Mom Reports on SCGS 2010 Jamboree Marathon

 

  Mom was handing out her new contact cards at Jamboree; did you get one?

Mom’s first session was Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak with “Cases That Made My Brain Hurt” featuring some of her toughest cases. Megan is an engaging speaker and Mom would have loved to hear more.

Next, she attended “What You Must Know to Save Your Research from Destruction” with Lisa Louise Cooke. Curatorial instincts must run in our family! Mom said she picked up a few new ideas for saving family treasures.

Mom’s last session of the day was “Cousin Connections” by Cafi Cohen where Mom learned her practice of picking up the phone to contact cousins was truly one of the most effective methods for finding relatives.

It was then time for the evening banquet. Mom says, “The banquet was absolutely outstanding, and I thought that Chris Haley was very entertaining. It was a very enjoyable, and we met nice new acquaintances at our table.”

Mom’s rule is to start no classes before 10 a.m.; she kicked off Saturday with Arlene Eakle “American Court Records,” and then moved on to David Horowitz, “Face Recognition and Photo Tagging.” After that session, she was ready to upload all her photos and get busy tagging folks.

Then it was time for lunch with the Eldest Daughters, although she is NOT the eldest herself, we let her come along, and a short R&R break. She went on to hear John Humphrey “Pennsylvania Land Records” with hopes to get a few tips for researching her father’s Pennsylvania line. A highlight of the afternoon sessions was Cath Trindle’s “Women of the West,” where Mom was able to see her mother, Arline, in many of the examples shared by Cath.

On Sunday, Mom returned to hear Lisa Louise Cooke talk on “Tap Into Your Inner Private Eye” and she is now encouraged to pursue even more elusive ancestors “hiding in plain sight.” Then we both heard Maureen Taylor’s talk “Hairsteria.” She especially liked learning about the men’s hairstyles and facial hair and Maureen’s analysis of how those “special” comb-overs were achieved. Mom closed out the conference with John Humphrey “Using Church Records Effectively,” and is now back on the hunt for baptismal and membership records of the family.

Mom attended ten classes, the banquet, and spent time in the exhibit hall and “hanging out” with the GeneaBloggers – an impressive record for a anyone.

Ooops, she corrects me, “It’s not impressive. I go to our monthly genealogy society meeting [Green Valley Genealogy Society], and attend the all day seminar in February every year. Plus I am active in our homeowners association, run the arts and crafts festival, organize the adult seniors at my church for outings, teach a Bible Study class, and put on the summer ice-cream social. I attend all the bus trips for musicals and casinos, too. I’m in great shape for a conference. I’m up to ‘em all.”