I can’t believe it’s almost August already. Next week I travel to Indianapolis for the Midwestern Roots Family History and Genealogy conference. I’m very excited. I love conferences in general and I’ve really enjoyed the genealogy conferences I’ve attended so far. RootsTech 2014 was especially valuable for me.
Before I went to RootsTech in February, I posted here and was so happy to hear from a reader, Lori Krause, who was attending. She’s a fellow Missourian (though she lives on the other side of the state) and we spent a lot of time together at the conference and have also visited the Midwest Genealogy Center together subsequently.
So I thought I’d see if anyone is going to the Indiana conference. If so, maybe we can get together for coffee or sit together at a session. (I promise not to pressure you to become my BFF.) Just leave a comment and I’ll contact you via email or just email me through the Contact form.
I’m heading up early for the pre-conference session on preserving original family documents on Thursday morning.
I’m very excited about this learning opportunity. And I hope to multiply the benefit by meeting one or more readers of this blog!
I’m going to be there, too, getting there late afternoon Thursday. I’m staying at the Marriot. My research is largely in Illinois, with Ohio and Virginia as sources of the village I’m studying.
So glad to hear from you Candace! I’ll email you my cell phone number and if you’d like to meet up while there, we can be in touch. I look forward to hearing more about your research!
Janine,
I will be at the conference and would love to meet up. Although from the St. Louis area, I currently live in the Indianapolis area so can attend all three days!
Wonderful, Roberta! We can talk St. Louis (and other stuff)! I’ll email you my phone number.
Janine, while I live a long way from the Midwest and unfortunately won’t be attending that conference, I wanted to chime in and say connecting online ahead of time before genealogical conferences is the way to go!
I decided that for myself after attending my last conference in the spring. I had the grandest time connecting with those I had previously made contact with online…but as for those brave networking gestures of striking up small talk with the strangers there, not so much luck. Even using Twitter while at the conference and posting comments using the event’s designated hashtag made a difference–I discovered, at one session, I was sitting across the aisle from someone I knew online.
I think we can make the most productive use of our conference time, as far as networking goes, by a little preparation ahead of the game via social media. Then it’s just a matter of finding each other and continuing the conversation, once we get to the event.
Jacqui, thank you so much for your comment! It’s so much easier to meet folks when you’ve made arrangements ahead of time! I appreciate the idea of using Twitter and the conference hashtag at the conference to meet folks. That’s a great idea.
I too will be at the conference and would enjoy meeting you in person. I am relatively new to genealogy, found your blog referenced in the May/June 2014 Family Tree Magazine and have been a fan ever since.
Fantastic, Jean! I look forward to meeting you. I’ll email you my phone number!