Setting the stage for success

In February, 2015, I will be traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah for the combined FGS and Rootstech conference. I am thrilled to have the chance at a bit of research at the Family History Library along with the conference activities. This is my version of pre-planning for this research adventure. 

#FGS2015 is right around the corner.

Believe it or not, February will be here before most of us can blink. There is much to do before this once in a lifetime event, and many attendees will be making sure that they get quality research time in at the Family History Library. I'm one of those folks. 

Admittedly, the library will be crowded. Like no-room-to-sit, 15-people-in-every-aisle, staff-run-ragged busy. Imagine this incredible library filled with people, and then realize that every one of them have computers, binders, notebooks, bags, and all the other "stuff" most of us take into a research facility. Then pile on heavy winter jackets, hats, mittens, and scarves. A lot of people, a lot of stuff. This equates, in my mind, to preparation. In order for me to be successful, I need to be ready as soon as I walk in the door. 

Last year when I attended, I was able to stay after the conference and spend two full days in the Library. That was fantastic... but I don't think I'm going to have that luxury this year. I also learned last year that although I felt very prepared with my research goals in hand, I was simply not prepared enough. I was still successful - I found some great material that has helped me considerably in my research. However, I could have done more. 

Changing Tactics

In 2014, I used Evernote to log my research at the library. It worked, to a point. I needed a better set up for inputting search results, and tracking my progress. I would have benefited a great deal from reading through Cyndi Ingle's Evernote for Every Genealogist blog, and using her advice to create a better template. Evernote is a great tool, and I use it daily, but the other realization I had was that it didn't work for me in that environment (at least, not in the way I had it set up). 

Moving to Excel

I have found that Excel is such an amazing tool for genealogy, and I have used it in several other research projects and in a variety of ways to organize my data. I decided that for 2015, I needed to go back to what I was comfortable with, instead of trying to learn enough about Evernote to make it work. I'm creating a template specifically for research in the FHL, so I can pull it out for any project, any time. 

The template will include the following:

• Tabs for each primary surname I am researching. 
• Columns for key elements.
• A column for prioritization, so that I can quickly sort and organize my data based on what is most important for me. 

Some of the other benefits of using Excel in this way include the fact that I can sort by location, or by ancestor. 

Screenshot of my Excel research log. 

As of right now (and always subject to change) the column headings include: 

1. Priority
2. Film #
3. Item #
4. Collection Title
5. Objective
6. Individual
7. Location
8. Year (if known)
9. Other Parties
10. Objective Met? (Y/N)
11. Notes
12. Citation
13. FamilySearch Link

Putting together my list is actually fairly simple, thanks to a tip I picked up from D. Joshua Taylor a few months ago. His suggestion was to maintain a running list of resources I want or need to pursue at any of the major genealogy libraries around the country. You never know when you might have the opportunity to research at the DAR library in Washington DC, or the Allen County Public LIbrary Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, for example. Life happens fast, so these unexpected research trips may not leave you with a great deal of time to prep. If you have the running list handy, you can take advantage of these random moments of genealogy heaven. I took this advice to heart; and since I travel a lot more these days due to my work with Findmypast, I thought it was a great idea. Therefore, I have a running list of film's to look at the Family History Library (ironically, I keep this list in Evernote!). All of this means that all I need to do is transfer the information to my spreadsheet, and I'm good to go. 

One thing I will be missing this year, more than anything else, is my research partner. Last year, my daughter was able to spend a day at the Library with me, and we had a marvelous day together exploring our history. She was only four years old at the time, and really got excited exploring the microfilm, the stacks, using the reader's, and seeing the museum style displays around the library. Unfortunately, she won't be joining me in Salt Lake City again this year. 

My daughter, selecting film at the Family History
Library, February, 2014. 

12 Months of Extraordinary… or Why Genealogy Conferences are Awesome

With J. Mark Lowe and
Terri O'Connell, NGS 2013
©Jen Baldwin, 2013-2014

Almost exactly twelve months ago today I was getting ready to depart for Las Vegas, NV and the 2013 Family History Conference hosted by the National Genealogical Society (NGS). 

It was my first major genealogy conference, and there was no point in trying to hide my excitement. I was thrilled to be attending, I was thrilled to be part of a team of Official Bloggers along with with Terri O’Connell and Jennifer Alford of the In-Depth Genealogist. I was thrilled to be meeting so many people that I had come to respect from their online presence. I was simply thrilled.


