NGS Cincinnati 2012: Reflections

NGS 2010 logo
Root Cellar, Official Blogger

The curtain was lowered on another National Genealogical Society (NGS) conference today at 5:00 p.m.  I hope the organizers are patting themselves on the back because they hosted an excellent conference.  I'm writing this in my comfy clothes with my feet up and hopefully they are doing the same! 

According to NGS President Ann Hilke, the total attendance was 2,156.  I believe it.  Every session my husband Scott and I attended was packed to the walls.  The room monitors were diligent in identifying empty seats and directing people accordingly.  I was out of the room on a couple occasions while Scott saved my seat.  He had to nearly side-straddle it to ensure it was available when I returned.  What a guy!

View of the Exhibit Hall from the second floor

The conference was a genealogical education intensive for four days, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  I delegated Scott to attend two sessions while I cruised the Exhibit Hall. That's not his thing.  I bought some books and novelties; also talked to the people at the WikiTree exhibit and may just ask Thomas MacEntee to invite me to get my own wiki.  I've been looking for a way to share my genealogy with family members, some of whom may be interested in adding their recollections or images to the tree.  WikiTree allows for such collaboration.  Speaking of Thomas, we saw him ever so quickly as he was running to set up for his session.  No time to visit but we'll see him on March 16, 2013 at the Root Cellar Spring Seminar.  But I digress...

Are you curious about what sessions we attended?  Here's our playbill:

1. Solving Problems with Tax Records, Victor Dunn
2. Strategies for Finding "Unfindable" Ancestors, Thomas W. Jones
3. Moving Out: Migration Patterns into the Midwest, Carol Elise Smith
4. Military Bounty Lands: A Rich Resource, Rick Sayre
5. National Home for Disabled Soldiers' Homes: The Aftermath of the Civil War, Rick Sayre
6. Ohio: The Great Land Experiment, Jana Sloan Broglin
7. Best of Roots Tech: Effective Database Search Tactics, Kory Meyerink
8. Pension Research: You Stopped Too Soon, Craig Roberts Scott
9. Locating and Understanding the Law: An Essential Part of Good Research, Barbara Vines Little
10. You're Not in Kansas Any More: Essential Resources for Urban-Area Research, Jeanne Larzalere Bloom
11. Pursuing Your Genealogical Research in the Library of Congress Without Traveling to Washington, D.C. James Sweany
12. Advanced Probate Research, Michael J. Leclerc
13. Ohio Cousins May Have Migrated: Did Family Records Go Along?, Paula Stuart-Warren
14. How to be a Bad Genealogist, William B. Saxbe, Jr.
15. Using Techniques of Creative Non-Fiction to Enhance Our Genealogic Narrative, Willias White
16. Trails West to the Ohio and Beyond, Barbara Vines Little
17. Information Overload? Effective Project Planning, Research, Data Management and Analysis, Elizabeth Shown Mills
18. Solutions for Missing or Scarce Records, Thomas W. Jones
19. Newspaper Research - More Than Obituaries, Patricia Walls Stamm

19? No wonder we're pooped!  Now we just need to take action on this educational abundance!

We enjoyed the opportunity to listen to nationally-known genealogical experts and talk directly to commercial vendors and representatives of non-profit genealogical and historical organizations.  Equally valuable were the people we chatted with during the luncheons and before each session.  We met people from Arizona; Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Indiana, Washington State, Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio and California (Auburn, Ventura, Sacramento). The NGS blog has some great photos of the conference.

I highly recommend you attend a national genealogical conference.  Take note -  the next NGS conference is in Las Vegas, Nevada, May 8 - 11, 2013.  So close and yet not so far to drive or fly! 

posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond