A New Portrait

I love the portrait that I use as my profile picture on blogs and other social media. It was drawn by my eldest grandchild about eight years ago.

When I was going through some family photos recently I found a picture I took in her younger brother's classroom in 2012.  His teacher had obvioulsy set the same assignment for her students. What I had photographed was a new and different portrait drawn by my grandson.

Six months to go

Watching this short video from Rootstech 2012 reminds me of why I am heading for Salt Lake City for this extraordinary event which will be held from 21 to 23 March 2013.




Will I see you in Salt Lake City?

Good things come to those who wait...

From time to time since February I have tried to accomplish a task but have failed dismally.  I finally managed it today.

Back in February I conducted two video interviews at Rootstech. One I uploaded from the conference hotel to Youtube with no issues . The other slightly larger file just would not upload for me. When I got home I tried again - Failure. I tried a few video converters I found on the web - Failure. Every few weeks I would have another try - Failure.

Yesterday Thomas MacEntee on Facebook mentioned a video conversion program,  Prism Video Converter http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html. I downloaded the software and thought I would have a go. My first effort produced a file that was going to take over 300 minutes to upload to Youtube - Failure. So I played around a bit and found a setting to compress the file; I didn't quite know what I was doing but I did it anyway. Hey Presto - I ended up with a .avi file that was 1/10th the size of my original. Thank you, Thomas.

The video quality is not as crisp as on the original but it's way better than many files on Youtube. As with the video with Darrin Lythgoe I am embarrassed by my facial expressions and hand waving. Perhaps I need some Botox to stabilise my face!

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, I announce the delayed release of my video with Diane and Walt from Flip-Pal.

Hoarse at the Fair

What a fun day I've had at Shoalhaven Family, Local & Cultural History Fair; the casualty is my voice as I've talked too much! I have had a huge day meeting and chatting with family historians from the Shoalhaven area and one from Tasmania and, on behalf of Gould Genealogy, showing and selling the mighty little Flip-Pal scanner that is now available in Australia. The Flip-Pal seems to sell itself; we had exhausted our stock by 3:00 pm this afternoon.


The photos I took at the Fair  tell the story of a fun day.

Local Politician opens the Fair

The Stage Crew

Catering Department - Sandwiches for a Song

Nepean Girls

Marilyn?

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Shoalhaven Lads

They're a long way from home

Add caption

Come Cruise with Me

Register now for the 2012 NSW Family History Conference

Registrations Are Now Open

Register by 15 July and Save $25

Registration forms have been sent to Family History Societies, so drop into your local society to pick up a form today.

Alternatively, registration forms can be accessed from the Conference 2012 website:
http://www.conference2012.org.au/registration.html

Conference 2012 is now less than 4 months away, so don't delay in returning your registration form.

And if you are joining us from out of town, now is the time to plan your accommodation. Weekend bookings are very popular in the Shire, so book now to secure your place and avoid disappointment. For accommodation options, please visit:
http://www.conference2012.org.au/accommodation.html


Thanks to the Conference Committee for giving me permission to publish information from their newsletters.

An Encore for the Official Blogger

A little while after I registered for the The 13^th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry  I asked if there was a Social Media Policy for the Conference and if there would be any Official Bloggers at the conference.


Since then I have had an ongoing conversation by email with Joan Matthews, Deputy Chairperson of the Conference Organising Committee. Just prior to Rootstech I had a message from Joan welcoming me "aboard as an Official "Blogger" I see that my role has been announced in the latest edition of the Conference Newsletter so I can come out of the closet and start talking about the Conference on this blog.


I am very excited to be attending my first Congress as I have heard lots about this event from my geneablogging friends who will attend; these include Judy Webster, Shauna Hicks, Helen V Smith, Alona Tester and  Kerry Farmer. I am particularly excited to be meeting Seonaid Harvey Lewis who will be travelling from New Zealand for the event.


I note from the Conference website that it is not too late to register for the event so if you have been vacillating about making a decision why not go to http://www.congress2012.org.au/html/registration.htm,    register and join us in Adelaide on 28th March for four days of fun.

Converted at Rootstech

Straight after Rootstech Mr Geniaus and I boarded a plane for Florida and headed for a cruise ship and warmer climes. I am blogging from somewhere near the Cuban coast where the temperature is a pleasant 26 degrees centigrade

Mr Geniaus at work

Rootstech 2012 was an amazing experience so much so that my non-genealogist husband has agreed to return for Rootstech 2013 and to set aside more time for research in the Family History Library. I think he has caught the genealogist bug. He spent hours at the Library scanning reels of microfilm looking for evidence of his English ancestors in small villages. He was frustrated that he was unable to knock down a brick wall that may connect us with descendants of James Gowans, the Scottish clockmaker, in New York. There is evidence on the US 1900 census that Mira/Maria Gowans lived on 261 West 20th Street, New York, New York and after that we cannot find a trace of her. 


At Rootstech Mr Geniaus had access some of the best genealogists in the US and he asked each of them for guidance with his problem but despite following their advice his searches brought no results.


