Jamboree day 2

It's not even 8 AM and the lobby is full of genealogists blogging and checking their e-mail. I came down about 7:15 and was far from the first person here. Thomas MacEntee is speaking at one of the breakfast sessions and it is also being webcast for those not at the meeting.

Last night I selected the presentations I hope to attend today. It was difficult since there are 10 sessions in every time period. Today there is the opportunity to attend 5 sessions. The first one I'll attend is Janis Martin's talk about Unclaimed Persons. Then 2 more before the lunch break.

Follow Friday - How I got here

In April or May of 2008 I read, in Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy News Letter, about a new group being started for genealogists.  It was named "Unclaimed Persons" and its purpose was to help coroners and medical examiners find living family members of the dead who had not been claimed.    This group was founded by Megan Smolnyak Smolnyak and was an extension of her work with medical examiners and the U S Military.  Since I love the thrill of the hunt, I joined at the very beginning.  Several widely known and highly respected genealogists joined those of us who were beginners.  Membership in Facebook was required to belong to Unclaimed Persons, so I joined and asked lots of Unclaimed Persons to be friends. 

Since I was able to read the postings for so many genealogists, I was able to broaden my genealogy education and resources.  I began linking to blogs and became a regular reader of Thomas MacEntee  and Randy Seaver among others.  Thomas introduced me to Geneabloggers and thus to the wonderful world of blogging.  Using the daily themes for blogging is helpful for those days when it's difficult to pick a topic.  And that is how I got here.