Conference CDs now available

If you were not able to attend the conference or if you did not make it to a session you wanted to go to, then you're in luck. JAMB, Inc. taped many of the sessions and the CDs are now available from JAMB's online store for $12.00 each

Most of the sessions were taped but not all. The list of available CDs and ordering information can be found at http://www.jamb-inc.com/genealogy/ngs/2013-ngs-conference--las-vegas-nv. 

Conference CDs now available

Make plans to attend Richmond in 2014

Come join us in Richmond next May! The 2014 Family History Conference will be held 7–10 May 2014 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center and Marriott Hotel located in downtown Richmond, Virginia. Conference highlights and contact information for conference hotels can be found in the Announcement Brochure, which can be downloaded at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/galleries/new-gallery/2014_Announcement_Brochure.pdf.

The conference theme, Virginia: The First Frontier, will explore the records and history that draw so many back to their roots in the Old Dominion. Lecture topics will also include migration into, within, and out of the region down the Great Wagon Road, over the Appalachian Mountains, and across the south to Texas and beyond.

The four-day conference will include more than 150 lectures by nationally known experts on topics including the history, records, repositories, and ethnic and religious groups in Virginia and the neighboring states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The program will also feature broader genealogical categories including military and other federal records, the law as it relates to genealogy, methodology, analysis, and problem solving.

Genealogy conferences in Richmond, Virginia, are always well attended, so plan to make your reservations early. The five conference hotels will accept reservations beginning 1 June 2013 and the special conference rates apply three days before and after the conference. The hotels offer a variety of amenities and dining options, so choose the one that best fits your needs. The convention and visitors bureau will be providing shuttle buses between the convention center and the Crowne Plaza, Omni, and Holiday Inn Express hotels, which are a few blocks away, while the conference is in session. For more details please see the NGS conference website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/accommodations.

Consider arriving early to experience one or more historical tours in and around Richmond provided by Richmond Discoveries’ Tours on Monday afternoon 5 May 2014 and Tuesday morning and afternoon 6 May 2014. Details can be found at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/tours. Tour reservations will be accepted beginning 1 December 2013.

An Exhibit Hall with more than 100 vendors will be free and open to the public from Wednesday through Saturday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, directly across from the Marriott Hotel. Exhibitors will include genealogy database and software providers, booksellers, genealogy societies, providers of genetic testing, and much more.

Sign up for the NGS Conference Blog at http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org so you do not miss any of the conference news or announcements. Conference registration opens 1 December 2013.

Make plans to attend Richmond in 2014

Megan Smolenyak releases details about the Lucky 13 grant program

Megan Smolenyak speaking at the NGS 2013 Banquet

During her presentation at the NGS Banquet on Friday, 10 May, Megan Smolenyak announced a new grant program, Lucky 13.

She promised that details would be forthcoming and those details have been posted to her website at http://megansmolenyak.posthaven.com/lucky-13-a-modest-proposal-regarding-genealogy-grants.

Megan Smolenyak releases details about the Lucky 13 grant program

Exhibit Hall Video

The NGS booth on Wednesday morning was THE place to be. This video was taken a short time after the Exhibit Hall opened. Everyone was lined up to buy the two new NGS publications, Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones and NGS Research in the States Series: New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County by Laura Murphy DeGrazia. You can hear the Mariachi Los Bravos in the background.

The conference is over but these books and many more are available on the NGS website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/.

Exhibit Hall Video

Hoover Dam Tour

The Hoover Dam is breathtaking. On the Tuesday before the conference, several buses of attendees enjoyed a tour of the Dam arranged by the Local Host Societies.

Thanks to Pat Stamm for sharing her photos and comments about the tour.

 The day was great for a tour. As the sun reflected off of the dam, the breeze picked up. The day was not too hot or too cold.

                                                                     

The tour guides took us down and gave us a brief overview of how the dam was built.

The giant turbines whirled noisily as the guild explained how they were maintained.

 After that we got a closer look at the dam itself.

Looking down the river, we saw the Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge which crosses the Colorado River.

Hoover Dam Tour

Memories from NGS 2013 Family History Conference and Vegas!

Thank you Scott Stewart for capturing these wonderful moments!

Memories from NGS 2013 Family History Conference and Vegas!

Kudos to the NGS media team

Kudos to the NGS media team who wrote, managed, and distributed NGS media before, during, and after the conference! Take a bow, Terry Koch-Bostic, for organizing NGS media; Julie Miller, CG, for writing and managing the new gold standard in conference blogs; Gayathri Kher for keeping conference attendees connected through a record number of timely social media feeds; Erin Shifflett for writing and distributing conference e-mails and serving as Conference Command Central; Diane L. Richard for adding buzz with UpFront publicity; and Phyllis Mathews Ziller for keeping us in grammatical style. Thank you all!

Guest blogger 

Stefani Evans, CG

Conference chair NGS 2013 Family History Conference

Photo Courtesy: Scott Stewart

Kudos to the NGS media team