Board for Certification of Genealogists Events at FGS2012

Here are the Board for Certification of Genealogists' events that will occur at the 2012 Federation of Genealogical Societies conference. This information is published here with permission from Elissa Scalise Powell, the BCG Outreach Chair, who sent the email from which this was taken:

There are several new BCG activities, different than our norm, that you should be aware of if you are going to the FGS conference in Birmingham in just two short weeks.

We would like to invite you come to the BCG certification seminar on Friday, August 31, at 8 am to 9 and at 9:30 am to 10:30. Your team of Tom Jones, Dave McDonald and Elissa Powell want to do something a bit different this time. In the first hour we will focus on the "why certify" and have board-certified associates give a minute or two of why they did it. This is a popular way to hear the many reasons and paths to certification. Perhaps yours is one of them.

In the second hour beginning at 9:30 we will focus on "how to certify" and give tips for each of the seven portfolio requirements.

Please note we will no longer be selling books directly at the BCG booth. We will be referring sales to Maia’s Books who will recognize the sale from a form you get at the BCG booth. Subscriptions to the BCG newsletter _OnBoard_ may be ordered through the BCG booth for $15 yearly by anyone. You do not have to be certified or in-process to have a subscription.

If you know of anyone who has been on the fence about "starting the clock," encourage them to stop by the booth and fill in a preliminary application form (or download it for free online at http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/requirements.html). Although the fee is $50 now, it is going up to $75 come January 1. The current philosophy is to submit the preliminary application sooner rather than later so that BCG can communicate with you through the group mentoring list called ACTION (Aids to Certification Testing: Interactive Online Networking) where applicants can ask questions about the process. Since yearly renewals are as easy as sending in the fee again there should not be a big fear of running out of time. However if you need a deadline, it is there built-in for you yearly.

We also hope to see you at the BCG luncheon on Saturday, September 1, where Pam Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL, will be talking about “Certification: Not Just for Over-achievers.” Certification is achievable and many of us think the bar is higher than we can ever reach and that the portfolio has to be “perfect.” We are here to tell you that perfection is not the goal (nor even a rubric! <g> Rubrics online at http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/BCGNewAppRubricsMar2012.pdf.)

[If you're going to FGS2012 and are interested in certification, I highly recommend the seminar. It takes a lot of the mystery out of the process and make certification seem less scary. --Amy]