On Saturday, March 9. the Family History Society of Arizona is holding their Seminar and Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. Barry Ewell will be presenting four topics during the day. The web site with all of the information is www.fhsa.org. If you are planning on attending, please register as soon as possible.
The Seminar has been a great resource for local genealogists and a wonderful opportunity to learn, visit with friends and make new friends. I hope to see many of you there.
Showing posts with label FHSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FHSA. Show all posts
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Society Saturday - Writing & Publishing Ideas
Are you trying to decide how to write your family history? What format? What to include? How many generations? Descendant or Ancestor based? A personal story? A cookbook? A location book?
The number of ways to write about your family are endless. There are so many varieties of books. So, how do you decide?
This morning the Family History Society of Arizona (FHSA) held a mini-workshop about writing your family history. Three published writers, members of FHSA, attended. Also, books by 3 other FHSA members were available for review. In addition, a variety of other types of books about family stories were available for the attendees.
In the 2+ hours of this informal session, each author talked about her efforts and works. The attendees were able to ask questions. There was a lot of interest in the numerous ways to present research. Also included were discussions about photos, color printing or black and white, types of fonts, number of pages, types of paper and covers, and ways to bind the books. Some authors charged for copies; some gave the books as gifts. Some writers gave copies of their works to libraries. Options regarding printing were also discussed including self-printing, printing at local office-supply store, or paying a printer.
I know that this session has inspired me to start writing on some projects and to continue writing on others. I may actually get some books published next year.
If any of you are interested in providing this type of session for your friends and/or society members, and have questions, please contact me. I'd like to see more activities like this; I believe we would all benefit.
The number of ways to write about your family are endless. There are so many varieties of books. So, how do you decide?
This morning the Family History Society of Arizona (FHSA) held a mini-workshop about writing your family history. Three published writers, members of FHSA, attended. Also, books by 3 other FHSA members were available for review. In addition, a variety of other types of books about family stories were available for the attendees.
In the 2+ hours of this informal session, each author talked about her efforts and works. The attendees were able to ask questions. There was a lot of interest in the numerous ways to present research. Also included were discussions about photos, color printing or black and white, types of fonts, number of pages, types of paper and covers, and ways to bind the books. Some authors charged for copies; some gave the books as gifts. Some writers gave copies of their works to libraries. Options regarding printing were also discussed including self-printing, printing at local office-supply store, or paying a printer.
I know that this session has inspired me to start writing on some projects and to continue writing on others. I may actually get some books published next year.
If any of you are interested in providing this type of session for your friends and/or society members, and have questions, please contact me. I'd like to see more activities like this; I believe we would all benefit.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
NGS 2012 - Day 1
What a great day!!
NGS 2014 will be in Richmond, Virginia.
NGS 2015 will be in St. Charles, Missouri.
AND remember next year NGS 2013 will be in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I met the entire contingent from the FHSA (the Family History Society of Arizona). The two of them. I'd love to know if there are other attendees from Arizona other than George and Linda.
Today there were only three time periods for sessions.
At 11 am I was in a VERY crowded room. Tom Jones spoke on "Strategies for Finding 'Unfindable' Ancestors". I loved his comments about the search will be time-consuming, tedious and expensive (for travel). He provided 4 examples, which are available in the NGS Quarterly, of how to work around this problem. I think I liked the two comments about not expecting names to be spelled the same (I knew that, but it's good to be reminded of this fact) and that a person is more than his/her name.
Since I was not scheduled to attend one of the luncheons I had 2 1/2 hours to visit the vendor hall. I picked up some great ideas from the Oklahoma Historical Society booth on how to find some elusive ancestors. I also learned more about the familysearch wiki. I sort of understood it, but Paul Nauta spent time explaining more. Thank you, Paul. I briefly said hi to Lisa Louise Cooke, who sent her regards to all of us in Arizona. (In March she was the speaker for the Family History Society of Arizona's annual meeting.) I found some wonderful old postcards at Wolf's Head Books. A little costly, but oh, how great! AND I sat down for about 20 minutes. I really should go back later and look at some other states.
