Wordless Wednesday - 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo

Sometimes I wonder why I ever carry a camera with me seeing as I end up not taking many pictures.

Here are the whopping two pictures I took at the Atlanta Family History Expo.

Amy Coffin and Valerie Craft explaining how to set up a blog.

Linda McCauley and Drusilla Pair taking a break between sessions.

2010 Atlanta Family History Expo

Today was the second day of the Family History Expo - my first day. I'm exhausted but it was great day! Day 2 of the conference began at 8:00. We didn't stay for the closing keynote, so for us, the day ended at 3:30.

The day began at breakfast where I met presenters / bloggers Angela Walton-Raji, Drusilla Pair, and Thomas MacEntee.

After breakfast, we proceeded on to the Gwinnett Center and picked up our packets. There were five class sessions, today. Mom and I attended four of the five class sessions. During the morning sessions, we both attended Breaking Down Brick Walls with Location Based Genealogy presented by Bernie Gracy of AncestralHunt.com. The presentation was standing room only and additional chairs were brought in. The presentation included important points to consider when doing location research such as Physical Geography, Human Geography, and Transportation Technology. Separately, we attended Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations for Family Historians by Jean Cooper and Over One Century of Treasure in Historic Plantation Records by Dr. Lisa Bratton.

During the final morning session and over lunch, I spent time at the geneabloggers table, where I met more of my fellow bloggers, Amy Coffin, Tonia Kendrick, Valerie Craft, and Linda McCauley. Due to technical difficulties (I wasn't able to log on to the Internet), I was unable to blog during this time.

During the afternoon sessions, my mother attended Beginning African American Research by Melvin J. Collier, author of Mississippi to Africa, where she learned many techniques to begin doing genealogy. What was really exciting was because of my research mom already knew a lot of the information. Even so, I think this class was by far her favorite session. She's still excitedly talking about the class. While mom was attending Melvin's class, I attended Freedman's Bank Records and Southern Claims Commission Records for African American Research by David Dilts of the FamilySearch Family History Library Staff.

Finally, we both attended Angela Walton Raji's session, Discovering an African American Community's History Through Civil War Research where we learned about how civil war records can reveal the stories to go with the names we are researching.

This Week - Atlanta Family History Expo

The last couple of days of this week leading up to the Expo have been hectic and crazy to say the least.

First, on Wednesday, the check engine light came on in my car, again. Now as far as this altering my plans to attend the conference, it didn't because I am using a rental car for transport. But it did make me realize that I'm going to probably have to break down and get a new car or at least a new to me car. I just spent $800 on the car about 3 weeks ago.

Second, Thursday at 5:00 AM, the assisted living facility where my dad is staying called me to tell me that dad had a serious nose bleed. Dad's on blood thinners so anytime he starts bleeding we get concerned. Dad was transported to the emergency room. By the time, I got there the nose bleed was stopped but dad was still spitting up blood. This event almost prevented me from traveling but after calming down a bit and with everything under control for now, I decided to travel on to Duluth for the Family History Expo. My reasoning was that if anything happened, although it would take a few hours to get there, I was within driving distance of home. So, I decided to keep my plans for the weekend. The only alteration in plans is that I will probably cut the research portion of my trip short a little bit, since I need to get back and start addressing the car issue before I head back to work.

So, Duluth we made it. Looking forward to seeing my fellow bloggers / genealogist tomorrow.

Four More Days

I can’t believe there are only four more days until the Atlanta Family History Expo. I’m excited and nervous all rolled into one. The nervousness comes from trying to make sure I’m semi-prepared, semi-organized, etc. I’m worried that there is something I’m leaving off the list of things I need to do before leaving and things I want to get accomplished while in Georgia.

Most of the preparation things I did today have more to do with the research I’m hoping to do after the expo.

Today, I

1. E-mailed the Walton County, Georgia Probate Court to confirm hours and days of operation.
2. Confirmed the hours of operation for the Walton County Georgia Superior Court.
3.  E-mailed South View Cemetery in Atlanta. If time permits, I hope to visit the graves of my Great Grand Aunt, Nuna Pierce Sims and also hope to find out more about a Jesse Pierce that is buried there. I wrote about this Jesse, who I believe to be a Great Grand Uncle, several months ago.
4. Continued adding items to the list of things I need to take with me and also continued adding to the list of things I hope to get accomplished at each locale that I visit.
5. Purchased extra writing instruments, etc (highlighters and mechanical pencils.

As the days are fast approaching when mom and I will be heading to GA, I’m also a little disappointed, as I had hoped to be able to surprise my mother with a visit from or to some of the other descendants of my 2^nd great grandmother, Matilda Hosch. I contacted my Ancestry.com contact last month about setting up a possible meeting and even talked to him on the phone but to date, I’ve not heard from any of the descendants of my granddad’s Uncle Augustus “Gus” Hosch. Maybe one day, it will happen.

