Welcome one and all to Part 5 of my adventures at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree!
Part 1 is here, and an intro to me, and the Genealogy side of this blog, is here. ;-D
Sunday Morning...8am.
All bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed (Well, OK, maybe not, but at least I was, sort of, rested, and ready for the day), I headed off to my 1st session of the last day of Jamboree. ;-D
Except for the lunch break, and the final session, from 3 to 4pm, I claimed the same good seat, in the same room, for a series of sessions all day long.
I sat thru 2 entertaining sessions by the Genealogy Gemstress herself, Lisa Louise Cooke, on Google and Genealogy.
Before things got under way I told her that I looked forward to her talks as a way to supplement the new book, by David M. Lynch, Google Your Family Tree, which I had bought the day before.
After her first session, it was Lunch time, and I took one more stroll thru the Exhibition Room.
I made my final, most unusual, purchase of Jamboree (Other than the old Baedeker's Yugoslavia Travel Guide for $3, on Saturday.).
There they were, still sitting forlorn, and unclaimed, at mid-day Sunday, 18 old copies of the venerable Everton's Genealogical Helper Magazine, and I do mean old, at 25cents each.
I bought a sturdy green SoCal Genealogical Society Bag, and then the whole stack of magazines,as well, for it to carry.
Why? I hear you ask?
Why not?
The one constant I'd heard all weekend, backing up advice I've encountered online, in magazines, and a few books I already own, has been that you can learn from all sorts of sources, old, and new, and should take the opportunity, if something catches your interest, to do so.
I love history and, as a Genealogist, I still have so damn much to learn, and one thing I remember, from many years ago, when I first learned of Everton's, was that besides the articles the 2 most important resources for a Genealogist, to be found in each issue, were the queries found in the Computerized Roots Cellar, and the advertising.
While I won't be able to contact researchers, and might not find a book of interest still in print, I can still enjoy the articles.
When I returned to my seat I teased Lisa by saying that if we hadn't stopped for lunch I would not be lugging round a small green bag almost as heavy with stuff as my large red one! ;-D
For me the highlights of the day were 2.
The 2 sessions by Lisa, on Google and how it can be of help to Genealogists, was revelatory. I mean, who the hell knew!
I could not wait to read the book I had bought so as to learn more.
Lisa and the author of the book both recommend the Google Toolbar, and I do too, but with a bit of a warning.
The author of the book call it an optional accessory, meaning it isn't really neccessary, but there are some advantages to it.
I learned that sometimes, however, the download can go bad, as happened to me on Monday.
The install caused huge issues, and so I uninstalled, and called my tech support.
I ended up getting a back-up hard drive, to save my doc, and pics, and Lecacy Genealogy Back-up, but had to do a complete re-install of my computer back to when I bought it.
The good news is, strangely enough, that after all was done, I had an MSN IE6 with Google Toolbar!
Updgrading to IE8 for MSN gave me the latest Google Toolbar included. ;-D
Maybe downloading the Toolbar by itself, from the Google Website caused the problem I ha.
Go to Googles website, read up on the Toolbar, and decide for yourself, if, and how, you want to get a copy of it..
The final session of the day, was by Lisa Alzo, on Demystifying Eastern European Research, and ended on a very cool, and amusing, note. ;-D
I was the big hit of Q and A, afterward, bringing down the house with a funny in support of her points about 100% one single ethnicity not always being true.
The room erupted into laughter when I made the point that while dear ol' Dad firmly, and proudly, called himself a Macedonian, through, and through, fighting for the cause of Macedonian Nationalism, against Tito, after WW 2, I have my doubts about his purity of blood due to the 600 year hisotru of the region, and prefer to call myself a proud First Generation Maceyugoserbulgarigreekadonian-American! ;-D
Afterwards it was time time to bid Jamboree a fond farewell, but along the way I filled out a questionaire on my thoughts of the weekend, and took a couple of photos with new GeneaBlogger Leslie Mehana, of Rooting Around Genealogy.
Then I proceeded to impress, and shock, a few female volunteers with the story of my sleeping arrangements, as I told them how great a time I had.
Lastly I took pictures of the empty exhibit hall, catching bill Dollarhide (Blue Shirt) bent over packing his tables, as one of the last to leave, then I walked over to Del Taco for my first meal of the day.
At Del Taco there was a young waitress who remembered me from the night before, and laughed that it seemed I'd been their since yesterday, and had never left!
I laughed, and convinced her that I had indeed left, and did actually plan to go home after finishing my meal. ;-D
A promise made, a promise kept. ;-D
Catching a bus around 7pm, I finally got home by 1am Monday morning, much to the joy of my cat, Nikita. ;-D
NEXT UP: Read the final chapter as I share the notes I took at the various sessions I attended!
"Sore butt, enlightened mind" -- only you could come up with such a brilliant dichotomy. Great reporting on your experiences at the Jamboree!
Posted by: Greta Koehl | July 06, 2009 at 07:08 PM