Unlike me Mr Geniaus likes to plan far ahead so we already agreed that we will stay on after Rootstech and spend a week researching in the Family History Library and we'll include in our itinerary New York where there is a copy of Maria's mother's probate file from 1902 held in the Surrogate's Court. Perhaps this will hold a clue to Maria's whereabouts after 1902!


I think I have a family history convert!

Series: RootsTech Bloggers «

Read about my fellow Official Bloggers for the Rootstech Conference here:

Series: RootsTech Bloggers «:

'via Blog this'

Rootstech Schedule

Although I haven't seen an announcement about it I just found the schedule for the Rootstech Conference online at  http://rootstech.org/schedule/index.

Lest it disappear I have taken snaps of two times that are important to me.  I'm on at the same time as Thomas MacEntee and Drew Smith for my first presentation so don't imagine that my audience will be too large. 

Thursday, Feb 2

Friday, February 3

Will I be seeing you at Rootstech?

You are Invited: Saturday EOGN Dinner after RootsTech in Salt Lake City - Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

I attended last year's dinner at the Radisson and enjoyed my evening chatting with Marie Dougan from Scotland and some delightful genies from the US.

If you are hanging around in Salt Lake City you may wish to join Dick Eastman on the evening of the conference close. Details are available on Dick's blog.

You are Invited: Saturday EOGN Dinner after RootsTech in Salt Lake City - Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Connect, Learn, Share

As I can't seem to remember them for more than a day after I write them I am giving up on long shopping lists of genealogy goals for the future, taking a leaf out of Amy Coffin's book (not the one on blogging) and having just three genealogy goals for 2012:

Connect  - Learn - Share


I figure that most of the goals (except getting organised but it could fit into learning) I wish to achieve fit into these three categories. My chicken and egg problem was that I couldn't decide which should come first so I resorted to my library training and selected good old alphabetical order.


Connect - Learn - Share - That is what I will do in 2012. 

Official Bloggers up Bright and Early

2011 Official Bloggers - Bright-eyed at an early morning briefing

Geniaus slept through her alarm one morning at Rootstech 2011 and so was late for an early morning Official Bloggers' breakfast and briefing. 

I have learnt my lesson and, as an Official Blogger again in 2012, will be arriving in Salt Lake City a few days prior to the Conference so that the effects of cross-Pacific jetlag can wear off. In just four weeks I will be leaving Sydney for my trek to Salt Lake City. I look forward to meeting up with my fellow Official Bloggers for 2012 most of whom return from 2011with the addition of a couple of new faces for 2012. You can meet them here.

Please drop by the Bloggers Cage (or whatever they call it) and say hello if you are at Rootstech.

RootsTech 2012 Update: Book Vendors in the Exhibit Hall

Just before I headed off to Hawaii and signed off from Social Media for a while there was a bit of controversary around the Rootstech Organisers' decision to ban Book Vendors from the Exhibit Hall. Congratulations to the organisers for listening to their audience and posting this response on their Facebook Page:

"We greatly appreciate all the recent comments and concerns related to book vendors being present at RootsTech. We’ve been listening. One of our top goals has been to help introduce a very different kind of family history conference, which certainly requires a balancing act—bringing technologists together with genealogists to inspire important technology solutions for the industry.
 
It has become clear that there is indeed demand from the community to have book vendors at RootsTech, and we are pleased to extend book vendors an invitation to exhibit at the conference.
 
Thanks again to the community for all the great feedback. We look forward to seeing you in February!"

Aussies eligible to win at Rootstech

Great news for genealogists all over the world on the Legacy Family Tree Blog.

 "The first-ever Genealogy Idol competition will take place during the RootsTech conference on Thursday, February 2, 2012 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Anyone can participate regardless of where they live or whether they attend the conference."


Come on, Aussies, Come on - How about showing the world what great genies we have downunder by registering your interest to take part in this activity for the chance to win a a Flip-Pal Scanner.

Full details can be found here on the Legacy News Blog.

Foreigners at Rootstech?

Have you been looking at those discounted airfares to the US and wondering whether you should bag a bargain fare and  head to Salt Lake City for Rootstech 2012?

Are you a foreigner like me thinking there may be nothing on the program to interest you?

The conference sessions (or classes as they call them in the US) on offer at Rootstech  have international appeal. At this year's conference I found so many topics that piqued my interest that I had difficulty choosing which sessions to attend. There may have been some very UScentric presentations but I must have glazed over them as there was so much else with international appeal leaping out from program.

The technology focus of talks at Rootstech has universal appeal as the software and hardware under discussion is used for genealogical activities all over the world. In our global village we share similar issues no matter where we live.

As an Australian with British heritage I found a lot at the Rootstech conference to amuse me. As well as speakers from Britain and Ireland there was a good representation of exhibitors from abroad. Companies like BrightSolid and FindMyPast cannot afford to send representatives to our small Australian conferences but it is economically viable to have a presence at a large event like Rootstech with over 3000 delegates. I do hope BrightSolid appear in 2012 so that I can have some free access to the new British Newspaper Archive.

