The 2012 Georgia Family History Expo, Day 2

     I was very excited for the second day of the Georgia Family History Expo and woke up way too early.  The day started at 9am with an hour to visit the vendors.  I bought four books and a CD from three different vendors, then stopped by the Ask-The-Pros table to get some advice on researching my Waters family brick wall.

• The first class:  Records of the War of 1812 by Robert Davis. It's interesting to watch him speak. He doesn't have any visuals or notes, but simply talks. He's very entertaining and amusing and obviously knows a lot about history.  I found out that there are a lot of records regarding the War of 1812, but they are scattered. Some are online and some haven't even been microfilmed! As with any war, pensions are a great place to start. Also, land grants can provide information on soldiers and their families.
• The second class: Thinking Outside of the Box by Drusilla Pair.  Dru had some great ideas for creative ways to share family history with family or in your community. I have a gift idea for my mom for Christmas and also ideas on how to better share my family history at family gatherings. Many of my relatives are interested in what I've found, though they don't necessarily care about the minute details. I think I'm going to write a small booklet about the Albea family to hand out. This will also serve as a template for eventually creating an actual book. A small step that leads toward a bigger step. I was also really inspired by what Dru has done with youth groups in her local churches to help inspire a passion for family history.
• Next up was lunch. We decided to take a long lunch, skip the next class and visit the vendors some more. I chatted with many of the vendors, some of whom had been to previous expos, others who were there for the first time. There's always something to tempt your wallet.  Here's my book haul:

• Final Class: this last class was a panel discussion with Paul Adjei and Bernie Gracy, discussing the importance of Oral history. It was really interesting to hear about the methods being used to record the oral histories that have been passed down for generations in Ghana. They've recorded over 1.5 million names into family trees. This segued nicely into Bernie Gracy's project to help record history with a geographical emphasis.  It was less a class than a discussion, but was still very interesting.
• The final event was the closing session and door prizes. I didn't win anything, but a few lucky winners did win Ancestry.com subscriptions and a stay at the Plaza Hotel in Salt Lake City. 

     I can't say enough how great these Family History Expos are. Every time I go to one I come away with new ideas and inspiration. It's taken me hours to write this blog post because I keep breaking away to start working on something new.  It's also great to meet new people and see familiar faces. I was honored to be asked to be an Official Blogger and enjoyed spending time with the other bloggers. I'm sad that the 2012 Expo is over, but am looking forward to next year. I hope to see you there!

Dru, Me, Tonia, Linda