Philly 2009: Program now online

Tracing the Tribe readers have been waiting impatiently - So here it is! The Philly 2009 preliminary conference program is now online.

This year's offerings indicate a strong, excellent and diverse program with lots of somethings for everyone, from beginners to advanced researchers. Programming starts at 9am on Sunday and runs through mid-day Friday.

Our hardest job will be choosing which program to attend in each time slot. Multiple opportunities are offered at the same time; many appear to be new topics. The program committee has done a great job!

What are you waiting for? Register now and spend a week learning, networking and sharing information. Click here for all details.

The 29th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy is set for Sunday-Friday, August 2-7, in Philadelphia.

Will this be your first conference? Afraid you might feel lost among all the experts? Don't worry - there are special activities for newcomers to the conference and genealogy beginners. Check out the beginner's track of basics, workshops and the popular Breakfast with the Experts (fee).

Sunday night kicks off with Father Patrick Desbois. Brandeis University Professor Jonathan Sarna will speak twice on Monday, sponsored by Philadelphia's National Museum of American Jewish History. His talks will be "Jewish Settlement Patterns in the US: Why Jews Ended Up Where They Did" and, in the evening, "An Old Faith in the New World: 350 Years of American Judaism."

The annual JewishGen program takes center stage Tuesday evening, as we see previews of future developments and projects, followed by Jewish Genealogy Game Night, produced by the team of Ron Arons and Pamela Weisberger. We're looking forward to Family Feud as such possible teams as Litvaks vs Galitzianers or Ashkenazim vs Sephardim battle it out.

Wednesday evening's program is still being detailed. Watch for announcements.

Among the first-time-ever events is the participation of Dorin Dobrincu, Director General of the National Archives of Romania, while Olga Muzychuk from the State Committee on Archives of Ukraine will speak for the first time since the New York conference in 2006.

A new track offers sessions on the history and food of the Jews of Turkey, and how Jewish traders impacted how we eat. There will also be a two-hour workshop (fee) to explore Turkish, Syrian and Ashkenazi-Italkeni recipes.

The DNA and genetic genealogy track offers new topics, and do look at the numerous Internet and technology sessions, as well as hands-on workshops (fee).

Don't forget the special interest group (SIG) luncheons (fee). This year the line up includes JRI-Poland, Gesher Galicia, Litvak SIG, Belarus, Latvia, Austria-Czech, Rom-SIG, Hungarian SIG, GerSIG and Ukraine. Some sell-out quickly, so sign up as soon as possible.

Other SIGs include French SIG, UK SIG, Southern Africa, Danzig/Gdansk, and Bialygen (Bialystok area), in addition to Birds of a Feather (BOF) and Research Groups. A record number of these will meet this year, including Ostrow Mazowiecka, Boryslaw-Drohobycz-Sambor-Stary-Sambor, Canada, Kobrin Uyezd, Suwalki/Lomza, Kremenets, Rokiskis-Kupiskis, Belchatow (Poland), Southern New Jersey Agricultural Colonies, Suchostaw Region, Jewish Polesie (Belarus), Lublin, Zamosc, Slutsk (Belarus), Lodz Area (Poland), Yiddish Theater & Vaudeville, Krakow, Paterson NJ, Lida, Kolbuszowa Region, JewishGen Yizkor Book Project, JewishGen ShtetLinks and Newsletter Editors.

Remember this is the preliminary program and some changes may occur in the final edition, such as some time changes or additional events added.

Tracing the Tribe will see you in Philadelphia!