Dick Eastman wrote 2016 NGS Conference in Ft. Lauderdale is a Success mentioning as a negative only that the distance between the exhibition area and the presentation venues was too great.
Having attended the same event Amy Johnson Crow was moved to write Are In-person Genealogy Events Dead? Amy comments that the NGS event attendance was down but points to several other genealogy events that remain successful. That leads Amy to dismiss the idea that webinars are detracting from conference attendance. Instead she points out that:
People can’t attend events they don’t know about.
People won’t attend things they aren’t excited about.
For the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference, Toronto, 3-5 June, social media have been well used to profile an exceptional, best-ever, line-up of speakers, Canadian and international. Both those boxes have been ticked. Kudos to the organizing committee.
That said, while I enjoy the large events, like WDYTYA? Live, and the OGS conference, as the years roll by the multi-day events become physically tiring. I like in-person presentations but would rather have the presenter do the long-distance travelling to me at a smaller local one-day event with one or two speakers and less competition for one-on-one interaction.
3 comments:
I agree with you, John. I really enjoy the one-day events hosted by Toronto Branch of OGS. We have had great international speakers including Chris Paton and Maurice Gleeson, before either had spoken at a major conference in Canada.It's nice to focus on one area of genealogy for a day.
Having access to knowledgeable presenters in person is very important to me. As the chairperson of Kelowna's "Harvest Your Family Tree" Conference, Sept. 23-25, 2016, we strive to obtain some of the best presenters, such as Lisa Louise Cooke, Audrey Collins, Dave Obee plus 7 more renowned genealogy experts. We also have a large and exciting Marketplace and many other unique, fun and informative features to ensure that our registrants go away happy and bursting with new and useful information - www.KDGS.ca
As genealogists, we spend way too much time at our computers, alone in our digital world. Face-to-face contact with other genealogists to discuss, brain storm and brag about our research will always be a huge attraction for live events. We all know there are very few relatives or friends who will listen attentively as we describe the sources used to find the first cousin of our great great grandfather's second wife! But a newly found friend at a conference will listen attentively,congratulate you on your thorough research and tell you about theirs. Everyone should be encouraged to attend society meetings, a workshop or a conference!
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