BYU Family History and Genealogy Conference Follow-Up

Last week I attended the BYU Family History and Genealogy Conference held on July 30-Aug 2, 2013.  I was able to record my classes the first half of the conference in my article "Midway Point for the BYU Family History and Genealogy Conference".  I had every intention of writing about the conclusion of the conference but my brain just needed time to digest all the information I learned.

Here is a list of the classes I attended.

Thursday Schedule
Keynote Address by J. Mark Lowe "Coffins, Urns & Zip-Lock Bags"
Clue to Clue: Tracking a Family Over Time and Miles by Jean Hibben
How to Wring a Record Dry by Nancy Lauer
Discovering the FHC of Tomorrow by Merrill White and Karolia Hanson
Starting Descendancy Research by George Ryskamp
New York State Research by Beth Taylor
Vendor Presentation: Research Ties Part I by Jill Crandall

Friday Schedule
No Keynote Address given
How the Genealogist Can Remember Everything with Evernote by Lisa Louise Cooke
Youth as a Family History Consultant by Shipley Munson
MSExcel 2010 for Genealogists by Nancy Lauer
ICAPGen's Working with Documents by Kelly Summers
ICAPGen's Preparing a Research Portfolio by Kelly Summers

While attending, I had a reader asked me if I had cried yet during this conference.  Let me tell you I did. The most touching class I attended was on the last day "Youth as a Family History Consultant" by Shipley Munson. The way I happened to attend the class was quite amazing too. I still need to transcribe my notes before I can share them with you, but I promise I will.

When I'm taking notes during class I will jot down any impressions that come to me of action items I need to do. I have to say this conference has given me tons of To-Do items. I even started in on them Friday night after the conference.  I already have new records on the way to me and I can't wait to get them. That is the mark of a successful genealogy conference experience.

Since my other blog articles coming on the conference are about the keynote addresses or classes I attended,  I wanted to take a moment now to tell you some of the things that would make next year even better.

1. Having vendors only two days was good, but I would have liked to seen them the last two days of the conference, not the middle. Many conference attendees like to make their purchases on the last day of the conference. I saw several disappointed attendees Friday morning that missed the notice that vendors would only be there Wednesday & Thursday.

2. Love the syllabus on CD, but making it available for download online would be even better. That makes it easier on attendees to prepare ahead of time for their classes. I want to get the PDF on my iPad and have it ready for the first day of classes.

3. The vendor classes after 5:00 pm were not announced on the website. (At least I never found it.) I would like to know that ahead of time.

4. I missed having a keynote on Friday morning. The day ended to early. I've been to a couple of conferences where everyone gathers together at the very end.  There is a nice feel good talk, some prize drawing and it just leaves a great ending to the conference experience.  When everyone just separates and leaves after their classes I always feel like I missed something.  I would love a finally wrap up at the end where I feel united with the masses and energized. Maybe I'm just weird that way. I'm never in a rush to leave a genealogy conference and this was one of them.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!