Hitting the jackpot at Mosman

Sometimes I feel as though I have won the lottery and I did today after my visit to Mosman Library for  "Remember when...",  a full day workshop presented by Dr. Noeline Kyle of  Family History Writing and Lorraine Purcell  who has published a number of family history books.  Although I am not a Mosman resident I was able to sign up for this session before it was fully subscribed. I would commend these presenters to anyone interested in publishing their family stories. Details of  Noeline's future workshops can be found on her website and on the GeniAusEvents calendar.


Thanks to Mosman Council for hosting this event in Library and Information Week 2011.

Lorraine Purcell and Noeline Kyle at Mosman today

Because of my background I learnt more today from the first speaker, Noeline Kyle but both speakers were very good. I'll drag out my favourite tool  from teaching days and report on this event in a PMI format.



Plus

* Free event.
* Comfy chairs spaced apart.
* Yummy sandwiches
* Experienced speakers.
* Friendly and personable presenters.
* Printed program and impressive package of notes/handouts.
* Relevant slides with touches of humour to accompany talk.
* Artefacts used by Lorraine to illustrate her talk.
* Creation of an environment where attendees felt comfortable sharing their writing.
* Presenters graciously posed for a photo.




Minus

* Hazardous cords running across the floor of room.
* Dungeon like seminar room.
* Speakers not properly introduced by someone from the library.
* No-one on hand from library to thank speakers at conclusion of the event (I know it was a busy day but...)
* Discussion of on-line, print on demand publishers eg Lulu glossed over.
* No discussion of blogs, websites, vlogs or other online tools as formats for publishing family stories.
* No mention of using digital media, eg Facebook, Twitter, for marketing of published works.


Interesting

* Would like to have had a couple more practical writing exercises, group involvement and a little less 'chalk and talk'.
* A quick whip around the audience to identify their interests would have enhanced the experience.
* Speakers had a display of their books for sale.