The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2009 Conference

The Federations of Genealogical Societies announces their genealogy conference for September 2-5, 2009 (Wednesday-Saturday). It will be in Little Rock, AR at the Little Rock Statehouse Convention Center. The theme this year is Passages Through Time. There will be Exhibitors set up at booths to show you the newest in technology and all their company has to offer. A few of these will be:

Ancestry.com
Arkansas History Commission
Arphax Publishing Co.
Association of Professional Genealogists
Black History Commission of Arkansas
Board for Certification of Genealogists
Butler Center for Arkansas Studies
Crystal Inn Hotel & Suites – Salt Lake City
Family Roots Publishing Co.
Family Tree DNA
Family Tree Magazine
FamilySearch
Federation of Genealogical Societies
Fun Stuff for Genealogists
Genealogical Speakers Guild
Genlighten.com
Godfrey Memorial Library
Gregath Publishing Company
Heritage Books Inc.
Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research
International Society for British Genealogy & Family History
Legacy Family Tree
Maia’s Books & Misc
National Archives and Records Administration
National Genealogical Society
National Institute for Genealogical Studies
New England Historic Genealogical Society
New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
Oklahoma Genealogical Society
RootsMagic
Salt Lake Plaza Hotel At Temple Square
Texas State Genealogical Society
Wolfs Head Books

You do not have to be a society member of FGS to attend, although membership definitely has its advantages (subscription to FORUM, access to Member’s only page, much more.) Note: Membership is through a Society (Genealogical Societies, Family Associations, and Historical Societies), not individual memberships)Registration can be done online or mailed in. A FGS Conference Blog has been set ups for any questions and comments you may have. One blogger wrote:

“While the main aim of the FGS Conferences is education that does come in many forms. Lectures, workshops, vendor demos, Q&A time, networking, and mealtime discussions are just some of those forms. Four days of time. What will you gain? Energy, enlightenment, invigoration, excellence, electricity, exploration, enjoyment, edification, entertainment, ethics, and do you need more reasons to add next September 2-5 to your 2009 genealogy events calendar?

Shop in the Exhibit Hall, enjoy good food and speakers at the luncheons and the banquet, have fun talking with others, and leave with renewed energy to work on your family history. Take back great knowledge to your genealogical society, become a better researcher, writer, or editor, learn about archives, libraries, federal records, state records for Arkansas and many other states, and get updated on technology and software. Over the next eleven months this blog and the FGS Website will share extensive details on all these aspects of a genealogical conference.”

Paula Stuart-Warren has set up a Facebook page as another resource to keep you up to date on FGS conference news. Do you want to advertise a product or your services? One blogger wrote:

“The conference syllabus carries advertisements on a variety of genealogical and historical services, products, and organizations. The syllabus is seen by all the conference registrants, speakers, vendors, and post conference at libraries. Do you need a place to tell about publications, software, maps, genealogical services or your organization? Will your business be debuting something spectacular at the conference? The ad might be for an upcoming event, seminar, institute, or to tell genealogists, librarians, archivists, editors, and others about your institution and its publications. Do you want to advertise some special research services? Whatever your need, the syllabus is a sensible location to place your ad at a reasonable cost.”

Do you still need convincing to attend? The keynote speaker for Thursday morning will be Tim Sullivan, CEO of the Generations Network, Inc. This will be one night you will not want to miss. The food will be wonderful, visiting with friends, making new contacts, networking, attending informative lectures will make Little Rock, AR the place to be the first week in September 2009! Hope to see you there….

Tina Sansone
Genealogy@Bellaonline.com