FGS Part 2

After the FamilySearch breakfast, I headed over to the keynote session. J. Mark Lowe (TN) and Kent Whitworth (KY) were excellent and funny co-speakers. Their theme was a friendly Tennessee vs. Kentucky rivalry speech. The event ended with "Rocky Top" and the dang song is still stuck in my head.

At 9:30 a.m. there was a quick Geneablogger gathering. I got to meet several bloggers I know online, and now I know them in person as well.

The first session I attended on Thursday was "Solving the Mystery of the Disappearing Ancestor," by Thomas Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA (yeah, he's big time). His talk circled around the 7 reasons one might have a missing ancestor. He cautioned against having too much confidence in home records (like those produced by family members, which aren't always as accurate as we think), and published records (such as genealogies, books, etc.). He also said not to stop searching after you've found a vital record. Keep on searching for more records. What impressed me most about Tom Jones talk is that he finished it at 12:00 on the nose. Guess that's why he has all those letters by his name.

For lunch, I enjoyed a meal with the authors of Bayside Blog, Gen Wish List, and Tonia's Roots. And you know what? We all ordered the same thing. Mr. Gen Wish List was there, too, being a good sport.

After that, we went back to the Knoxville Convention Center for the next sessions. Something incredible happened, but you'll have to wait for the next installment of my conference log to find out what it was. Go to part 3 here.