AncestryInsider: Successful Blogging

NGS in Salt Lake City--April 2010
You WANT to be here for this presentation!

The intrepid reporter Ancestry Insider writes a blog about FamilySearch and Ancestry.com. His recent awards include 25 Most Popular Genealogy Blogs and “101 Best Web Sites.”

The Ancestry Insider will be presenting "Blog Your Way to Genealogical Success" as part of the GenTech track. This will be offered 28 April 2010 at 4:00 pm. GenTech offerings are free to the public, as is the vendor hall, and the lineup of 60 computer work stations for onsite research.

For more infomation see: www.ngsgenealogy.org

See you soon!
Christy Fillerup

Librarian's Program

It's time for your pilgrimage to the Family History Holy Land!
NGS in Salt Lake City--April 2010

NGS’s special pre-conference meeting for librarians, sponsored by ProQuest, will be held Tuesday, 27 April, 8:45 am – 4:00 pm in the Empire Room at the Joseph Smith Building.

Librarians attending this program will hear several excellent speakers. ProQuest will provide lunch for librarians and will be available to answer questions about their products. All librarians who work with family history patrons or general reference questions will benefit from this special event.

How the Library of Congress Can Help You With Your Family History Patrons
James P. Sweany, head of the Local History & Genealogy Reading Room at the Library of Congress.

Funding Projects Large and Small
Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL, is the executive director at the Plymouth Historical Museum, Plymouth, Michigan.

Collection Care for Your Library
Chris McAfee works for both BYU and the LDS Church History Department conserving and preserving books,documents, photographs, and other artifacts. M. Scott Simkins is the head conservator at the Family History Library.

Behind the Scenes tours of the Family History Library and the new LDS Church History Library.


See you soon!
Christy Fillerup

Visit vendors in person - 27 steps away

You want to come to Salt Lake in April!

Already the vendors are flocking to register for the 2010 National Genealogical Society Family History Conference to be held in Salt Lake City (aka "Genealogy Mecca") at the Salt Palace 28 April through 1 May.

The vendor hall is a mere 27 steps from the opening session's main hall. YUP! I paced it out during a planning tour with Conference Chair Julie Miller, CG earlier this month.

When you get to the vendor hall, you'll be able to visit with representatives from:

• AGES-online
• Ancestor Detective, LLC
• Ancestor Tracks
• Ancestral Atlas
• Ancestry.com
• arcalife.com
• Archive CD Books
• Association of Professional Genealogists
• Board for Certification of Genealogists
• Boston University
• Brookhaven Press
• Bureau of Land Management
• Criminal Research Press
• Crystal Inn Hotel & Suites - Salt Lake City
• e-ImageData Corp.
• EasyNetSites
• EasyFamilyHistory.com
• Eneclann/Archive CD Books Ireland
• Family Roots Publishing Company
• FamilySearch
• Family Crusade
• Family Tree DNA
• Federation of Genealogical Societies
• Footnote
• Fun Stuff for Genealogists, Inc.
• Genealogical Publishing Company
• Genealogical Speakers Guild
• Genealogy Today LLC
• Geneartogy
• Generation Maps
• GeneTree Inc
• Genlighten.com
• Genline
• Godfrey Memorial Library
• Heritage Genealogical College
• Heritage Makers - Independent Consultant
• Heritage Productions
• Incline Software
• International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists
• International Missing Heir Finders, LLC
• International Society for British Genealogy & Family History
• International Society of Family History Writers and Editors
• Legacy Family Tree
• NARA
• National Archives of the United Kingdom
• National Genealogical Society
• National Institute for Genealogical Studies
• New England Historic Genealogical Society
• New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
• Ohana Software
• Ohio Genealogical Society
• OneGreatFamily.com
• Pennington Research Association, Inc.
• ProQuest
• Residence Inn City Center
• RootsMagic
• Sacramento German Genealogy Society
• Salt Lake Plaza Hotel At Temple Square
• Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Samford University
• South Carolina Genealogical Society
• Stoney Way LLC
• The Jefferson Project
• US Citizenship and Immigration Services
• Utah Genealogical Association
• Wholly Genes
• Wolfshead Books
• Woolkoch Publishing
• Youth Genealogists Association

During the coming weeks, O'l Myrt, your intrepid NGS 2010 Vendor Chair will provide details on exhibit hall participants and their products so that you can plan your visit in advance. Although there is a registration fee for attending classes, luncheons and most special events, the vendor hall itself is open to the general public.

Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)

Salt Lake is THE place to be 28 April - 1 May

You want to come to Salt Lake in April!

And getting there is half the fun.

Air Travel Discount

NGS has set up a special discount code for travel to the conference with Delta/KLM/NWA. Discount varies between 2–7% depending on the departure/arrival cities and type of fare. Round trip travel is required. Discount code is valid for travel between 21 April–8 May 2010.

Make a Reservation

• Click here to visit nwa.com
• Enter travel dates and cities and select "Yes" in E-Cert field
• Choose Meeting Agreement from drop down list
• Enter the unique 5-character Meeting Agreement Code NM4TA and search

See: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/discounts for more information about travel reservations,

Virtual Tours

Are you coming to Salt Lake City for NGS 2010? Would you like to see where the conference is being held? How about a look at the Salt Palace Convention Center up close and personal? You can see a virtual tour of the convention center at http://www.visitsaltlake.com/saltpalace/.

Before you book your travel reservations, you might want to take a look at the virtual tour of "This is the Place Heritage Park." You might decide to spend one more day in Salt Lake City and sightsee a bit. Take a peek at the virtual tour http://www.thisistheplace.org/virtualtour/virtualtour.html.

The conference is being held within a block or two of historic Temple Square. If you haven't experienced Temple Square before, you might want to see what Mormon Temples are all about. A virtual tour explaining temples is at: http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/temples/tour.html.

Another online adventure is the Utah State Capitol. It sits on a hill overlooking downtown Salt Lake. The virtual tour might encourage visiting there in person, or might suffice if your week at the conference gets a little busy. See if this is a don't miss visit for you. http://www.cpb.state.ut.us/visitors/virtualtours/index.html.

Carol Smith

International Focus at NGS 2010

Let's face it, if you have U.S. roots--and most of us do--that only lasts for so long before you're jumping some border or another. That's why NGS and UGA have agreed to present a conference with an international flavor.



In-depth workshops will be presented on Hispanic research, Eastern European research, Norway/Denmark research, Italian research, and Polish research. Each International Workshop will include prearranged lab time at the Family History Library. There's no extra cost, but pre-registration is a must. Look for registration options on the NGS registration site.



In addition to these workshops the International Track at the conference will include lectures about Irish, Italian, German, French, Polish, Swedish, Finnish, English, Austrian, Spanish (Spain) and Canadian research.



The entire conference program can be found online here.



See you soon!



Christy Fillerup

Travel Discounts

I've just been made aware that there are some fantastic travel discounts available for NGS 2010 attendees. Check out the following link: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/discounts for all the details. But here are a few highlights:

Airfare: NGS has arranged discounts between 2% and 7% (depending on departure city) with Delta/KLM/NWA. Make your reservation at www.nwa.com, enter yes in the E-Cert field, and search for the Meeting Agreement Code NM4TA.

Car Rentals: NGS has arranged an 8% discount with Thrifty Car Rental. To book a rental click the link www.thrifty.com, type in Promotion Code BWCT in the promotion # field or call 1-800-THRIFTY and just mention Promotion Code BWCT to get your discount.

Be sure to visit the discount page http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/discounts for all the details.

Christy Fillerup

Twitter and NGS 2010

Kathryn Doyle asked a very good question. Do we have an official hashtag for NGS 2010? The answer is not yet. But let's create one right now. how about #NGS2010--too obvious? Leave your comments with any ideas you think might be better. We'll firm it up next week. In addition the lovely and talented Gayathri over at NGS has created a twitter account for official announcements, etc. Please add "ngsgenealogy" to your list of people you're following.

Twitter is a great way for attendees at the conference to share their experience both with other attendees and those that can't make it this year. Please remember, however, to use common sense and courtesy when tweeting during lectures. Always ask the lecturer prior to the lecture if they mind if you tweet during the lecture. Also try not to disrupt those around you. That being said I can think of no better way to share ideas on the spot. Let's start twittering!

Christy Fillerup

NGS 2010 Registration is Open!

Can you believe it's already November?? Before we know it 2010 will be here, and we'll be heading to the 2010 NGS Conference in Salt Lake City. The conference will be held April 28th through May 1st in Salt Lake City, Utah. The proximity of the conference to the Family History Library--just down the street in fact--makes the next NGS conference a must-attend event. Registration has just opened.

Eastman recommended asking for registration and travel to NGS 2010 for Christmas. A week with fellow genealogists, one of the world's premier genealogical research facilities, and renowned lecturers and teachers--can you think of a better present? I can't!

Christy Fillerup