Librarians' Day at conference

Attention librarians! Are you a librarian or archivist who works with family history patrons? Are you waiting for a good reason to sign up for Librarians' Day at the conference?  How about the grand prize worth $2,200 in value!

The committee just received word of a grand prize being offered to librarians by ProGenealogists worth $2,200 value.  ProGenealogists® is the official research firm of Ancestry.com.  The firm has worked as researchers for PBS's Ancestors Series, African American Lives, the BBC’s TimeWatch series' episode entitled “The Iron Coffin,” and Showtime’s production The Tudors. ProGenealogists provided research for the first three seasons of NBC's Who Do You Think Are? TV series, which was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Reality TV Series." That is twenty hours of professional research by the same team that has worked on WDYTYA TV shows. For more information about ProGenealogists, please visit their site at http://www.progenealogists.com/aboutus.htm 

Librarians will also have an opportunity to win personal subscriptions to Fold3 and Newspapers.com.  Family Tree Maker team at Ancestry.com has also donated 10 Family Tree Maker 2012.  Additional door prizes are coming in at this writing. 

This exciting day is sponsored by ProQuest at the LVH-Las Vegas Hotel & Casino on Tuesday, 7th May 2013.  The day has been planned with outstanding speakers:

• "Confessions from the Reference Desk" by James K. Jeffrey, Collection Specialist in Genealogy at the Denver Public Library
• "Hookers, Crooks, and Kooks:  Aunt Merle didn’t Run a Boarding House" by Jana Broglin, Certified Genealogist and a Fellow of the Ohio Genealogical Society and Director of FGS
• "Fact or Fiction:  Finding Truth in Family Legends of Famous Relations" by Crista Cowan, AKA The Barefoot Genealogist at Ancestry.com
• "Strategies for Assisting Patrons to find their Irish Immigrants" by David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FUGA, FIGRS and Chief Genealogical Officer for Family Search
• "Newspapers – The Story of the West" by J. Mark Lowe, professional researcher, educator (SLIG, IGHR & RIGS Alliance), and worked on Who Do You Think You Are?

Additional information about the NGS conference please visit their site at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/librarians_day.  Remember early bird registration ends on 19th March 2013. 

Thanks to Kim Harrison, Librarians' Day Chair.

Librarians' Day at conference

Pre-Conference Event-BCG Education Fund Workshop

The Board for Certification of Genealogists Education Fund will again sponsor a full-day pre-conference workshop at this year's conference. The workshop, "Walk in Your Ancestor's Footsteps," will take place on Tuesday, 7 May 2013 from 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Beverly Rice, CG^SM, and Connie Lenzen, CG^SM, will lead the workshop.

Attendance is limited to sixty for this six-hour, hands-on workshop. Registration is $110 and includes lunch.

For further information about the workshop, go to the three posts (19, 20, and 21 February) by Barbara Mathews, CG^SM at BCG SpringBoard. 

Connie Lenzen, CG



Beverly Rice, CG



Pre-Conference Event-BCG Education Fund Workshop

Conference Tours

                                                     Photo courtesy of Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority

The NGS 2013 Conference Local Host Committee has arranged a fantastic lineup of tours on Tuesday, 7 May 2013. Two tours will be held during the day and one at night. This is an opportunity to see the area without the bother of renting a car, and is a great way to meet fellow conference attendees before the conference gets into full swing.

Hoover Dam and Ethel M. Chocolates Tour, 8:00 a.m.−2:00 p.m.
This special six-hour, motor-coach tour allows NGS participants to explore the rich history of the Hoover Dam, enjoy a buffet lunch, and tour a chocolate factory and its botanical and cactus garden. After coaches depart from the LVH East Tower Entrance, professional guides will provide commentary on the history of southern Nevada and Hoover Dam, the Depression-era engineering marvel that opened the American Southwest to settlement. This all-inclusive tour includes admission to the Visitor Center and participation in the Dam Tour and the shorter Power Plant Tour. Participants have ample time to participate in their selection of tours. The Hoover Dam is not just a tourist attraction. It operates 24 hours a day and produces water and power for millions of people in the Southwest. Not to be missed is the terrazzo star map which shows the star alignment from the dam on the day in 1935 that it was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Next, participants will enjoy a buffet lunch at the Fiesta Festival Casino where six cooking stations offer international specialties. The tour closes with a visit to the famous Ethel M. Chocolate Factory, where visitors may enjoy free samples and stroll the Botanical and Cacti Gardens before returning to the LVH. This tour requires walking. The cost is $74 per person and includes all admissions and lunch.

Museums Tour, 8:30 a.m.−1:30 p.m.
This five-hour tour, created just for NGS attendees, visits two Las Vegas-area museums: the Clark County Museum and the National Atomic Testing Museum. Depart from the LVH East Tower entrance for the thirty-acre Clark County Museum, which is accredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies and directed by our Friday evening banquet speaker, Mark Hall-Patton. The exhibit hall features items from pre-historic to modern-day southern Nevada, and the historic buildings depict daily life in the area through the decades.
The National Atomic Testing Museum depicts Nevada’s twentieth-century role as the nation’s atomic testing grounds. View more than 12,000 artifacts in interactive displays that present the history of the development and testing of the nuclear bomb. A special exhibit, “Area 51: Myth or Reality,” sheds light on the most secret place in America. This tour includes walking. The cost of $48 per person includes all admissions.


Night Tour, 6:00 p.m.−11:00 p.m.
Experience the full brilliance of neon Las Vegas in a five-hour tour! When darkness falls, Las Vegas lights the desert sky with glowing neon and illuminated displays. Coaches leave the LVH East Tower entrance to explore shows of water, music, and light on the Strip and Downtown. Stop at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, featured on the History Channel’s reality television show “Pawn Stars,” where participants are granted immediate access. Browse for one-half hour before heading for the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign, where passengers may disembark and snap souvenir photographs before enjoying the Fountains of Bellagio and the Bellagio Gardens.
As the tour continues, experienced guides highlight the city’s history, its wedding chapels, and the famous and infamous who married here. Once Downtown, take in the overhead light and musical show featuring the Fremont Street Experience’s two million lights and state-of-the-art sound system. Participants will have plenty of time to enjoy the light and sound and visit some of Downtown’s other famous sites before returning to the hotel. Although routes may vary, the tour incorporates the sights and stops described. This tour requires walking. The cost is $58 per person.

Tours can be purchased starting Saturday, 1 December 2012 on the NGS conference registration website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/attendee_registration. Sales close when
pre-registration closes on Monday, 22 April 2013.

Conference Tours