Wednesday, May 13, 2009

NGS 2009 Conference Recap for May 13

I don't quite know how it happened, but I was signed up for another volunteer stint at the registration desk at 7:15 this a.m. It was really fun, though, so I'm not complaining. Conference volunteering is very rewarding.

At 8-ish I went to the opening meeting for the NGS conference. It's pretty much like the opening meeting at every conference, regardless of subject: thankyouforcoming, speech, awards, standing ovation, keynote speaker, thankyouforcoming.

Next I went to a session by Dr. Thomas Jones who talked about solutions for missing records. He provided four case studies, which was stellar because I love case studies. I learned that I have great instincts and I'm doing all the right things in my approach to research. I don't always know what it's called, but I'm doing it right. Yay.

I escaped the convention center for lunch. Sam & Wallys has sandwiches just like Sub Station, so that was good. I haven't had Sub Station in at least a decade.

After that, I went very early to find a seat for Elizabeth Shown Mills session. That was the right move. If you said Brad Pitt was in room A and ESM was in room B, it would be a no-brainer which session I would attend. Brad is a tool and ESM is awesomeness. I was hoping by sitting close to her, I'd breathe in some citation smarts, but it wasn't to be. I did get a pep talk on brick walls and ways to move around them. I'm ready to take on New Mexico again. Bring it.

In the afternoon, I went to the Heritage Books booth. I bought Communities of Kinship by Carolyn Earle Billingsley. I want to get it autographed at some point. I also talked briefly with Craig Scott. He's the Pro Gen 3 advisor. I highly recommend you chat with him sometimes. He knows so much and is happy to shoot the breeze.

I opted out of the late afternoon session for sanity's sake. I came back to the room to decompress and recharge. I had dinner at the hotel. I seriously need some genealogy friends that stay out past 7 p.m. The bar was empty at dinner.

It's all good, though. I'm ready for tomorrow.

3 comments:

  1. Glad you're having a great time. Wish I could be there. I stay out past 7pm...maybe next time! [and, oh yeah, I kind of like genealogy;)]

    Caroline

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  2. I can stay out past 7pm when I have a babysitter. Hopefully I'll be leaving the little one at home with Hubs for SCGS!

    Sounds like you're having a wonderful time. "Hi" to the peeps from ProGen2!

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  3. I hope to be able to attend one of these national conferences before too much time passes. And I do stay our past 7 p.m.! We need to have a conference in Texas (even though I'd have to fly out to go to it).

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