During the event, I did whatever I could to ensure that I got to the people I wanted to get to. As someone trying desperately to break into the genealogy profession, I knew that I needed to network – big time. I needed to cover every inch of that conference center, and I was ready for it. Business cards: check. Social media ready: check. Blog post drafts: check. Interviews with the big guns scheduled: check. I had it all together… I thought.

Great friendships were born! We were
"the fun table!" NGS2013
©Jen Baldwin, 2013-2014

 When the day finally came and I arrived in Las Vegas, I was standing in baggage claim at the airport and saw a familiar face walk by. It took me a minute to realize it was one of the “big gun” speakers I had hoped to meet… and I just stood there as he disappeared into the crowd. “Plenty of time for that,” I thought. I had all my lists, schedules and had allowed my Type A traits to run amok in preparation; I couldn’t be any more confident that I had it all together. The one thing I forgot to plan for ultimately became one of the most important: spontaneity.


Over the course of the week, I did manage to let myself relax… not too much, but enough. I had one interview in particular I was very anxious for. I had weeks to prep for it, I knew that far ahead that it was going to happen. But I was still unprepared for a scheduled 30 minute session to run into two hours of great conversation and unmasked laughter; I laughed so much during that interview, I was crying. And those two hours are impressed into my memory, they are moments I treasure that grew into an ongoing friendship.


The business networking was incredibly successful for me. I swallowed the advice of J. Mark Lowe, CG, when he talked of really capitalizing on your specialty - your niche - and making sure you know it inside and out. Then shout to the world that you know it inside and out. (Ok, not exactly Mark’s words, but that was the general message, and hey, it works! And yes, Mark was absolutely on that list of genealogy rock stars.)

With Josh Taylor, NGS 2013
©Jen Baldwin, 2013-2014

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, D. Joshua Taylor, Warren Bittner, CG, and many, many more people that have continued to play a role in my life. I made some great friends who I continue to share a special bond with today, like Barry Kline, Julie Jones and Mary Jane Bennett. Some of these were planned, some were random meetings; like sitting down for dinner the first night with Julie and Mary simply because we were all waiting for a table at the same time. That’s another moment imprinted into my brain; sharing a great meal – albeit rushed – and great stories over dinner on day 1, and having these two dear ladies become a part of my life, become friends.

Barry, Mary Jane and Julie: laughter and
friendship in Las Vegas
©Jen Baldwin, 2013-2014

And that is one of the joys of conferences. Pretty much everyone you pass in the hall has a mutual interest, a starting point for conversation. You can jump into conversation with just about anybody and connect in some way. You learn together, you make memories together, and you plan the next conference together.
I've had twelve months of great moments, opportunity, and incredible challenges, and many are a direct result of my attendance at NGS2013. I wouldn't trade the last 12 months for anything.


Since then I've had the pleasure to represent Findmypast at the New York Family History Conference in Syracuse (Nov 2013), and RootsTech 2014. I also spoke at RootsTech, and will be happily presenting again at FGS in August. I'll be there at NGS and Jamboree, and even get to squeeze in a trip to the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference the first weekend of May; and although I'm "working," I'm really not. I love every minute of it.


So won’t you join me? Come be a part of it all, whether you choose NGS in Richmond, FGS in San Antonio, Jamboree in California or some other event close to you, you are cordially invited to be a part of this amazing family.


Here’s a few links if you are on the fence:

• National Genealogical Society 2014 Family History Conference, Richmond, VA
• Federation of Genealogical Societies 2014 Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX
• Southern California Genealogical Society 2014 Jamboree, Burbank, CA
• Conference Keeper: a site for all genealogy events!

RT 1082

“RT 1082.”

Gibberish?

Hardly.


RT1082 is the code assigned to my presentation at RootsTech 2014. I like it. It has an R2D2 ring to it, and that makes me smile.

R2D2. Would't he be cool to have at RootsTech?

Image: Jan SOLO, Wikimedia Commons

I have been looking forward to this adventure for months, and as we get within just days of departure, my anticipation only grows. I have so many people to meet, research to do (yippee!), friends to see again and spend time with, and an entire week of genealogy immersion to enjoy. Without further ado, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to my session and those that have agreed to participate in it with me.

“Online Trees: The Root of All Evil?”

