Day 2 was quite busy. I started with an 8:00 am session taught by Lisa Alzo called "Write Your Family History Step by Step." I wasn't planning on writing a book, I just wanted to hear about different techniques. The speaker didn't disappoint. The main point of the session was that family histories are non-fiction based on facts, but fiction techniques will make your work interesting, draw in readers and hold their attention.
The second session I attended was the blogging summit. It was a panel of big-name bloggers. Each person described his or her blog and how it is used. Ideas and names of new tools were exchanged. There was a Q & A. Many of the questions asked indiciated that there were a lot of genealogists who know little about blogs but want to learn. There is a need there and I hope it is filled. The blogging summit could have run all day long. It could have branched off into different topics and levels of expertise. It's the only event of it's kind in the genealogy world and I was glad to be a part of it. If the panel ever needs someone with minimal tech experience and a tendency to ignore rules, I'm the one for the job.
Even lunch was exciting. I broke bread (or in this case fast food) with Ginisology, Little Bytes of Life and Elyse's Genealogy. Great conversation entailed including a discussion on blog writing, life, etc.
In the afternoon, I attended a Roots Magic 4 presentation and hit the exhibit hall. I bought some old NGS Quarterly magazines for a quarter each. Not sure how I'll get them home, but they'll make good reading.
In the early evening, I attended a Facebook meet-up. I did get a couple new friends. I also met Janet Havorka, who is incredibly nice. She has a MLS degree, too, so we talked about how technology has changed the landscape in that field. It was nice to speak librarian for a bit.
The icing on the cake of the day was the Geneablogger dinner, put together by the genius behind Geneabloggers.com. 35 bloggers in the same room, chatting, eating and having a good time. My seatmates included Elyse again and Lisa Louise Cooke. It was such a pleasure to meet the voice behind the podcasts. She's a California girl who remembers old-school Disneyland with the ticketbooks and such. We had a great chat about that.
Dinner went by too fast and all of a sudden the day was over.
Now I have to wake up and do it again.
Amy, thank you so much for the wonderful recap. You had an awesome day. It sounds just like what I thought it would...great classes, putting faces to names, fun disucssions and visits. What a wonderful way to spend a Sat. Geneabloggers just have to be the greatest bunch of people!
ReplyDeleteI've greatly enjoyed your reports and tweets, Amy! Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with those of us who couldn't be there...it's the next best thing for us!
ReplyDeleteFantastic reporting - I thoroughly enjoyed reading your reports. (And I remember the old Disneyland with the ticketbooks, too!)
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