In 2011 I particularly enjoyed being exposed to a range quality keynote speakers that I would never get to hear in my home country. An examination of the program for 2012 indicates that there is another stunning lineup on offer.

With earlybird registration closing on November 30 it is time to ACT NOW  and save yourself $60 on the full registration fee.

Should you have any questions about attending this event do not hesitate to contact me. I am an Official Blogger (the only one not from North America) for the conference and would be thrilled to chat to you.

What do you get for $129 Genealogy Dollars?

1. A few books from Amazon
2. 3-4 Vital Records Certificates
3. 4 months Ancestry sub (Australian)
4. Three days of lectures from noted genealogists and technologists, opportunities to network with 3,000 people with shared interests, exposure to an exhibition hall brimming with vendors of genealogical products.

If you are quick and take advantage of the Earlybird Registration for the Rootstech Conference in 2012 you can get all that Option 4 offers and more. But you had better be quick Earlybird registration closes on November 30th.

Michelle's a Winner!

Congratulations to Michelle Goodrum from The Turning of Generations blog who is the winner of my competition for a Free Registration to the 2012 Rootstech Conference in Salt Lake City in February. Michelle, your determination has paid off!


Entrants were asked to " Browse through the presentations on offer in the Rootstech Schedule and select a presentation that would benefit a foreigner from downunder like me. You can see my interests on this blog, profiles on Twitter and Google+ or my family site."


Michelle responded on Google+ and emailed her contact details to me. I look forward to meeting up with Michelle at the conference in February and in the Evernote session she suggested I attend.

Thanks to the people at Rootstech for providing this prize for my blog readers.

Rootstech 2012 Official Blogger Registration Giveaway

The powers that be at Rootstech have given each of the Official Bloggers a free registration to the 2012  Rootstech Conference to give away via their blogs. My fellow Official  Bloggers Amy Coffin, Joan Miller and Lorine McGinnis-Schulze have already announced their competitions and Amy has awarded her prize.

Unless you have been hibernating or sleeping under a rock you will know that the Rootstech Conference is to be held in Salt Lake City from 2-4 February 2012. I hope to see you there.

Somehow I know that my Australian readers won't be entering a competition to win this prize as, to attend the Conference, they would have to find a couple of thousand extra dollars for flights and accommodation to go with the free rego. There may, of course, be an Aussie out there who is planning to attend but who hasn't gotten around to registering yet. Those of you from other lands who actually read my blog, probably stand a good chance of winning the prize.

To enter the competition  please:

1. Browse through the presentations on offer in the Rootstech Schedule and select a presentation that would benefit a foreigner from downunder like me. You can see my interests on this blog, profiles on Twitter and Google+ or my family site.

2. Firstly send a tweet to @geniaus or a short Google+ post to your genealogy circle and +Jill Ball naming the presentation you recommend and stating your reason for this (be sure to check my profile pic to make sure you have the right Jill Ball).

3. Secondly email jillballau@gmail.com.com with your contact details so that I can notify you when you win the prize.

CONDITIONS:

1. The contest will close at Midnight GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on Wednesday 16th November, 2011.
2. There will be only one winner of a free registration to Rootstech 2012 (value $US129). The prizewinner will be responsible for all other conference expenses incurred including meals, accommodation, travel and incidental expenses.
3. My team will choose the prizewinner from the entries received prior to the closing time.
4. The winner will be notified at the email address supplied as soon as possible after the contest closing time.
5. The winner's name will be published on the Geniaus blog.
6. The judges decision is final. 

The Heat is on...

I'm a procrastinator, I don't work well until a deadline is drawing near. I was reminded yesterday in an e-mail from Joan Miller, one of my co-presenters at Rootstech 2012, that I must get cracking with our syllabus document that is due on November 1. Joan was too polite to say "get your act together Jill" rather she just sent me a chatty e-mail asking how things were going. Thanks, Joan, for the reminder I'll get onto the job as soon as my babysitting charges go home tomorrow.

We are using a Google doc to plan our presentation and write the syllabus outline that is required by November 1. I might propose to Audrey Collins, Amy Coffin and Joan Miller, who are presenting with me, that we use the new GoogleDocs Presentation tool to collaborate on preparing our presentation slides. I must admit that I have only had the briefest of looks at this tool, I'll leave it until after we submit the syllabus document to see if it will suit our purposes.

I was also reminded about the conference this morning when I found my registration receipt in my inbox; Mr Geniaus also received his receipt. Although he is not into genealogy he is interested in family history; there is such a variety of talks on offer at Rootstech that I am sure  he will find plenty to pique his interest.

If you have been thinking about registering for Rootstech it would be a good idea to do so now at the earlybird rate which is available until November 30. You can check out the schedule here.

We'd love to see you in our session:
Genealogy 2.0: international panelists discuss their use of social media to connect with cousins, collaborate on projects, discuss issues, market and promote genealogy services and perform acts of genealogical kindness.

Blink and you'll miss me...

and Joan Miller from Canada interviewing Jay Verkler at Rootstech 2011 in a promotional video for Rootstech 2012.