Count Down To the Atlanta Family History Expo - Getting Ready

The Atlanta Family History Expo is less than a week away, which also means I'm a week away from my first research trip. I've decided in this week leading up to both event(s) that I would tell something that I've done each day to prepare for both.

First, even though I did this several weeks ago, I finally created some genealogy business cards.

(In real life, it's not crooked. I just can't seem to scan anything where it comes out straight.)

Today, I went through the schedule of events, again, and made decisions on which workshops / lectures I would really like to attend. I quickly realized that many of the sessions I am interested in attending were being given at the same time. So, I did what any resourceful genealogist would do, I registered my mother for the Family History Expo, also. Although my mother is traveling with me, she hadn't really planned to attend the FHE, but I need her to go to some of the sessions, so she'll be attending and taking notes, too.

And the Winner Is

As stated previously, today is the day that I am announcing the winner of the two free tickets to the Atlanta History Expo. I appreciate the contributions of the four entrants and thoroughly enjoyed reading the reasons you would like to attend the expo.

Without further ado, the winner is George Geder, comment #1 on the reminder post about the contest. The selection was purely random. I placed all entrants names in a box, mixed thoroughly, and pulled a name.

Congratulations George. I'll contact you soon with the details.

Once again, thanks to all the participants and also a big thank you to the organizers of the Family History Expo who provided me with this opportunity to give the tickets.

Oh, I apologize for the lateness of the announcement. I've had a crazy couple of days. 

Two Days Left to Win Tickets to Atlanta Family History Expo

There are only TWO DAYS left for a chance to win TICKETS to the Atlanta Family History Expo, which is being held next month in Duluth, GA. So far, there have been no participants in the give-away contest, so if you enter, there is a good chance that you will win.

As a reminder, all you have to do is look at the Agenda for the Atlanta Family History Expo, and let me know which session you would like to attend and why. The explanation doesn't have to been long or complicated. It can be something as simple as "this session looks interesting to me."

Please post your responses either here or on the original post regarding the contest. The winner will be selected randomly and announced on October 25, 2010.

Once again, best wishes to all who enter.

Psst - Guess What Else Is Going On Next Month

In addition to attending the Atlanta Family History Expo,
I'm doing my first research trip.

Part of me still doesn't feel like I'm ready to do a research trip but I figured that since I will be down in GA anyway for the FHE, I might as well take a couple of extra days and do some on the ground genealogical sleuthing. In fact, realizing that I might hopefully be able to meet some Hosch cousins (descendants of Great Grand Uncle Augustus "Gus" Hosch) who reside in Gwinnett County was the driving force behind me wanting to attend the FHE. Hopefully, the meeting will happen.

In addition to hopefully meeting cousins, I'm also planning to head over to both White Plains, Greene County, GA and Monroe, Walton County, GA in order to hopefully learn more about my Pierce Ancestors. This means, I will finally have an opportunity to take a picture of and transcribe the probate records for my great grandfather, Cornelius Pierce. With each passing day, the excitement about this trip just keeps building and building. So much so that I'm about to explode. But I've got to calm down and make sure that I'm as prepared as can be for this, my first research trip.

In the coming weeks, I'll keep you up to date on my preparations for this part of my trip as well as asking for suggestions, tips, etc.

Count Down To the Atlanta Family History Expo

Well, yesterday or today (depending on when I actually get this posted), marked 1 month and counting until the Atlanta Family History Expo in Duluth, GA. The Expo is being held November 12-13, 2010. I'm only attending the Saturday session, which is why October 13 was 1 month and counting. I'm looking forward to meeting fellow geneabloggers that I've been communicating with for the past year and some change.

Also, don't forget to enter the contest I'm having for a chance to win two tickets to the Expo. The contest ends on October 23, 2010.

Atlanta Family History Expo and A Contest

The Atlanta Family History Expo is the weekend of November 12-13 and is being held in Duluth, GA. Although I won’t be able to make both days, I will be attending. I’m looking forward to getting a chance to meet fellow Geneabloggers. What’s more, I’ve been invited to attend as a Blogger of Honor, which only adds to the excitement.

My invitation also will benefit one lucky reader. You see, thanks to the wonderful folks at Family History Expo (FHE), I have two free tickets to give away for the Atlanta Family History Expo. This would be a great opportunity for anyone who is currently conducting research or thinking about entering the wonderful world of genealogical research to come learn more as well as meet other researchers.

Entering the contest is easy. Simply view the Agenda for the Atlanta Family History Expo then return to this thread and let me know which session you would like to attend and why. That’s it. All entries must be in by October 23, 2010 at 11:59 pm. I will announce the winner on October 25, 2010. You can check back on that day to see if you won or not and to get instructions for claiming your tickets.

Best wishes to all who enter.