The first session after lunch I was torn between Ann Fleming's "Writing with Style" and Suzanne Adams "Paradigm Shifts When Searching Online Genealogical Records." Both had great pages in the syllabus. (And I really appreciate that. I definitely don't like to see syllabus pages that are in prose or that are double spaced just to take up space.) I went to the writing session. I learned that I need to make a style sheet for each project that I am writing and I need to be CONSISTENT. Even if it's wrong. Ann also reminded us that even if we intend to write "Just for our family" when it's out of our hands we really don't know where it will be. I wonder how many authors of family histories knew that there works would be in libraries of various types all over the country.
My last session today was "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: The Evidence Presented Clearly Shows..." by Barbara Vines Little. I've never attended a session of hers. In fact, I don't know if I ever heard of her or have seen her on another conference schedule. WELL, NOW when I see her on the schedule I will definitely consider her presentations. She was great! Now, this was at the end of the day. The room was warm. The room was CROWDED!! And she's explaining the difference between a list-style proof summary, a narrative-style proof summary and a proof arguments. I'm quite sure no one went to sleep. What a lot of information in one short hour.
After a quick dinner I walked to the Cincinnati-Harrison County Library. Wednesday nights it is open until 9 pm. I know that tomorrow night it will be open for conference attendees until late (11:30 pm) but that's past my bedtime. I was curious what resources they had that may help me with my research. I think there were probably 40+ attendees in the genealogy section and as I left at least seven more were entering.
After walking back to the hotel, instead of writing this blog, or deciding what sessions I want to attend tomorrow, OR indexing, I looked at the catalog for the library and made a list (a long list) of items to look at tomorrow night. Well, perhaps I'll have to stay up past my bedtime.
Yes. A great first day at NGS 2012 in Cincinnati.
NGS 2014 will be in Richmond, Virginia.
NGS 2015 will be in St. Charles, Missouri.
AND remember next year NGS 2013 will be in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I met the entire contingent from the FHSA (the Family History Society of Arizona). The two of them. I'd love to know if there are other attendees from Arizona other than George and Linda.
Today there were only three time periods for sessions.
At 11 am I was in a VERY crowded room. Tom Jones spoke on "Strategies for Finding 'Unfindable' Ancestors". I loved his comments about the search will be time-consuming, tedious and expensive (for travel). He provided 4 examples, which are available in the NGS Quarterly, of how to work around this problem. I think I liked the two comments about not expecting names to be spelled the same (I knew that, but it's good to be reminded of this fact) and that a person is more than his/her name.
Since I was not scheduled to attend one of the luncheons I had 2 1/2 hours to visit the vendor hall. I picked up some great ideas from the Oklahoma Historical Society booth on how to find some elusive ancestors. I also learned more about the familysearch wiki. I sort of understood it, but Paul Nauta spent time explaining more. Thank you, Paul. I briefly said hi to Lisa Louise Cooke, who sent her regards to all of us in Arizona. (In March she was the speaker for the Family History Society of Arizona's annual meeting.) I found some wonderful old postcards at Wolf's Head Books. A little costly, but oh, how great! AND I sat down for about 20 minutes. I really should go back later and look at some other states.
The first session after lunch I was torn between Ann Fleming's "Writing with Style" and Suzanne Adams "Paradigm Shifts When Searching Online Genealogical Records." Both had great pages in the syllabus. (And I really appreciate that. I definitely don't like to see syllabus pages that are in prose or that are double spaced just to take up space.) I went to the writing session. I learned that I need to make a style sheet for each project that I am writing and I need to be CONSISTENT. Even if it's wrong. Ann also reminded us that even if we intend to write "Just for our family" when it's out of our hands we really don't know where it will be. I wonder how many authors of family histories knew that there works would be in libraries of various types all over the country.
My last session today was "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: The Evidence Presented Clearly Shows..." by Barbara Vines Little. I've never attended a session of hers. In fact, I don't know if I ever heard of her or have seen her on another conference schedule. WELL, NOW when I see her on the schedule I will definitely consider her presentations. She was great! Now, this was at the end of the day. The room was warm. The room was CROWDED!! And she's explaining the difference between a list-style proof summary, a narrative-style proof summary and a proof arguments. I'm quite sure no one went to sleep. What a lot of information in one short hour.
