FGS2014 - Society Day

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted but life has been busy and I guess I've been a little busy.  Both life and genealogy have gotten in the way of blogging.

The Federation of Genealogy Societies Convention in San Antonio began yesterday with Library Day.  I did not attend but I have only heard positive responses to the presentations.

Today was Society Day and I missed the morning sessions arriving at lunch time.  Over lunch in the Bridge area, I caught up with Thomas MacEntee and Smallest Leaf.  There was a small concession stand with a variety of sandwiches, drinks, and snacks.  The bridge divides the two sides of the Henry B Gonzales Convention Center divides the two side of the Center with each side having 3 floors of meeting rooms.  With windows on each side and overhead skylights the area is open and bright.  Today it didn't seem very crowded but it was Society Day and there was a Focus on Societies luncheon and the luncheon also included the FGS Annual Business Meeting and Society Shout-Out.

After lunch it was time to choose the first of three afternoon sessions that were available.  The sessions followed six tracks:  Strategic Planning, Society Technology, Outreach and Education, Strategies for Success, Society Projects, and Advocacy and Legal Issues.

I chose the Society Projects "Creating a Community Indexing Projects" presented by Thomas MacEntee.  Thomas described the types of projects that would be suitable as well as scanning methods, using Excel and Google Drive for capturing data and how to share the completed project.

For the next session I attended the Society Technology presentation by Linda Woodward Geiger "Calling All Society Webmasters: Past, Present, and Future.  This was a very interactive session with lots of questions and responses.  Members of the audience all had different levels of experience.  We discussed the advantage of having a technical person and several editors or content providers.Another topic discussed was service providers and why own a domain name.

For the final session, I selected the Outreach & Education track and "Ten Tips for Marketing Your Society" with Marian Pierre-Smith.  One tip Marian pointed out that any marketing approach should reflect the mission of the Society.  The types of mission might be to reach members, to recruit members, and to become mote visible to the community.  Another suggestion was to consider working with another group in a combined workshop or seminar.

All three of the sessions were very well done and provied tons of inspiration to take back to our group.

I had dinner with five lovely women from  Texas and learned a lot about the DTR (Daughters of the Texas Republic).

Now it's time to select tomorrow's sessions and charge the electronics.

Research Opportunities during FGS 2014

From the desk of 
Sandra Crowley

Here is some information about Research site in San Antonio during the conference and their hours. I'll try to send some information at least once a week on some of the workshops, presenters and special events. 

The San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society library will have extended hours during the conference. I've also attached a JPG of the library.

San Antonio Research Opportunities during FGS 2014

The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2014 Conference, “Gone to Texas,” will be held in San Antonio, August 27-30.  In addition to an extensive program that includes sessions on records, methodology and researching in Texas and neighboring states, you can take advantage of some of the research facilities in San Antonio. Here are two of the best:

·         Located on the 6th floor of the San Antonio Central Library, the Texana/Genealogy Department includes 65,000 microfilms, 77,000 books, 150 drawers of archival files, 75 map drawers, and 300 cu. ft. of archival collections. Visit this research facility at 600 Soledad St. in downtown San Antonio.

·         The San Antonio Genealogical & Historical Society Library, located at 911 Melissa Dr. in north-central San Antonio, houses a vast collection of books, periodicals, maps, vertical files, microfilm, and family history volumes for San Antonio, Bexar County, and all 50 states. The library will be open extended hours for research during the conference: Thurs., Aug. 28 10AM-9PM; Fri, Aug. 29 10AM-4PM; Sat., Aug. 30 10AM-6PM; Sun., Aug. 31 1PM-5PM.

FGS 2014 Conference

Save the dates!  August 27, 28, and 29 in San Antonio!

San Antonio River Walk

 

 

The countdown has begun for the 2014 Federation of Genealogy Societies Conference.  Just three months from today the doors will open on amazing opportunities for education.  Both Societies and individuals will benefit from a wide selection of topics and speakers.  Some of the many topics to be covered include DNA, Society Management and Growth, Maps, and Source Citation.

Here is the link to the brochure with all of the details and registration information. https://www.fgsconference.org/FGS2014_%20RegistrationBooklet_web.pdf
 Join us and spend some time on the River Walk while you improve your genealogy skills.


photo courtesy of google images