Open Thread Thursday: RootsTech 2012 Strategy

Genea-Blogger, Thomas MacEntee, today asked What our RootsTech Strategy will be for 2012. Please see his blog: Open Thread Thursday: What’s Is Your RootsTech Strategy?

Actually, I have thought about this in preparation for this awesome experience. Having attended several “regional” events, including the New England Regional Genealogy Society event last spring, I know that I don’t want to get overwhelmed with this event.

Trying to be involved with the Conference, as a participant, spending time in the Exhibit Hall, and networking with the 80+ Genea-Bloggers, I am sure that it can be too much to handle.

My plan, follow as much of the planned schedule that I have already planned on, BUT be flexible enough to make changes “on the spot”. There is a lot of opportunities to learn. I want to take advantage of that.

I like Thomas’ term micro blogging. I will have my iPad with me and will try that. I am going to use that to take notes, as I did at the NERGS last spring, but do the note taking in Evernote, which I have been using for Webinar Notes. Now to learn how to Copy and Paste, quickly, between Evernote and Twitter on the RootsTech 2012 AP on the iPad. But, I have a couple of days to learn that.

I hope you will bear with me on this Great Genealogy Adventure.

The Bucket List GeneaMeme

Genea-Blogger Jill Ball of Geniaus has started a Genealogy Bucket List GeneaMeme.

Since I am going to RootsTech 2012, I guess I should “get with the program”. So, here it goes:

The Bucket List GeneaMeme

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you would like to do or find: Bold Type
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
You are encouraged to add extra comments after each item 

 

1. The genealogy conference I would most like to attend is… RootsTech 2012. After sitting home, participating in what was being streamed, there was no way that I would miss this year. Lots to learn, but want to catch up with some Genea-Bloggers that I already have met, but want to meet those whose blogs I follow.
2. The genealogy speaker I would most like to hear and see is… That’s not an easy question to answer. Through PodCasts, Blogs, Webinars, I have heard some of the speakers already. Having been to the FGS conference in Philadelphia a couple of years ago, and the NERGS conference in Springfield, MA this past spring, the Genealogy Society of Pennsylvania Ancestry Day, and a couple of other conferences all add to the list of speakers that I had wanted to hear. But, I am looking forward to hearing the speakers talk about upcoming technical capabilities that are coming our way. A couple of online resources that I don’t quit understand (yet) but want to. I have been through the schedule a couple of times and have picked the ones I want to see / hear, but also think that a couple of them will change.
3. The geneablogger I would most like to meet in person is… Wow, this is a tough one. As of this time, there are 88 Genea-Bloggers going to be there. The number keeps going up. The short answer, all of the Genea-Bloggers that I haven’t met before. But two Genea-Bloggers who I will catch up with, because I have met them, but Thomas MacEntee, to thank him for ALL that he does for the Genea-Blogging community; Randy Seaver, to have a chat about his Brick Wall; and I can’t forget my Cousin Dear MYRTLE. (just to name a few)
4. The genealogy writer I would most like to have dinner with is…Most like to …. Too many to mention, too little time.
5. The genealogy lecture I would most like to present is…. Me, present? I don’t think so.
6. I would like to go on a genealogy cruise that visits….Missed the Legacy Family Tree cruise this fall, mostly because the port visits would have only made me (us) go back to spend more time. But, keeping an eye on England, Ireland, and Scotland.
7. The photo I would most like to find is… A photo that was published in a Philadelphia (and area) newspaper, that was reported to have been about my Grandfather, and two of his siblings, on their train ride from Kansas to Pennsylvania, when no one picked them up. The police were trying to locate the family.
8. The repository in a foreign land I would most like to visit is…When I am able to confirm where my Ancestor came from in England, the repository where I might find more details about his ancestors
9. The place of worship I would most like to visit is…England, near Worthington Hall.
10. The cemetery I would most like to visit is …… The family burial ground in Kansas, where my great grandparents are buried.
11. The ancestral town or village I would most like to visit is…… Capt John’s “home town”, where ever that might be.
12. The brick wall I most want to smash is… Actually, this one maybe on it’s way down. Capt John’s parents. Close, really close.
13. The piece of software I most want to buy is….I’m Good.
14. The tech toy I want to purchase next is …..I’m Good, unless it’s a handheld Cemetery GPS unit.
15. The expensive book I would most like to buy is…I’m good, or I haven’t found it yet.
16. The library I would most like to visit is…..Godfrey and the Allen County Library.
17. The genealogy related book I would most like to write is….Not a writer, so I’ll pass.
18. The genealogy blog I would most like to start would be about….I’m good. Never thought that I would have one, let alone three.
19. The journal article I would most like to write would be about… I think I ramble enough
20. The ancestor I most want to meet in the afterlife is…. My parents, and their parents. Too many stories that I missed while growing up.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy – Free Online Genealogy Tools

Week 3 – Free Online Genealogy Tools: Free online genealogy tools are like gifts from above. Which one are you most thankful for? How has it helped your family history experience?

