Genea-conference excitement

The last two weeks have been packed with genea-adventures. Firstly it was the Footsteps in Time conference at the Gold Coast which was extremely well organised by the Gold Coast Family History Society and History Queensland. Thanks also to all the sponsors who helped make it a successful event.

If you ever needed proof that conferences can add to your genealogy research offline, this was further confirmation. I don’t intend to single out any one speaker for fear of getting myself in strife – suffice to say I enjoyed them all and I always get a new tip, or a thought to pursue. I was fortunate enough to present on one of my hobby horses “Beyond the Internet” and if you missed it, you can get my handout list of suggested topics here. While my examples were focused on my own research discoveries, each and every one of us can find some discoveries among the records – they will just be different to some extent for every researcher.

I must also apologise to the poor speaker about Trove on Friday morning – I was trying to make a discreet exit when I tripped and landed flat out in the aisle….oops, and a very sincere thank you to the gentleman who rushed to my aid. My self-inflicted drama explains Martyn Killion’s cryptic remark re Congress 2018 that I may be able to stay on my feet….he wasn’t alluding to me indulging too much in alcohol.

The conference was followed by a delightful few days at home with my good friend and geminate from Darwin, and showing her some of the local sights.

Before we knew it, the weekend had rolled around again and it was off to Nambour to listen to the visiting experts Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt of the Ulster Historical Foundation. Both Fintan and Gillian were enormously knowledgeable. The venue was packed with people travelling from as far afield as Melbourne (omitting the speakers). Once again it was a fabulous learning opportunity. You don’t realise how unaccustomed you are to intense and constant thinking until you need to absorb a vast array of information in one day. Heaven knows how the newbies felt. Again it was meeting up with a cousin and genimates that was the icing on the cake. Congratulations to Genealogy Sunshine Coast for a great opportunity for learning.

Then a few days ago we had the anticipatory excitement of the launch of the Congress 2018 program and registration. It’s already generating lots of enthusiasm so don’t procrastinate – get in there and book rego and accommodation asap. Yes, the dollars add up, despite the best efforts of the convenors, but that’s Sydney for you and luckily you can split your registration costs over two payments. As speakers register, they are being linked to the presentations in the program. Some of my genimates’ topics are already linked as are my two: Uncovering your Irish roots, a beginner’s guide and  Parallel lives, Irish kin Down Under and Abroad.

Helping to build the excitement and connect attendees at the Congress, Jill aka GeniAus, has launched a new Facebook group page called Genimates at #Congress_2018. Why not join us and get the buzz and good tips about what’s happening or advice about Congress generally? I also publish a weekly newsletter with some snapshots being talked about by Congress participants (unfortunately limited by the number of people I can add).

Today’s Facebook news came with the announcement of another innovation for genealogy bloggers called Geneabloggers Tribe (great name btw!) Great to see genimates GeniAus and Caitlin Gow will be the Aussie team members!

In between all this conference excitement I’ve finally got around to putting time into my Callaghans from Courtown…a blog post or two coming up.

And…my long-awaited Living DNA results have arrived this past week. Whew! No wonder it’s been busy here.