I love leap year. You get a whole day to spend just as you wish. And what’s more, you can also choose which day is your leap day. You don’t have to acknowledge the standard day of 29 February 2012. You can work as usual, as most of us did. Then you can select the day you want to do more genealogy.
Actually, I would love a basket of leap days–let me outline my current 2012 speaking schedule. Perhaps one or more of these speaking days could become your leap day:
Story at Home 2012. March 9-10. Conference Center and Joseph Smith Memorial Building, Salt Lake City UT. I am not speaking, although I will be attending with Holly Hansen of Family History Expos, who is a sponsor of this unique conference. FH Expos will also have a booth in the Marketplace. Register: http://cherishbound.com/blog/storyathome/register/
Houston TX Family History EXPO. 6-7 April 2012. Marriott South at Hobby Airport, 9100 Gulf Freeway, Houston 77017. My topics:
- Basic Sources, 1775-1815. This is one of the most difficult periods in all of American Genealogy. You will learn how to apply evidence from these critical genealogy sources to move “dead-end” ancestors back through these times.
- How to Document your “Common Man” Ancestors in British Land Records. The land holdings of your common, every-day ancestor were written down and preserved locally until 1922. Today, these important records are registered with the National Archives UK. Come discover how to understand them.
- Research in North and South Carolina Sources. This presentation is brand-new and loaded with specific strategies to build a correct pedigree! New stuff you simply can’t miss if you have ancestry in these two states.
- Pedigree Ladies. I intend to slant this class to the South–how to find and prove the ladies on your pedigree in the Southern States. Especially how to find those ladies that did not conform to the Church of England.
Oklahoma City Family History EXPO. 11 April 2012. Oklahoma Historical Society, 800 Nazhi Zuhdi Drive, OC 73105. My topics:
- Keynote Address: How to Apply the Research Process to your own Genealogy. Believe it or not, a lot of 20-year research problems can be solved with the genealogy research process. I promise to rekindle your success through the new understanding of what steps to use first and what order to search the records.
- Records and Sources Specific to Old South Migrations. Migration patterns are the fifth search dimension–if you ignore where your ancestor came from and how he moved around, you will miss oodles of records about him and his family.
Albuquerque NM Family History EXPO. 13-14 April 2012. Crowne Plaza Albuquerque, 1901 University Blvd NE, Albuquerque, 87102. My topics:
- Basic Sources, 1775-1815. This class repeat for this conference loop, will focus on the Southern states–especially those where the state civil government did not keep births, marriages, and deaths. How else will you prove your lineage?
- Using Church Books for German Research. You will learn how to match European Origins on Both Sides of the Ocean.
- Irish Research Online and Offline. Most genealogists tracing their Irish ancestors back in time from America, plunge into Ireland too soon. You want to search the gateways first–come learn what these are and what records are available. Clue–these sources are not lost. Never have been lost.
- Births, Marriages, and Deaths in the Old South. This is really part II of Basic Sources above. One session is simply not enough to identify for you the myriad of records you can expect to find.
These April conferences constitute a loop–you are invited to join us in each city for a different and electrifying event. The handouts for all three will be included in the same syllabus, available for download as soon as you register. A CD will also be included in each registration packet at the expo. Print copies of the syllabus can be ordered at the time you register for an additional fee. I recommend the printed syllabus–for most of the entries constitute a how-to-do-it workshop for each class.
Family History Expo’s Research Retreat. 16 April-21 April 2012. Crystal Inn and Suites, 230 West 500 South, Salt Lake City UT 84101 and Family History Library. Research on your own genealogy lines under the careful supervision of researchers Arlene H. Eakle (Southern States, New York including NYC, US research including New England), Judith Wight (British Isles including all of Ireland), Billy Edgington (Native American research, US research), Sharon Monson (US research), and Holly Hansen herself. Classes will emphasize migration patterns.
GKIC Direct-Mail Explosion Conference. 16-19 May 2012, Cleveland Ohio. And research in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia for 10 days on either side of the conference.
Colorado Family History EXPO. 1-2 June 2012. Crowne Plaza CO Springs, 2886 S. Circle Drive, Colorado Springs 80906. New location and all new program. My topics are all brand-new ones: Including How to Trace Your New York Ancestors, Part 1 and Part 2. I am updating these presentations to include where the people came from and how to trace them to their origins. Watch http://familyhistoryexpos.com for details of these sessions and others I will present.
Northern California Family History EXPO. 6-7 July 2012. This Red, White, and Blue event will be at the Crown Plaza Sacramento NE, 5321 Date Ave, Sacramento 95841. My topics focus on all-British Isles:
- Researching Ireland Online and Offline
- Document your “Common Man” Ancestor in British Land Records (this presentation is a ” knock-your socks off” description of records you always dreamed might be available but no one could ever tell you about!)
- British Isles Migration Patterns to New England, New Netherlands, and The American South
- Migration of Your Ancestors within the British Isles (including Ireland)
My PhD is in English History–and I don’t very often get to do a whole program on the research area I know the most about. So this is a special treat for me. Come share in the excitement I feel and learn how to trace your British ancestry.
Springfield IL Family History EXPO. 3-4 August 2012.
Midwest Family History EXPO. 7-8 September 2012. Holiday Inn Convention Center, 110 S 2nd Ave, Kearney NE 68848. You will enjoy this special opportunity to focus entirely on learning “the tech to trace your roots” with Holly Hansen, Arlene Eakle, Billy Edgington, and many others dedicated to your ancestry research. No distractions. A simple, quiet environment to concentrate on your very hardest-to-find ancestors. Plan to spend time browsing Leland Meitzler’s Family Roots Bookstore. Leland is a researcher first and a book dealer second. He knows the books you need out of all the titles that are published each year. He and son, Dale, and daughter-in-law, Tara can also advise you on which books can help break your hardest research challenges. Other vendors will also be at your beck and call to provide resources just for you. If you can only choose one event to attend in 2012–make it the Midwest EXPO in Kearney NE–good genealogy friends, good food, and your own ancestry to discover!
Family History Expo”s Research Retreat. 22 October-26 October 2012. Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, 122 West South Temple Street, Salt Lake City UT 84101 and Family History Library. Classes will concentrate on military records. My assignments include tracing your lady ancestors in military records, Colonial Wars and the records produced, and documenting mercenaries, special forces, and foreign troops fighting on American soil.
Atlanta Georgia Family History EXPO. 9-10 November 2012. Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth GA 30097.
Leland and Patty Meitzler’s Salt Lake Christmas Tour. 4 December-10 December 2012. Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, 122 West South Temple Street, Salt Lake City UT 84101 and Family History Library.
In 2012, there is a Family History EXPO event close enough to you that you can plan in advance to attend. The earlybird registration is about the most reasonable fee of any event scheduled this whole year. And the class offerings include beaucoup technology–learn how to trace your hard-to-find ancestors on your favorite device. No other conference or workshop covers them all. With apps that enable you to prove your ancestry.
Name-gathering genealogy will no longer work–the databases are too vast. Name-gathering just compounds the errors already present in family trees on every-single website! Isn’t it time to break your losing streak? To find the ancestors that belong to you? Attend a Family History EXPO in 2012 and discover this different world of SUCCESS. We also invite you to follow us from place to place–watch for incentives to attend more than one event–http://familyhistoryexpos.com
And stay tuned to this blog for updates on the topics I plan to present. Your favorite genealogist Arlene Eakle. http://arleneeakle.com
PS Use your leap day and attend an EXPO–to expand your family history horizons and prove your ancestors–both together! See you there.