My Mate Marie

On my first trip to Salt Lake City for the inaugural Rootstech Conference in 2011 I palled up with another foreigner, a bonnie wee lassie from Scotland, Marie Dougan.

We were in the minority at this huge event that was overrun with North Americans and they thought we talked funny but we know that our accents were quite normal.

Marie Dougan, GeniAus and Joan Miller at Rootstech 2011

 I had great fun with Marie in 2011 so I was pleased when she announced that she would be returning to Rootstech in 2013. As I had been selected to host a panel session at the 2013 conference I invited Marie to join the panel, her contributions to the panel were fantastic.

GeniAus with panelists at Rootstech 2013, Marie Dougan, Heather Rojo and A C Ivory.

When Alan Phillips of Unlock the Past told me that he had secured Marie's services for his 5th Genealogy Cruise I was thrilled as I knew that Marie would be a great asset to the team of presenters on the cruise. Last night I had the pleasure of interviewing Marie for Unlock the Past in a Google Hangout on Air.

In case you missed the Hangout with the delightful Marie I am embedding it her for your viewing pleasure.

If only I lived closer....

A Super Itinerary

The program for Unlock the Past's 5th Genealogy Cruise, The British Isles Discovery Cruise, looks
fantastic and the itinerary around The British Isles very interesting.  I would love to join this cruise but I have to limit my geneajaunts.

If I lived in the UK or the US a bit closer to the departure port than Sydney, Australia I would definitely be hopping on board this cruise. Why?

Among the lineup of speakers for this cruise are some speakers who are new to me and some from whom I would love to hear more.

I first met Marie Dougan from Scotland at Rootstech 2011 and this year I co-presented in a panel presentation with her. Marie is an engaging, knowledgeable and polished speaker with a depth of knowledge about technology and Scottish research. Having enjoyed a wee chat or two with Marie I now that she is great company.

Another bright personality joining the cruise is Jackie Depelle whom I have not met but whom I follow on social media. I would love to corner Jackie to learn a few Family Historian tips from her and to find out all about her hat collection. Jackie has a fascinating list of talks on her website, I would enjoy hearing any of these.

Jayne Shrimpton is on my list of experts to meet. Jayne is a fashion historian and photo detective. Hearing the stories of how she has analysed and dated thousands of photographs has great appeal for me. For now I will just have to be satisfied to reading about Jayne's work online.

What a cracker of an itinerary is planned for this cruise. Visiting ports in England, France, Ireland and Scotland the cruise calls at several islands including The Scilly Isles and Guernsey, places that are off the regular tourist trail.

This cruise appeals to me because it is on a small ship rather than on a megaliner with several thousand other people. The ice-skating rinks, climbing walls and other attractions of these ships leave me cold, my preference is for a more peaceful atmosphere.  Of course one of the issues with a small ship is that there is a limit to the number of people who can join this cruise.

If you are thinking of joining this geneacruise you had better follow this link to see how you can make a booking.