Thoughts from the Sacramento Family History Expo

I got an email from someone about my book, The Guide to FamilySearch Online, and in context of the email exchange, I mentioned that I was in Sacramento attending the Family History Expo. The response was "Too bad, I didn't know about the Expo and live only a few miles from Sacramento." So here is the deal. Almost all of the information about what is going on in the world of genealogy is online. You won't read about it in your local newspaper or hear about it on the radio. Everything comes through blogs, Facebook, Twitter or some other form of electronic communication.

If you are online and see some news, you might want to make sure the non-Internet folks you know hear about events or announcements in the genealogy world. If you are reading this post, you obviously fall into the online category, but to take an example of Family History Expos, most of the information about upcoming events is either posted online on our website, or on Facebook and Google+. So, if you want to know what is going on, you need to spend a few minutes looking at pertinent websites and Facebook pages.

For the past few Expos, I have been a featured presenter since I now actually work for Family History Expos. I must say the transition from casual attendee to working is pretty dramatic. For example, at this Expo in Sacramento, I am teaching six classes. This means that is all I mostly end up doing. I get less time to mingle and talk to people and spend most of my time either presenting or getting ready to present. In the next Expo, in Springfield, Illinois, I will be teaching every hour, eight classes. So my discussion time is limited to between classes and before and after the Expo. I still enjoy talking to everyone, but my time to blog is limited until after the event.

In listening to comments from the people attending the conference, I am gratified to hear that they are really learning a lot of new things that will help them with their genealogical research. Since this one of the main purposes for having conferences and expos, it is a good thing learning is happening.

If you live anywhere near to Springfield, Illinois please come by and say hello at the next Expo.