This session is a panel discussion, focused on the merits of online trees. It melds together a little bit of me, five panelists, and hopefully an engaged audience that will all come together to create a lively, but also beneficial, conversation regarding the issue of whether or not to place your genealogical research online.


It’s a bit of a hot bed, and I cannot wait to get the discussion going.


After careful planning and consideration, I have invited five people to be on the panel, and I am proud to present them now. In no particular order…

• D. Joshua Taylor, Data Strategy Manager – North America, findmypast.com and President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies.
• Anne Gillespie Mitchell, Senior Producet Manager at Ancestry.com. She is fondly known as "Ancestry Anne"
• Chris Whitten, CEO & Founder of WikiTree
• Laurie Desmarias, Genealogist, Geneablogger at Confusethedead.com and #genchat participant.
• Elissa Scallisse Powell, CG, CGL, Co-Director at GRIP and President of the Board Certification of Genealogists

The session will be conducted on Thursday, February 6, at 2:30 pm in Ballroom A.


I am incredibly pleased to be bringing together a dynamic group of innovators, forward thinkers and leaders in our community for this session. Each of these individuals provides an alternative thought process, a different perspective, and obviously, various backgrounds and experience levels for the conversation to draw from.

I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank those that have helped me to get to this point. Speaking at RootsTech has been a goal of mine for some time, and I have had more than one cheerleader on this road.  My wonderful family, my amazing mentor, Kassie Nelson, Rorey Cathcart and Pat Richley-Erickson have been especially helpful, encouraging and are deserving of recognition. 

For those of you who are also attending, I'll see you there! Be sure to connect with me, I love meeting new people. You can tweet me at @ancestryjourney or seek me out some other way. Just be sure to do it! I'm the short girl, with the coffee.

Breaking my Silence: Genealogy Roadshow

Passion. Joy. Pride. Sadness. Closure. 

Image: Microsoft Clipart

If you follow me on social media at all, you know I'm a big fan of Genealogy Roadshow on PBS. I also enjoy Who Do You Think You Are? and other mainstream genealogy entertainment. But I especially like Genealogy Roadshow. 

What's all the fuss about, you say? Yes, the stories are told quickly. Yes, they show the highlights and not the behind the scenes work. YES, it is made for tv entertainment, because that is exactly what television production companies do. They are not genealogists. (For more in this vein, I will simply refer you to these excellent posts by D. Joshua Taylor, because he says it far better than I could.)

So, what's the big deal? 

Tonight, in episode four, I caught just a glimpse of how real reality television can be. During the first story, a young lady named Denise, and her family, were featured. From the beginning, she expressed genuine passion for the history of the state of Texas, and the desire to be a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. I commented on Twitter during the airing that the show was only "12 minutes in" and already I was tearing up. Why? Because of the emotion. Denise was undeniably overcome with emotion learning all she did about her family. The genealogist in this section was Josh Taylor, and it was the glimpse of his face that really struck me. You could see the story had affected him, just for a half a second, but it was there, before the camera panned a different direction.

It was not a surprise to see the emotion from him, as well as Denise. You know why? Because without emotion there is no genealogy. This is an emotional venture, we all pursue this because we get hooked by something, lured in by an intriguing story, a mystery, an unknown photograph. Whatever it is that started you on this journey it was heavily connected to emotion. Find one person who would disagree with that, I dare you. 

Research TV? No thanks.

And that's why I like Genealogy Roadshow. Pretty simple, isn't it? The emotion is real; the people participating and sharing their stories aren't actors, they're just people, like you and me. They have questions, they want answers. 

You know what else? I don't think I want a show that puts every second of research out there for me to watch. I rarely turn on the television anyway, so when I do, I want to be entertained. I might as well learn a bit of history and genealogy while I'm at it, but I just want a teeny, tiny bit. Enough to leave me curious, so I will retreat back to my own space, and start pulling up the information for myself. I want the chance to make a bit of the discovery on my own, because I am passionate about learning - as so many of us are. 

Sadly, the pilot season of the series is already over. And that's too bad. I genuinely hope that PBS decides to continue to produce the show. They announced their call for stories last week, after Episode 3, so I will take that as a good sign, and be hopeful. I will faithfully watch WDYTYA? and any other genealogy related television that is announced, simply because I enjoy it. I hope that my colleagues and friends in the genealogy world can do the same. 

While I wait for that, I'll just keep at it. I'll keep researching, learning, discussing, and emoting over my ancestors. 

Explosion!

