Social Media : Limestone Plains to Marble Halls...

.... is not as much of a mouthful as "29th Annual Conference of the NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies" so I was pleased when I contacted the Conference Organisers prior to this Conference and, with the help of Shauna Hicks, we agreed on the hashtag #NSWACT13 to use on Twitter and other social media when talking about the event.

I was a trifle disappointed when I realised that only about a dozen bloggers were at the Conference and that just a few more people tweeted from or about the event. Although the Conference had a Facebook Page only three people appear to have posted there; some bloggers announced their posts on Google+. 

This is the 21st century. We need to use social media tools to let the world know about amazing events like this one. I had comments/replies to my posts from people in Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States as I am sure the other bloggers and tweeps did. Most of these people probably didn't know about "The NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies" and the conference but will probably think of the organisation in a positive light after reading about the wonderful times and great learning experiences we had.

I managed to grab a few of my blogging (and tweeeting) mates for a group photo during Saturday's lunch break. Missing were Cassie Mercer from Inside History (who was minding her stand), the Author of the Conference Bluebell Blog, Carole Riley and Chez Leggatt.

Australian Geneabloggers
(L-R) Jill Ball, Lilian Magill, Helen Smith (front), Michelle Nichols, Shauna Hicks, Amy Lehmann and Jenny Joyce

If you want to know all about the conference please take a look at the blogs written by these folk where you will find a host of posts and photographs about the conference. if you do a Google or Twitter search using the hashtag #NSWACT13 you will uncover even more conversations. 

Wouldn't it be great if we in Australia could follow the lead of conference organisers in the northern hemisphere and organise a group of Official Bloggers to report on these conference prior to, during and after the event.

Perhaps this would encourage a new generation of genealogists, those who use social media daily and that we want to engage with our societies, to attend our events.