I have been thinking about Amy Coffin’s two blog posts about
conferences and I have read and reread all of the comments. The two links to her blog posts as well as
the comments are here and here.
I certainly found some of the responses very interesting. I tried to write a short response. Obviously, if you are reading this, you
realize that I wasn’t able to keep it short.
I sincerely thank Amy for her thought-provoking efforts.
As background information, I have attended NGS and FGS conferences as
well as SCGS Jamborees and a variety of one-day seminars all related to
genealogy. While working as a high
school math teacher, I attended one HUGE national conference and numerous 2-day
or one day seminars, some which had hands-on or discussion sessions. As a parent I attended a variety of one day
seminars on gifted education which included discussion/participatory sessions and
two different 4-day conferences on foreign-exchange students, with about half
scheduled as discussion sessions on a variety of topics. I’m retired and older and have different experiences
leading up to genealogy than do many of you.
And, no, I don’t think I’m necessarily right. In fact I really don’t think there is a right
or wrong to this topic and I believe that Amy would agree.
I attend conferences because I want information. (Fortunately, I have the time and money to do
so, although family and spousal activities sometimes determine when and where I
go.) But when I go to a conference, I
feel that if I get one or two pieces of information from each session that help
me with my research, in some way, then I’ve benefited. I’ve attended more than one session on
organization; more than one session on the BCG standards; more than one session
on the research process, etc. because I wanted different views, or because I
was at a different level of understanding during each session. I’ve sat through some really poor hours
(because I couldn’t easily get out). But
most of the sessions when I don’t think I benefited as much had nothing to do
with the speaker or the quality of the presentation or the information
provided. It was because there were too
many attendees in the room, squished together too tightly, with too many
whispered conversations; all of which made it difficult to see, hear, and take
notes. Purchasing the CD afterwards
helped. But I much prefer the DVDs that
are available for many sessions at the SCGS Jamboree, because I can see the
screen slides as well as hear the speaker’s voice. Now I have a collection of DVDS, CDs and flash
drives with presentations as well as a subscription to webinars. And with webinars I usually prefer to purchase
these rather than to listening live because of scheduling conflicts and interruptions. For a modest fee, I can now listen numerous
times, when I feel I need some extra hints or ideas. But I’m doing this alone.
Regarding sessions that attendees can actively participate in, FGS
national conferences have a society day, where many of the sessions encourage
sharing. I attended 3 FGS conferences
and each time went a day early for Society Day. Unfortunately, while I gained some
information about how other societies operated, many of the suggestions weren’t
appropriate for the society I was actively involved with. Not that others didn’t benefit; I’m sure they
did. However, as with any situation of
this type, I felt more control (a bad word?) needed to be used for the one or
two people who thought this was their opportunity to make presentations rather
than briefly sharing and allowing others to talk.
SCGS Jamboree has offered a conference within a conference format for
the past few years that I know of. Last
year and this year the topic was/is DNA. Before that it was writing. Both Jamboree and FGS Society Day are really
not during the conference but the day before.
SO I benefited from that and didn’t have to make decisions about what conference
sessions to miss.
SCGS Jamborees have provided opportunities on Friday mornings to have “round
table” discussions on various topics.
While a few of the tables have active conversations going on, many have
just the moderator, and perhaps a friend, sitting there, waiting for someone to
show up. I believe it was in Cincinnati
that I participated in my first un-conferencing sessions. While I felt that there were some benefits,
again sessions may or may not have anyone else interested in the topic. So, the conference is paying for space that
may or may not be used.
Regarding classroom settings and institutes, first, I have only
attended 2 institutes, and both of them were GRIP. I loved both years, so I’m registered again
for my third year. Second, in all of my
educational experiences in the classroom, I seldom enjoyed group work or
projects; and this includes even some of the time in last year’s class. And
while some student, or guest speaker, presentations are excellent, others are
not. And, yet, I’m sitting there, “glued”
to my chair, waiting for the time to end.
So, I guess I prefer “lectures” or “panel discussion” to most group
projects. Or perhaps have each person
work on a problem and then share their solution.
There are courses online that have chat rooms. I’ve only taken two, and both of them had
very few participants who actually “chatted”, especially live. But this duplicates what my daughter says
about on-line credit courses in business and accounting, except that some of
them have a deadline that you must post three times before midnight Saturday night. So at 11:30 pm, everyone wants to “talk” at
the same time, in order to get the minimum requirement fulfilled.
In the responses to the original blog postings, many people like the
networking. Well, for some of us this is
difficult. We don’t travel with a group
of friends. I’ve never felt the need to
go to a conference with a friend just so I had someone to talk with, eat with,
or room with. In fact, if I had traveled
to my first Jamboree with a friend, I probably never would have met Amy. Yes, I meet people at various times during
the conferences, but they don’t necessarily become fast friends to meet up with
again and again. I don’t have any
trouble talking with those around me before a session, or sitting at a table
with one or two empty chairs and talking with those already seated, or offering
to share a table for lunch or dinner with another single or duo who are waiting
in line at the same restaurant and have a conference badge hanging from their
necks. But the idea of attending a
conference, and paying the hotel, travel, conference fees, etc. to just visit
isn’t my idea of money well spent. So,
how do we network? What does it mean? And
why do I need to?
Do I have a solution or solutions?
Obviously not. We need to think
about the different personality types, whether or n? ot attendees want to
socialize, share ideas, or just listen and absorb. Is bigger really better? Should our goal be to get more people
attending or to provide those who do attend with a great experience that meets
their needs? What should we change? And
as with all changes, there will be some people who don’t want any change, some who
want just a little, and those who want to make everything different. Obviously we need a balance.
Good luck to all of you who are taking the time and making the effort
to provide conference opportunities to all of us who sit on the sidelines and
just attend. Thank You.
