2012 NGS Conference in Cincinnati, Day 2

Bruce Buzbee & Roots Magic

Over 1800 genealogists registered for the 2012 NGS Conference and it seems many many of them planned to attend the German sessions. The German sessions were packed today!

That should be of no surprise since Cincinnati is one of the major German cities in the country. If you were a smart conference-goer you would arrive at the room about 20-30 minutes before the start of the session.

Today I focused more on attending sessions than visiting the Exhibit Hall. Sessions I attended on Day 2:

  • “RootsMagic: Publishing Your Family History with Complete Documentation” by Bruce Buzbee. I always learn a lot when I attend one of his Roots Magic sessions. Bruce gave more information about the program than the title indicated. All of his tips will help as I clean up my Roots Magic program and when I upgrade to Roots Magic 5 after I get home.
  • “So, You’ve Found Your German Town of Origin: Now What?” by Teresa McMillin, CG. This session was packed. There were about 30 people standing outside the doors, not allowed to come in because the room was already full. One man graciously gave up his seat to another man who was very upset because he came to the conference to attend this particular lecture.
  • “The ‘www’ of German Genealogy” by John Humphrey, CG. This was another excellent German talk by a great German researcher and lecturer. They also had to turn away about 40 people because the room was full. John showed us many websites for German research. Thank you John! I can’t wait to try some of these websites.
  • “German Marriage Laws and Customs” by Warren Bittner, CG. It was interesting to learn about old German marriage customs. Many traditions seem to be carried over today. For example, “undertrunk”, an all-male drinking party before the wedding. Does that sound familiar??
  • “Locating and Understanding the Law: An Essential Part of Good Research” by Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS. A lot of good advice for law research which seemed to focus a lot on Virginia.

John Humphrey, CG

As for the Exhibit Hall, so far I have gotten 2 free T-shirts, one for the 1940 Census from FamilySearch and one from Fold 3. I also received a nifty 1940 Census bag to carry all my stuff around. The bag was a gift from FamilySearch for becoming a 1940 Ambassador.

Tonight we will be attending an Evening at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, sponsored by FamilySearch. This is free to conference attendees.

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