meet up with each other and the presenters.

The Reading Room is a feature I’ve never seen before, but I really like it and wish other conferences would add it to their virtual sites. Genealogy bloggers could share posts and, while most of the bloggers were presenters, I saw at least one post by a familiar blogger who didn’t present at the conference.

The Wizards’ Corner, as one might guess, featured speakers who could answer questions and give some expert tips.

The Exhibition Zone featured about 50 exhibitors and, instead of being in the typical “expo hall” were in the Expo Neighborhood:

The tree house Games Room was home to a couple of genealogy-themed activities.

The Main Stage was the session schedule for 48 consecutive hours of live sessions!

The last stopping point at the Home Hub is one which should interest everyone for the next month. It is the On Demand platform.

Now that the 2021 live show has ended, it is no longer possible to live chat. However, all 48  sessions have been added to On Demand, which also houses several sessions recorded before the conference began.

I viewed a good number of sessions in the last few days. If you think there won’t be anything of interest to you because you don’t have many/any U.K. ancestors, you would be very wrong.

I have lots of British ancestors, but mine were pretty much all in the American colonies before 1650.

In spite of that, I found many interesting well-done sessions and learned all sorts of interesting social history tidbits and search strategies. Research methodology that works in one location can often be applied to many other locations, too.

I also enjoyed hearing talks by totally new-to-me speakers.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Evidence in Death by Fiona Fitzsimons

A Grand (Virtual) Tour of Scotland’s Archives by Alison Spring

Where to Look Online for Your Dutch Ancestors by John Boeren

An Introduction to Welsh Genealogy by Jenni Phillips

Negative Space: How Genealogy Gaps Can Help Your Tree Flourish by Dr. Sophie Kay

Jewish Genealogy Research in the Former Russian Empire by Lara Diamond

mitoYDNA.org and mtDNA by Mags Gaulden

Dear Me! Writing Research Reports to Yourself by Yvette Hoitink

My Ancestor Was a Liar by Dave Annal

Sessions ranged in time from about 25 minutes to 45 minutes.

There is a Speaker_Schedule_TGS_2021 with a list of all speakers and presentations that you can view before registering and being allowed to “enter” the show. Check out the schedule to see the wide range of topics in the sessions.

I loved this conference and believe the registration fee was very affordable. Where else will you be able to attend a two day, 48 session conference for less than $30?

I even chatted with a show rep and suggested that they consider a hybrid conference next year so that attendees aren’t prevented from attending by the cost to travel to London to attend in person. I was told that the organizers will consider that option.

 

 

 

Coming Soon: Genealogy Jamboree 2021 – Discount Pricing Extended!

Disclaimer: I am an official Jamboree 2021 blogger, but have received no compensation of any kind.

Southern California Genealogical Society’s Genealogy Jamboree is coming up in early June and will be a virtual event, due to the continued effects of the pandemic.

There is great news about conference pricing this year – discount pricing as been extended – all the way until 31 May 2021, just FIVE days before the 2021 Jamboree opens!

Although I have lived in Tucson for over a decade now, I have very fond memories of looking forward to Jamboree each spring from the 1980s onward when we lived in Southern California.

This conference was always the highlight of the local genealogy year and thousands of excited genealogists headed to the Pasadena Civic Center, where Jamboree was held for many years before it moved to Burbank. I have had the pleasure of attending Jamboree in Burbank, too, after we settled in Arizona.

Of course, with Jamboree being presented virtually, I can enjoy the conference right from home.

Jamboree is really two conferences held one after the other with the 8th Genetic Genealogy 2021 opening Jamboree on Friday and Saturday, 4-5 June 2021, followed the following weekend, 11-12 June 2021 by the 51st Jamboree.

Note that Jamboree’s pricing tiers are similar to many other large conferences that have gone to an online format.

Genetic Genealogy‘s STANDARD Tier offers six LIVE presentations plus 10 recorded sessions of your choice, while the PLUS tier provides access to all 20 recorded sessions.

Genealogy Jamboree‘s STANDARD Tier includes six LIVE lectures plus 20 recorded sessions of your choice and the PLUS tier gives access to all 50 recorded sessions.

I really like the fact that this pricing allows the attendee to choose which additional sessions he/she would like to view. I was very interested in attending a similar conference hosted by a nameless society in 2020. However, the cost was fairly expensive and the society chose the sessions that the attendee could view in the tiers and those sessions were not the ones in which I was interested. Needless to say, I skipped it.

No such problem at the SCGS Genealogy Jamboree 2021!

One more plus about Jamboree – the Special Events calendar. The one thing most of us miss in the virtual environment is the opportunity to interact in person.

Even though we can’t attend in person, Jamboree is hosting Social Hours, Round Tables, a virtual Exhibit Hall with Product Q & A time AND Show Specials with Prize Drawings.

Genealogy Jamboree‘s 51 years of experience in hosting conferences guarantees that a fun time will be had by all with lots of opportunity to extend your genealogy education.

Register now for the discounted conference fee and mark your June calendar!

 

 

 

International German Genealogy Conference Registration Now Open!

I received the following press release that I’d like to share. this looks like an excellent conference for anyone with German roots.

Registration for the International German Genealogy Conference is now open! With the theme of Researching Together Worldwide / weltweit gemeinsam forschen, this much-anticipated virtual conference will be held 17 July to 24 July 2021. Registration can be completed at the following link: https://playbacknow.regfox.com/iggp2021. A special Early-Bird registration discount is possible until 31 March 2021.

Four different packages are available for the conference. While the IGGP LIVE! Package includes the eight live lectures by an all-star lineup of genealogy experts (Early Bird $119, Regular $169), and the IGGP OnDemand package features more than fifty prerecorded sessions for you to watch at your convenience (Early Bird $179, Regular $229), the IGGP Combo Package is recommended for the genealogist wanting to get the most out of their virtual conference experience (Early Bird $229, Regular $279).

This recommended IGGP Combo Package includes access to both the eight LIVE sessions –featuring popular speakers Ute Brandenburg, Wolfgang Grams, Timo Kracke, Roger Minert, Judy Russell, Katherine Schober, Diahan Southard,and Michael Strauss–as well as one-year access to the over fifty OnDemand sessions, which include an extensive variety of German genealogy topics hand-selected to best aid your research.

If you would like these sessions indefinitely, the top-tier IGGP USB Works Package includes all of the Combo Package plus a preloaded USB flash drive with all the conference sessions, meaning that you will have lifetime access to these expert-level lectures(Early Bird $249, Regular$295).

All packages include access to the online sponsor and exhibit hall, as well as to the “Connections” breakout sessions that will bring together small groups with similar German genealogy or cultural affinities.

This virtual conference is a must-attend for anyone researching their German ancestors. With expected participation from genealogists around the world, researchers will have a unique opportunity to connect across borders while simultaneously learning from the top experts in the field. To stay up-to-date on conference news, be sure to sign-up for the IGGP conference newsletter here https://bit.ly/IGGPnewsletter. For any additional questions, contact James Beidler at jamesmbeidler@gmail.com, Nancy Myers at n.myers@gmx.net, or Katherine Schober at language@sktranslations.com.