14 November 2010

Great Time at the Atlanta Family History Expo [Guest Blogger]

     I had a lot of fun at the Family History Expo over the weekend. Although I am not a genealogist I still found out a lot of interesting things, many of which will help me understand exactly what Valerie is talking about regarding her research.

Classes
The most informative lecture I went to was Traditional DNA Testing and Beyond – The Next Revolution in Genetic Genealogy by Elise Friedman. I went to this one alone, as Valerie has done DNA testing and explained it to me however, I can't say I really understood her. This was an info packed lecture that was a good overview of the information. I couldn't explain DNA testing to others but, I "get it" better now. Especially the differences between the different types of testing.

My favorite class was Family Roots Travel: How to Connect With Your Heritage Through Travel by Adam Glenn. Valerie, my mom, and I have done a little genealogy traveling, so this wasn't all brand new information. The presentation was really well put together and even when I already knew something this lecture put a new spin on it or emphasized a new aspect. I got some great tips that I will definitely be able to use! This class was straight to the point and easy to understand and also went at a good pace. Unlike some of the other classes, I did not feel that this one was trying to fit too much information into the time allotted.

Another class that I really enjoyed was An Introduction to AncestralHunt.com by Bernie Gracy. This one is about a new site/product called AncestralHunt.com. It's not a database platform, data source, or ancestral mapping service. It seems like it is more of a community where people can place their family trees and compare them geographically to help break down their brick walls. It is a community based collaborative place for people to share and help each other. Sounds really neat, and they are looking for beta testers. I signed Valerie up :)
Me. Valerie, our Mom.

Overall Thoughts
One thing I would suggest for future expos is to have more info/products geared towards Georgia research. I attended one class on the South which did not mention Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi or other obvious "southern states" but did talk about Delaware. It was a little frustrating. The Expo may want to focus more on Georgia or other local states more in the future.

Overall I was impressed by the Expo. Everything was very well organized and there were plenty of offerings. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had lots of fun.

1 comment:

Family History Expos said...

Sarah, thank you for the feedback. We're glad you had a good time and hope you return in 2011. If you have suggestions for local speakers, please let us know. We'll make sure to reach out to them when the 2011 Atlanta call for papers is announced.

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