Hong Kong: Workshop report

Following the cruise, it was back to the hotel to get ready for the workshop and go to the JCC for dinner.

After a few technical glitches - I definitely need a course in hooking up computer projectors - we got everything squared away and everyone was connected to the JCC wireless system.

There were about 20 people, all with laptops, and others looking on. I went through a short PowerPoint which discussed some generalities and also showed examples of documents from my own family research and then we began some actual accessing of sites.

One woman, with roots in Rhodes, had a very unusual name. When we went to Jeff Malka's SephardicGen.com not only did the name pop up in several book indexes, but there were a number of burials in the Rhodes Jewish cemetery along with photos of the gravestones.

We accessed some Polish and UK records and resources, as well as features of JewishGen, SephardicGen, JRI-Poland, Ancestry and other sites.

As most readers know, even in a two-hour workshop, one barely gets into the amazing resources of so many sites. But participants received a list of major websites to look around (links to more links!), and were advised to register on JewishGen and add their information to the Family Finder.

I will be back in Hong Kong on March 21 and we'll have at least one more session. It was an enthusiastic group, and we even had a member of the younger generation attending - I was very happy to see that.

There are so many resources out there, and we barely touched them. The time flew by and everyone understood how easy it is to spend hours on finding clues to our families.

I think there may be a JGS of Hong Kong soon. Where do we sign up for the T-shirts?

Tomorrow (Friday), I'm planning to visit the Jewish cemetery and meet with the Jewish Historical Society.