After a quick dinner I walked to the Cincinnati-Harrison County Library. Wednesday nights it is open until 9 pm. I know that tomorrow night it will be open for conference attendees until late (11:30 pm) but that's past my bedtime. I was curious what resources they had that may help me with my research. I think there were probably 40+ attendees in the genealogy section and as I left at least seven more were entering.
After walking back to the hotel, instead of writing this blog, or deciding what sessions I want to attend tomorrow, OR indexing, I looked at the catalog for the library and made a list (a long list) of items to look at tomorrow night. Well, perhaps I'll have to stay up past my bedtime.
Yes. A great first day at NGS 2012 in Cincinnati.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Family History Society of Arizona AND Lisa Louise Cooke
Just a reminder. Lisa Louise Cooke will be the featured speaker at the FHSA seminar/annual meeting next Saturday. There's still time to register. Go to fhsa.org to see all of the information. Then, call or email me so we can get your phone number and what type of lunch you would like.
It's going to be a great day. Hope to see you there.
It's going to be a great day. Hope to see you there.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Expo - Mesa and Family History Society of Arizona (Day 2)
Well, this is really day 3 (no Expo, just recovering). We had about 300 people pick up flyers in the two days. I saw lots of FHSA members as well as talked with some researchers who would like to have chapters in their areas: Cave Creek, Apache Junction and Gilbert. I'll see what I can do to help them form chapters.
So many people found out that Lisa Louise Cooke is coming in March and picked up information. They either heard her talk at Expo or heard someone else talk about her presentations. I just know that our Seminar will be great. For those who would like to attend, the registration form is at http://www.fhsa.org/. We'd love to see you.
I met a couple of new bloggers; I saw a couple of researchers who were in my Tempe Parks and Rec classes; I saw a few more who had attended sessions at one of the libraries. It's nice to see these fairly new researchers enjoying the benefits of a wide variety of presentations. And, without traveling across the country. Arizona is a fairly large state and there were genealogists from Flagstaff, Prescott, Springerville, Benson, Yuma, Tucson, Green Valley, Parker and probably every place in between. (If you aren't familiar with Arizona geography, Benson is SE, Yuma is SW, Parker is sort of NW, Springerville is sort of NE, etc., etc. And, while many consider Flagstaff at the northern border, there are still miles of land north before you actually cross out of Arizona.)
So thank you to all who stopped by, visited with me, shared stories while sessions were going on, etc.
So many people found out that Lisa Louise Cooke is coming in March and picked up information. They either heard her talk at Expo or heard someone else talk about her presentations. I just know that our Seminar will be great. For those who would like to attend, the registration form is at http://www.fhsa.org/. We'd love to see you.
I met a couple of new bloggers; I saw a couple of researchers who were in my Tempe Parks and Rec classes; I saw a few more who had attended sessions at one of the libraries. It's nice to see these fairly new researchers enjoying the benefits of a wide variety of presentations. And, without traveling across the country. Arizona is a fairly large state and there were genealogists from Flagstaff, Prescott, Springerville, Benson, Yuma, Tucson, Green Valley, Parker and probably every place in between. (If you aren't familiar with Arizona geography, Benson is SE, Yuma is SW, Parker is sort of NW, Springerville is sort of NE, etc., etc. And, while many consider Flagstaff at the northern border, there are still miles of land north before you actually cross out of Arizona.)
So thank you to all who stopped by, visited with me, shared stories while sessions were going on, etc.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Expo - Mesa & Family History Society of Arizona
I had a great day at the Family History Expo in Mesa. I spent the day in the book for the Family History Society of Arizona. I met so many great people. And some came by more than once just to "chat." I gave some of them names of free web sites (like familysearch, rootsweb and heritage quest). I waved at many others that I knew. I "met" Byron again. We talked last year; he joined FHSA; I saw him at FGS in Springfield in August 2011; and now he's presenting. That was really great to hear.