This challenge runs from Sunday, January 15, 2012 through Saturday, January 21, 2012.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy (http://www.geneabloggers.com/tag/52-weeks-of-abundant-genealogy/) by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your thoughts on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files.

Free Online Genealogy Tools:

I have to say that my first Online Genealogy Tool if the Find-A-Grave website. In reality, it’s a tool in two ways. 1) gives me a chance to get out and about, to help others (give back to the community) and 2) for my own research.

I was able to put a genealogy together, for a friend of mine by visiting ONE Cemetery, look at ONE Monument and put together a 3 generation genealogy for him. I went to another cemetery and went back two more generations. All of the pictures were on both Find-A-Grave and on my Headstone Blog.

Based on that experience, I have given a number of genealogy talks, in the local area, on how I used the Find-A-Grave website to do my research. Two of the talks were to local Historical Societies. Initially, I thought that wasn’t right, what do I know about a Historical Society. Then it dawned on me that they were trying to document and preserve the history of the Local Area, and I was doing the same for my Family.

The first of those talks, as off shoots, the Historical Society and I went to two cemeteries, to help record and/or update a listing that they had, and I was adding photographs for Find-A-Grave at the same time.

The second cemetery we visited was an old Family Burial Ground, where there was only ONE stone, and it certainly was not in the right place, because the property owner didn’t want the “kids” to get hurt with that stone. A group of 6 of us, and 2 divining rods located what is believed to be the burial ground with, it appeared to be, 15 burials. It was in the “back yard” and neighbor, of where the headstone was. The house was the home for that family who was reported to be buried there.

Two adventures based on the Find-A-Grave website.

For my own research, the Inferential Genealogy series I posted here, also included Find-A-Grave. Both in what I found and didn’t find. But that was also taken care of with a visit to the Cemetery and taking photographs.

But sometimes, Find-A-Grave and visiting Cemeteries lead to other questions about families. Like, why are some members of the family in one cemetery, while others in another cemetery, or even another Plot within the same cemetery.

Another cemetery visit I made, was for a friend, and Genea-Blogger, where I took pictures of the Surname I was looking for, to see if we could put families together to help know down a brick wall. I have to say that this one is still a work in progress.

But between Census Records and Cemetery Plots, without other documentation, families can be put together, or at least that is my experience.

Other Free Online Tools: FamilySearch.org would be my next tool. I haven’t used that site as much as I should, but I do hope to learn more about that website at RootsTech 2012. There are a couple of other Online Tools that I learn more about at RootsTech 2012. I am expecting that after that trip, I will have more to say.

I should mention that having your genealogy research posted online is very helpful. I am in the process of cleaning up my main Genealogy Management file, and realized just how many Onlilne Tree’s I have Source and Citations from. In turn, I have some of my research online as well.

Don’t forget about Blogs. I have received many tips from this Blog. For example, I posted one post, and within an hour I had two “new” cousins. Blogs, as they say, are Cousin Bait.

Social Media is also in the mix. Having a Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter account have helped as well.

Another Tombstone Tuesday Blogger has posted some photographs on her Blog of a number of my ancestors in Kansas. I’ll never get to Kansas, but I have pictures of where they are buried. After I had thanked her, she went out of her way to go back as see if she could find anyone else.

I am sure that I missed some, but these are a couple of my Free Online Tools.

Technology Tuesday–Photo Studio-In-A-Box

How to capture photographs of those family heirlooms that we collect over time?

About a year ago I was looking for a way to capture a good photograph of some jewelry that my daughter was taking pictures of. Along the way, I found a product, Photo Studio-In-A-Box.

Easy to set up, easy to store, and provides for nice even lighting for small things. Before:

After:

The set up is simple:

 

And it folds up into this:

So, how about those Heirlooms:

Don’t forget the back:

Josephine Strode – 2-24-1909

Josephine Strode – March 1909

 

Josephine Strode – 12/25/1898

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Your Very Best 2011 Research Adventure

Genea-Blogger, Randy Seaver, each and every week, posts a blog about Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

His challenge for today is:

It’s Saturday Night again — time for some Genealogy Fun (what else is there to do on Saturday Night?)!!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Decide which of your (many?) genealogy research adventures in 2011 was your “very best” (your definition).

2) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, in a Status report or comment on Facebook, or in a Stream note on Google Plus.

Well, I can do this one.

My very best was the study I did on Inferential Genealogy, a method of study by Dr. Thomas Jones.

Using this link, you can follow that journey (backwards)

http://worthy2be.wordpress.com/tag/2nd-life/

This was the outcome of studying Inferential Genealogy in Second Life, with that awesome group of people.

Besides the trip to the Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, several trips to Gettysburg, several other trips to Baltimore, I was able take a Name, mentioned in a PBS TV show, and find out how I was related to that Civil War Hero (David Ridgely Howard).

Along the way, found another connection to DearMYRTLE, a couple of days spending time with she and her husband, only to find that he and I had Revolutionary War gentlemen in the same unit at Valley Forge.

There is a PS: to this story. Over Christmas, the Gettysburg show on PBS was reshown. The kicker is, that at the very end of the discussion of Ridgely Howard (as they called him and where I started), was mention that his house was haunted.