I'll be Blogging from the Springfield Family History Expo

Last week I received an email inviting me to be a "Blogger of Honor" at the upcoming Family History Expo in Springfield, Illinois. In return for a number of perks including free conference registration, I would need to share information about the event beforehand, report on presentations and exhibits on the Friday and Saturday of the gathering, and wrap up with a post-conference summary of my experience.

I gave it a lot of thought, and decided to give it a try. I've been to a number of conferences over the last couple of years, but I've always gone as an exhibitor for our website, Genlighten.com, and I've never  attended classes. This will be a first!

My plan is to approach the conference with three questions in mind:

1) What can I learn that might be of use to Chicago researchers?
2) What can I learn that might be of use to me in my own genealogy-related activities?
3) What can I learn that might help me better meet my clients' needs?

Browsing the list of presentations has been fun. Here are some of the classes I'm interested in attending:

• Ancestors Making News
• Branching Out: Teaching a Youth Workshop
• A Review of Major Genealogical Libraries and Repositories
• Scanning and Photo Retouching for Beginners
• Shooting a Quality Family History Video with Your Cell Phone
• Storytelling - Sharing with the Next Generation
• Tracing American Ancestors who Lived in Cities
• Visualizing your Genealogical Data
• Want Land Will Travel: Land and Property Records in the Southern US--State-by-State

As you can see, there's a wide variety of topic to choose from.

So, come August 3, I'll be hopping on a train in Chicago headed to Springfield for a new genealogy-related experience. Have you attended conferences before? Any suggestions for how to prepare? How to get the most out of the presentations? Is there a class on the list that you'd like me to report back on?

If you're attending the Expo, be sure to say hello. I'll probably be the only person there carrying around a violin case covered in apple fabric so that I can step out for a fiddle break, as the need arises. : )