I was going to have dinner during one of the late afternoon sessions. I ended up not eating until almost 7 because 1-3 people were at the booth continuously from about 4:30 to 6:40. Isn't that great? And I certainly wasn't going to get up and say, "Excuse me, but I want to eat instead of talking with you about genealogy and FHSA."
Mary Lu came by between sessions a couple of times and really helped out, answering questions and visiting with some researchers while I visited with others. Thank you Mary Lu.
Well, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I know it will be great.
I was going to have dinner during one of the late afternoon sessions. I ended up not eating until almost 7 because 1-3 people were at the booth continuously from about 4:30 to 6:40. Isn't that great? And I certainly wasn't going to get up and say, "Excuse me, but I want to eat instead of talking with you about genealogy and FHSA."
Mary Lu came by between sessions a couple of times and really helped out, answering questions and visiting with some researchers while I visited with others. Thank you Mary Lu.
Well, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I know it will be great.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
FHSA - Phoenix Arizona genealogy
I spoke at two FHSA chapter meetings this week. I enjoyed them and had a great time. However, I really enjoyed the other presentations I've heard this week. And this blog doesn't even talk about the great Saturday with Curt Witcher presenting. (Another day)
On Monday night Suzanne Brayer talked about the passengers on the Mayflower and their families. She included personality issues with information gained from first and second hand accounts of the events. Since I don't think any of my ancestors are Mayflower descendants, I often find the talks on this subject to be just O.K. Well, Suzanne's was great. Can you believe that there were two dogs on the ship? And that of the 17 women on the Mayflower, 13 died before the end of the first year?
Then Wednesday afternoon I heard Charlie Schultz speak on church and vital records. He gave us so much information about where to look and what to look for. And I really appreciated a little bit of the history of the churches in the "New World" although it wasn't what I expected.
Wednesday night I went to the East Valley Chapter of FHSA, where I spoke also. But Wayne (I'm sorry I don't know his last name) talked about web browsers and all that goes with searching and using them. A very interesting quotation he provided was by J.C.R. Lickliter who envisioned something like the internet in 1960. Can you believe 50+ years ago?
I know how much time I spend preparing presentations and so I know about some of the time these people put into theirs. I hope that each of you were able to attend or participate in at least one great event this week (or even this month.) I feel fortunate that I had 3 this week and one last Saturday. And it's only Wednesday night.
On Monday night Suzanne Brayer talked about the passengers on the Mayflower and their families. She included personality issues with information gained from first and second hand accounts of the events. Since I don't think any of my ancestors are Mayflower descendants, I often find the talks on this subject to be just O.K. Well, Suzanne's was great. Can you believe that there were two dogs on the ship? And that of the 17 women on the Mayflower, 13 died before the end of the first year?
Then Wednesday afternoon I heard Charlie Schultz speak on church and vital records. He gave us so much information about where to look and what to look for. And I really appreciated a little bit of the history of the churches in the "New World" although it wasn't what I expected.
Wednesday night I went to the East Valley Chapter of FHSA, where I spoke also. But Wayne (I'm sorry I don't know his last name) talked about web browsers and all that goes with searching and using them. A very interesting quotation he provided was by J.C.R. Lickliter who envisioned something like the internet in 1960. Can you believe 50+ years ago?
I know how much time I spend preparing presentations and so I know about some of the time these people put into theirs. I hope that each of you were able to attend or participate in at least one great event this week (or even this month.) I feel fortunate that I had 3 this week and one last Saturday. And it's only Wednesday night.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Society Saturday - FHSA Seminar - Lisa Louise Cooke
The Family History Society of Arizona is pleased that Lisa Louise Cooke will be speaking at our Seminar/Annual Meeting. She will be here for the entire day: 4 topics. This meeting will be held on Saturday, March 10, 2012. See the FHSA web site, http://www.fhsa.org/, for more information starting in November. More details will also be available on this blog.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Society Saturday - FHSA (AZ) Glendale & Scottsdale Meetings
Next week, two chapters of The Family History Society of Arizona (FHSA) have meetings scheduled.
