Saturday, January 29, 2011

This Old Dog Learned New Tricks

The classes I attended at Arizona Family History Expo

I have been a sick this week so I have been resting instead of blogging. I did want to do a short high level review of the Expo. In a word it was great! I attended a class every hour and didn’t miss any. This was hard because I felt like I should stay in the Blog House a little but my main focus was to learn so I did. I did go to the Blog House about 3 times a day just to pop in.


I had a hard time deciding on classes before the expo, even the evening before I had two choices for most hours. So my final choice was let me do this one and off I went to class.

I printed out from the on-line syllabus the classes I was interested so I had a place to take notes. 

Friday’s Sessions:
Putting the Flesh on the Bones:
The story was fascinating and the presenter was very into his story, as he should be, it after all it is his family history story and it has opened many doors for him. It took me awhile to figure out his process he was using but I did and his handout had the information in it. By looking for the “Why” you find out more about the person and it might explain some of his actions.


Juicy Family History: 25 Ways to Write Compelling True Stories.
The presented M. Bridget Cook was very good, she was also the speak at the Friday night dinner. She has a way of drawing you in. She had some great ideas actually 25 of them to make a story more enjoyable. So keys words she used are Depth, Character, Choice, Legacy & Thrival. You’ll have to take her class to learn more.


Census Techniques and Strategies for Finding Elusive Ancestors.
This was a Family Search class and I felt that there was good material in the two Family Search classes I attended they lacked a little of the passion the private presenters had. Thought both presentation where based on their own results. It is hard to explain other than there was no fire in their eyes. And that is a personal opinion. Regardless I learned a few new tricks. I need to check out.


Easier Scanning for Great Results
One of the tricks I learn in class I used that night when I had to scan something. I still have to go back and try some more of the tips he taught. So many new things to learn and do and so little time.


Genetic Genealogy for Beginners: DNA is the “gene” in Genealogy.
It will take a couple of more classes on this before I fully understand it, but I do hope to do some testing one of these days. I have to save my pennies.


Friday Night Dinner: Speaker Excellent M. Bridget Cook, she spoke about her books and finding the miracle in everyone’s life. I am have read both of her books, well I am almost done reading the second one.


Saturday
How to Create an Awesome Family History Tour with Google Earth
Well we all know anything done by Lisa Louise Cooke is done very well. This was the premier of these new things you can do with Google Earth. I went right home and loaded Google Earth 6. I still have a lot to learn but I have started.


I Love Libraries! Using the Library for Your Genealogy.
An excellent class by Gena Philibert Ortega I learned a lot and took lots of notes. Now all I have to do is get organized to do my own library search.


When the Past meets the Present to Change the Future: Using Genograms
I had heard a previous lecture on Medical Genograms but this one had more depth and also included a social diagram beside just medical. I found this interesting and could see some of my own family dynamics in my head as well as some medical history. The speaker also had an activity handout which was fun to do.


The Value of Using Newspapers in Research.
This was the second Family Search presented lecture and it was the better of the two I attended. Lots of tips given I will dig out my notes to try them the next time I check out newspapers.


Photo Restoration Basics
This was helpful for me since I received Photoshop Elements for Christmas. Again, my to do list is very long and getting longer.
So that is my report in a nut shell. I would highly recommend going to an Expo near you or travel to one.  I need to go rest now, maybe latter I will add links. 


Blogger of Honor Prize
This cute little Dog Bone USB Hub was our little gift as a Blogger of Honor.

Thanks Family History Expo! 
 
 

1 comment:

  1. I really enjoyed reading your post, Mary. I've been a Blogger of Honor at Loveland, CO and felt the same thing you expressed..that I should be at the Bloggers table (it was Blogger Bistro, then Beacon of Bloggers, now I guess it's Blog House). But I enrolled and paid my money to LEARN, so I went to a class every hour. That's what I was there for. I learned so much, then blogged about it when I got home!

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