Photo Credit: stock.xchng.com

After an amazing week in Las Vegas at the NGS 2013 Family History Conference, I'm back at  home and settling into my usual routine. Right? 

Um, no. 

As it happens, during the conference, D. Joshua Taylor sent out this tweet: 

Little did I know (or him for that matter!) the level of excitement this idea would generate. 

Thankfully, we certainly were not the only people thinking about doing something like this. The wonderful Kassie Nelson had already started a Facebook group for the very same thing. However, as a full time student and Mom, it was tough getting things moving for her. We banded together, and I am extremely excited that The NextGen Genealogy Network (NGGN) now has over 120 members! 

Just another Facebook group? Hardly. 

The organization is doing just that: organizing. We have filed incorporation papers and while we wait for that process to be completed, we are working on creating our structure, finding volunteers to fill those necessary roles to make everything click, and generating ideas for projects, goals and other objectives. 

What exactly is NGGN? 

Well, our mission statement should give you a pretty good explanation: 

"The NextGen Genealogy Network exists to foster the next generation’s interest in family history and engagement in our community through digital channels which virtually connect members throughout the world."

Yes, virtually. Our meetings, conversations, educational programs... everything will be online. We are truly hoping to reach those genealogists and family historians that do not carry a typical schedule because soccer games and scout meetings get in the way. Those folks that are interested, but are trying to get to their Biology 101 class on time. The people that cannot necessarily afford to join their local society, or feel out of place in that environment.

If that sounds intriguing to you, I invite you to do any one of the following three things:


Join our group on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Fill out this Membership form to let us know you want in! 


As we continue to collaborate, we'll keep everyone posted on our progress. We do anticipate officially taking members sometime around the first week of July. Hope to see you online!

All of this is certainly keeping me busy, but it's such a good busy. I'm loving every moment of it. I am a proud, almost-card-carrying member ('cause we still have to make some cards!) of this organization, and I cannot wait to see what happens tomorrow!

NGS 2013: The Sessions

Although most of my NGS 2013 Conference blogging is taking place on The In-Depth Genealogist, I thought I would share a bit, here, too.

First, it was amazing. If you ever get the chance to attend a conference like this: do it.

We had wonderful opportunities to meet with other people, network, attend sessions, participate in un-conferencing discussions, and much, much more. My colleague and friend at IDG, Terri O'Connell, even won a registration for next year's conference in Virginia!

Terri O'Connell at Opening Session right after
winning a 2014 registration!

I was able to attend several sessions, some of which held local interest for me, which was great. Here's the list of what I was able to see:

• People, Policy, and Records: The Importance of Historical Background (Opening Session), Marian Smith
• Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, Mary Penner
• The Genealogical Proof Standard in Action! Case Building When No Record States An Answer!, Elizabeth Shown Mills
• Birdie Monk Holsclaw Memorial Lecture. Impossible Immigrant! I Know Everything About teh Man Except Where He Came From, F. Warren Bittner
• Maximizing Your Use of Evidence, Thomas W. Jones
• The Civil War in the American West, Rick Sayre
• Borders and Boundaries: Creating Locaility Profiles for Research, D. Joshua Taylor
• ProGen Study Groups Breakfast, Angela Packer McGhie
• To See the Elephant: The Lure of Riches, Jean Wilcox Hibben
• Solving Historical and Family Mysteries with DNA, Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
• Baker's Dozen to Writing Research Reports, Elizza Scalise Powell
• Striking it "Rich" with a Great Genealogical Career: A Guide For Professional Researchers, J. Mark Lowe.

I've been asked more than once already which was my favorite, and my answer is... well... I just cannot say. They were all good in their own way, all the speaker's brought something completely different to the podium, and the lessons learned varied with each. 

As an Official Blogger for the conference, I am very grateful to F. Warren Bittner, D. Joshua Taylor, Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and J. Mark Lowe for letting us sit down with them for some one-on-one time. You will be able to read more about those conversations on the IDG site. 

Some truly fantastic ideas came out of the week in Las Vegas, and I'm looking forward to being a part of some new projects and taking advantage of all that networking to move closer to reaching my professional goals. 

I made several new friends in the industry, and we had some very good times, enjoying each other's company and talking about dead people. We raised a glass to Uncle Boone. I have so much more to write about, I really don't expect my "job" as an Official Blogger to be over any time soon. I might be able to get it all done before NGS 2014....