JGSLA 2010: Registration open, plans galore!

It's only January, but July is right around the corner, and that's when Jewish genealogists and family historians from around the world will be in Los Angeles, from July 11-16.

Registration for the 30th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy is open now, as well as hotel reservations at the JW Marriott. This year's event is hosted by the Jewish Genealogy Society of Los Angeles.

See all conference details at the JGSLA 2010 site.

Sign up now for the conference and special interest group (SIG) lunches and dinners. Coming soon: registration for Breakfast-with-the-Experts, Midnight-with-the-Mavens, computer labs/workshops, tours and other special events.

Coming in early for the conference? Join the other "early birds" at two pre-conference, all kosher, welcome dinners, with thought-provoking speakers and a special Shabbat-friendly learning session with Jewish genealogy pioneer Arthur Kurzweil on Kabbalah.

Evidenced by proposals submitted during the just-ended Call for Papers, the program will include an extraordinary series of presentations by renowned scholars, archivists and research specialists from around the world.

Also on the schedule will be the film festival, methodology workshops, evening musical and dramatic performances, and the all-important networking and shmoozing opportunities with our friendly, global community of Jewish genealogists. and family historians.

This year's resource room will be staffed by representatives from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Shoah Foundation, the Steven Spielberg Visual History Archive, the Jewish Genealogy Learning Center in Warsaw, and Yad Vashem - all will be ready to provide attendees with one-one-one research assistance.

The IAJGS Awards Dinner will feature Canadian singer Mitch Smolkin will present"Rexite on the Radio: Live from the Golden Age of New York's Yiddish Broadcasts." He'll croon the songs of the "Yiddish Frank Sinatra," accompanied by Russian concert pianist, Nina Shapilksy. Experience classic Yiddish tunes along with the great Broadway hits of the 20th century - Yiddish - as they were heard on radios across the country. You'll never listen to Oklahoma the same way again.

For more on the Golden Age of Yiddish radio, see these Tracing the Tribe posts here and here, along with some of Seymour Rechtzeit's (Rexite) recordings:

The Yiddish Frank Sinatra was crooner Seymour Rexite (originally Rechtzeit - for the genealogists reading this!) and listen to his Yiddish versions of "Surrey with a Fringe on Top/Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," 1948; "Tea for Two," (with Miriam Kressyn), c1950; "Love and Marriage," (with Miriam Kressyn) c1950; and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," 1954.

The full conference program and schedule will be announced in March. Watch for sneak previews and breaking news on the JGSLA2010 website, its newsletter and the blog. Make sure to sign up for the newsletter so you won't miss anything.

Subscribe to the "Los Angeles 2010" JewishGen discussion group. Ask questions, get answers, kvetch and quibble about what to expect and what's planned for this great event.

Tracing the Tribe will be blogging from JGSLA 2010.