On Monday night September 26, the Glendale chapter meets at the Glendale Public Library at 6:30 pm. The program is a discussion on how previous speakers have improved our research.
On Tuesday night September 27, the Scottsdale chapter meets at the Paiute Neighborhood Center at 7:00 pm. The speaker there will be Judy Nelson and her topic is "Updates and Changes in FamilySearch.org.
For more information on these chapters as well as the other five chapters in FHSA, please see http://www.fhsa.org/. Our society welcomes visitors and encourages members to attend as many chapter meetings as they wish each month.
The third Wednesday of each month is a busy one because two chapters meet on that day: Daytimers in the afternoon and East Valley in the evening. I was glad to be able to attend both meetings today.
Lynn Crawford spoke at the Daytimers chapter about PAF and gave ideas that were applicable not just to PAF and other genealogy software programs but to most windows programs also. I didn't realize that you could reorder lists; add columns in lists, etc. I also didn't realize why I would get different options when right clicking on things. Thank you Lynn.
Then I attended the East Valley meeting. Trudi Arledge reminded us about some of those "old" ways to look at things that we often forget because we get so busy with all of the new technology. Ideas like looking at neighbors and following migration paths were helpful years ago and are still good things to look at now. Then Sherry Richardson, PhD gave us examples of a variety of ways to use technology to present our genealogy. This including web sites, blogs, as well as scrapbooking, mapping and using digital recorders and YouTube. These two ladies provided us with lots of things to think about as well as to try. Thank you Trudi and Sherry.
So I'd like to encourage all FHSA members to look at other chapters and there meetings. I also want to invite all visitors to Arizona as well as residents who are not FHSA members, to visit one or two chapters and enjoy the benefits of sitting with others who share our passion.
On Monday night September 26, the Glendale chapter meets at the Glendale Public Library at 6:30 pm. The program is a discussion on how previous speakers have improved our research.
On Tuesday night September 27, the Scottsdale chapter meets at the Paiute Neighborhood Center at 7:00 pm. The speaker there will be Judy Nelson and her topic is "Updates and Changes in FamilySearch.org.
For more information on these chapters as well as the other five chapters in FHSA, please see http://www.fhsa.org/. Our society welcomes visitors and encourages members to attend as many chapter meetings as they wish each month.
The third Wednesday of each month is a busy one because two chapters meet on that day: Daytimers in the afternoon and East Valley in the evening. I was glad to be able to attend both meetings today.
Lynn Crawford spoke at the Daytimers chapter about PAF and gave ideas that were applicable not just to PAF and other genealogy software programs but to most windows programs also. I didn't realize that you could reorder lists; add columns in lists, etc. I also didn't realize why I would get different options when right clicking on things. Thank you Lynn.
Then I attended the East Valley meeting. Trudi Arledge reminded us about some of those "old" ways to look at things that we often forget because we get so busy with all of the new technology. Ideas like looking at neighbors and following migration paths were helpful years ago and are still good things to look at now. Then Sherry Richardson, PhD gave us examples of a variety of ways to use technology to present our genealogy. This including web sites, blogs, as well as scrapbooking, mapping and using digital recorders and YouTube. These two ladies provided us with lots of things to think about as well as to try. Thank you Trudi and Sherry.
So I'd like to encourage all FHSA members to look at other chapters and there meetings. I also want to invite all visitors to Arizona as well as residents who are not FHSA members, to visit one or two chapters and enjoy the benefits of sitting with others who share our passion.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Society Saturday - FHSA Arizona, Phoenix area
I am currently the President of The Family History Society of Arizona (FHSA) which has 7 chapters throughout the Phoenix area. Each chapter has a monthly meeting with a speaker or two. Some chapters meet during the day; others at night. Please check out our web site: http://www.fhsa.org/ and look under chapters to find out the specific dates, times and programs for each chapter. We love to have visitors and quite a few of our 300+ members are also "winter visitors" or part time residents of Arizona. Please join us.
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