{"id":4663,"date":"2013-08-07T14:18:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T19:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/?p=4663"},"modified":"2013-08-07T14:20:28","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T19:20:28","slug":"11-tips-for-attending-the-fgs-2013-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/11-tips-for-attending-the-fgs-2013-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Tips for Attending the FGS 2013 Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard to believe that the FGS 2013 Conference<\/a> starts two weeks from today.  To help you get the most out of your conference experience, I thought I\u2019d share some of my tips. <\/p>\n

\"conference\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Choose your sessions wisely.<\/strong> Pick topics that will enhance your knowledge or that pique your curiosity. Choosing topics you already know a good deal about isn\u2019t a bad thing (hey, we can all use a refresher), but if you could be the presenter for the topic, use this opportunity to learn something new.\n
  2. Arrive early for those sessions!<\/strong> Venues have strict codes they have to follow regarding room occupancy. Once it\u2019s full, it\u2019s FULL! If the room monitor says it\u2019s full, please listen to them and find another session. Arguing with the room monitor only prevents the session from starting on time or distracts the speaker and audience.\n
  3. Bring business or \u201cbusiness\u201d cards.<\/strong> I realize not all genealogists who attend conferences are professionals, hence the reason one instance of the word business is in quotes. In my opinion, all genealogists (professional or not) should have a card that can be handed out when attending conferences (or visiting libraries, archives, etc.). The \u201cbusiness\u201d card would list your name and contact information; mine also includes a listing of my high-priority surnames on the back. See my post Genealogy Business Card<\/a> for more information and an example.\n
  4. Collect business or \u201cbusiness\u201d cards.<\/strong> You never know when you might need these contacts. And be sure to write your own notes on the back like \u201ccould be linked to Garrison line,\u201d or \u201cspecializes in colonial Connecticut research,\u201d or \u201cwilling to speak at society meeting.\u201d\n
  5. Use your down time to visit the exhibit hall.<\/strong> This is your chance to explore vendor products and services firsthand. And don\u2019t just stop by a table and pick up the freebies; say hello and engage in small talk\u2026you never know when that contact will come in handy.\n
  6. Network!<\/strong> This is probably one of the most important things about attending any type of conference, but for genealogists, it\u2019s also very personal. While you\u2019ll want to network with professional genealogists and vendors, it\u2019s just as important to converse with everyone you run into\u2026one of those people could hold the key you\u2019ve been looking for to unlock that brick wall.\n
  7. Attend social events.<\/strong> Although many people view social events (meals, special events, etc.) as networking opportunities, they also allow you to kick back and relax a bit from all the hustle and bustle of the conference.\n
  8. Dress comfortably.<\/strong> Temperature control always seems to be an issue in large venues, so be prepared by dressing in layers. And don\u2019t forget comfy shoes!\n
  9. Sit by people you don\u2019t know.<\/strong> How can you meet new people when you hang out with your comfort group? View this is a learning and networking opportunity.\n
  10. Bring your tool kit.<\/strong> Be sure you have pens\/pencils, highlighters, paper\/notepad, laptop\/tablet, and camera.\n
  11. Do some research.<\/strong> FGS 2013 is held right by the Allen County Public Library<\/a>, home of the Genealogy Center<\/a>. Even if you are not arriving before or staying after the conference, you can still find some time to pop over to the ACPL for some research. The week of the conference, the library is open until 9pm on Monday and Tuesday, midnight Wednesday-Friday, and 6pm on Saturday (Note:  For Friday \u201cafter hours\u201d you will need a ticket for the Friday Night at the ACPL<\/em> event).  So plan on grabbing a bite to eat after your sessions and spending the evening in the library. Bring your research toolkit and to-do list.  Need some guidance?  See Finding Ancestors in Fort Wayne: The Genealogist’s Unofficial One-Stop Guide to the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center<\/a> (opens a PDF).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are plenty of other tips out there, but for me, these are the big ones. Feel free to post your own conference attendance tips in the comments of this post. <\/p>\n

    Above image courtesy of <\/em>Pixomar<\/em><\/a> at <\/em>FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n

    \n

    \"FGS2013\"If you haven\u2019t registered for the FGS 2013 Conference<\/a> yet, you still have time to register online, by mail or at the door. Mailed registrations must be postmarked by Friday, August 9. Online registration ends on Wednesday, August 14th.<\/b> Pre-registering for the conference gives you access to some great benefits.  And don’t forget, if you have already registered for the conference, you still have time to get your tickets to the conference “extras.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It\u2019s hard to believe that the FGS 2013 Conference starts two weeks from today.  To help you get the most out of your conference experience, I thought I\u2019d share some of my tips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,301,357,358,25,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to","category-education-genblog","category-events","category-fgs-conference","category-genblog","category-news-events","cat-27-id","cat-301-id","cat-357-id","cat-358-id","cat-25-id","cat-39-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3HcLI-1dd","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4663"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4665,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions\/4665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}