Our Favorite SoCal Jamboree Presentations

L-AGS (Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society) was well represented at the SoCal Genealogy Jamboree. At least ten of us attended, and we never attended any presentation en bloc. This means there were plenty of reviews when it came to choosing recordings or planning the day's events. On the drive home, we listened to four more hours of lectures and discussed our favorites.

Number one on my list was Tony Burroughs' presentation, The Nature of Genealogy. If you didn't go to this talk because you thought it might be too basic, you missed an absolute gem. In one short hour, Tony took us from our initial research misstep through the publication of our findings. Almost every sentence highlighted important considerations, repositories and records - and he did it in his own inimitable manner. Among his closing statements was this telling point, "Among the approximately one hundred African-Americans who served in Perry's fleet on Lake Erie, scholars have identified only twelve - and Charles Smothers wasn't one of them. This is original, valuable work!" Remember that statement. It will come up again in later posts.

Number one on Jane's and Nancy's list was Jean Wilcox Hibben's presentation, Clue to Clue: Tracking a Family Over Time and Miles. I had planned to attend this, but changed my mind at the last minute. Big mistake! Jane and Nancy came running out of the presentation yelling, "You would have loved it!" I bought the CD, of course, and we listened to this on the way home. I did love it. Given their enthusiastic review, most of us changed our 8 a.m. Sunday plans and went to Jean's talk, Deduction vs. Induction in Genealogical Research. We didn't regret it.

Joyce's number one was Summit 2: Son of Blogger. I bought that CD, too - and you see that I'm now writing this blog. Jana Broglin's talk on the Genealogical Proof Standard also made the list.

I love doing research, but I also love teaching others good research methodology. Going to a genealogy conference always makes me think about my own views on both. One of the frequent presentation topics at this conference was Web 2.0 and genealogy. This has really made me think - and you will read some of those thoughts in a later post.

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Road Trip: The SoCal Genealogy Jamboree

Like about 1500 other people, I attended the Southern California Genealogical Society's 40th Annual Jamboree last weekend. It's the first multi-day conference I've attended in years, and I had a great time. There's nothing like three days with fellow genealogists away from the demands of everyday life to jump-start a stale brain! The Jamboree reminded me that I had a blog - and it amazed me that I haven't touched this thing for almost two years. Either I have no life - or I have too much life.

Seven of us rented a van and drove to the Jamboree - Hurray! Road trip! Before we even got to the hotel, the group made a stop at Glen Haven Memorial Park in Sylmar to visit my grandmother's grave. I'd never been to this cemetery before, and as you might guess, it was an emotional experience. Although we arrived after the office closed, I had called the cemetery the day before, and a very nice young man had looked up Nana's burial information for me. With seven genealogists searching, it didn't take too long to find her. Thanks, guys, for braving rattlesnakes and driving out of the way to give me this opportunity.