Jamboree 2011: Five free streaming sessions

Tracing the Tribe is getting ready to travel to the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree 2011, one of my favorite events. Jamboree is always on the cutting-edge of genealogy conferences and is the first conference to offer an IPad/iPhone app.

This year, several Jamboree sessions will be available free to genealogists and family historians around the globe, and made possible via sponsorship of RootsMagic. Five sessions will be streamed live on Saturday, June 11, with the first starting at 8.30am and the last ending at 4.30pm.

  

The Saturday sessions to be streamed are below. Click on each link to read more about each session and register. 

  

-- Lisa Louise Cooke - SA009 - Google Search Strategies for Genealogists - 8:30-9:30am PDT

-- Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA, IGSF - SA019 - Fingerprinting Our Families - Using Ancestral Origins as a Genealogical Research Key - 10-11:00am PDT

-- David A. Lambert - SA024 - Researching Your Union Civil War Ancestors - 11:30am-12:30pm PDT

-- Kory Meyerink, AG, FUGA - SA035 - But it Ain't Really the ORIGINAL Record! - 2-3pm PDT

-- Kerry Bartels - SA043 - The Many Facets of the National Archives Website (NARA) - 3:30-5:30pm PDT

These records are an extension of the SCGS online "webinar" (web-based seminar) series.

Viewers can listen and watch a presentation by registering and then signing on to a website. The original webcast of the streamed video sessions and webinars are available to the global genealogical community at no charge. Following the original broadcast, the sessions will be archived and available to SCGS members at the SCGS website.

Other Jamboree conference sessions will be available through GoToWebinar. Watch for that announcement.

Webinar: 'Backing Up Your Data," March 23

Sorry for the late notice, but the indomitable Thomas MacEntee will present a free webinar for Legacy Family Tree on Wednesday, March 23, at 2pm ET (-5 GMT).

Have you ever experienced a data loss when it comes to your genealogy research? Not yet?

If not, have you prepared for what might happen if your hard drive fails? What if your laptop is lost or stolen?

Learn the basics of backing up all genealogy data including identifying data, common backup methods and how to use free online programs to help make sure data will always be available!

Participants will learn various methods for backing up genealogy data including many free online programs such as DropBox, Google Docs, Picasa and more.

Join webinar host Geoff Rasmussen of Legacy Family Tree and Google for Genealogists' presenter Thomas MacEntee for this 90-minute session.

Click here to register for tomorrow's webinar.

FamilySearch: 'Indexing the world's records,' March 24 bloginar

FamilySearch has scheduled a free bloginar, "Indexing the World's Historic Records: The Global Phenomenon Continues," for Thursday, March 24, at noon MDT.

News writers, genealogy media professionals and bloggers  are invited to attend the event, presented by FamilySearch indexing Workforce Communications Manager Katie Gale and FamilySearch Product Manager Scott Flinders.

The FamilySearch indexing program, fueled by incredible volunteers, has become a worldwide phenomenon since its launch in 2006, producing hundreds of millions of free, searchable, online records. Online crowds of volunteers, from all walks of life, in seven languages, pore over millions of digital images of historic records, 24/7, to provide free online indexes for the world community. Thousands of new volunteers continue to join the initiative each month.


In this exclusive FamilySearch event, featuring the FamilySearch indexing workforce managers, you will discover:


-- Who are these volunteers? Where are they located?
-- What drives the growing sea of volunteers to continually donate their time and talents?
-- How much data is being produced today?
-- What are the greatest challenges?
-- What are the latest enhancements to the software tool?
-- What are the 2011 production and software goals?


Participants will see demonstrations on their computers over the Internet and interact with presenters by phone or a live, e-text or chat forum.

For more information, click FamilySearch Bloginar Online.

SCGS: Free webinars, register now!

The Southern California Genealogical Society has announced the Jamboree Extension Series - a new program which will provide family history and genealogy educational webinars for globally-based genealogists.

Tracing the Tribe was happy to see that our good friend Thomas MacEntee will kick off the series on March 5, after I've returned from London!

Each session can support 1,000 attendees. The series is offered as a service to the genealogical community as part of the group's mission "to foster interest in family history and genealogy, preserve genealogical materials, and provide instruction in accepted and effective research techniques."

The original webcasts will be available to all genealogists at no charge, with archived webinars only available to SCGS members, who may view them about three days following the live session. SCGS memberships may be purchased online. Click the SCGS website for more information.

Webinars are scheduled on the first Saturday and third Wednesday of each month. Saturday sessions will be held at 10am Pacific/1pm Eastern; Wednesday sessions, 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern.

Here are the first few sessions. See the complete webinar schedule and check for updates as new topics are added.

Saturday, March 5 - Thomas MacEntee:
Social Networking - New Horizons for Genealogists

Did you know that the over-55 crowd is the fastest growing group of Facebook users? Did you know that Twitter is not the domain of the much younger "texting" crowd but is used by an older more savvy group of people? Did you ever wonder how and if these programs, along with others such as blogs and wikis, can be used to help genealogists? Wonder no more as we explore what makes up the oft-mystifying term "social networking" and how each program is currently being used by genealogists and family historians of all ages.

Six more are scheduled from April through August, including George P Morgan (Tell Me About When You Were a Child), Lisa Louise Cooke (Getting the Scoop on Your Ancestors From Old Newspapers), Janet Hovorka (Getting Your Notes and Sources Right in Your Genealogy Software), and another four interesting topics.

The Southern California Genealogical Society's creative members are always doing something interesting, and their annual Jamboree is a don't-miss event (this year, June 10-12). Tracing the Tribe is delighted to be speaking there again this year.

Do let your friends, family and genealogy societies around the world know about the SCGS's webinar series.

DNA for Beginners: Free webinar, February 1 and 3

Following her first free webinar - Genetic Genealogy for Beginners - Elise Friedman will be repeating that class on Tuesday, February 1, and Thursday, February 3, by popular demand.

"Genetic Genealogy for Beginners: DNA is the "Gene" in Genealogy!" covers the following topics:

-- What is Genetic Genealogy? 
-- What tests are available?
-- Which one should I order? 
-- How much does a Genetic Genealogy test cost? 
-- Do I need to be a geneticist to understand my results?

The webinar is perfect for those who are beginners to genetic genealogy and want answers to these basic questions and more.

Learn the history of the field, get an introduction to DNA basics and inheritance paths, different types of DNA tests for genealogy and resources to make the most of your experience.

The two sessions are geared to different time zones, making it more accessible to more people.
-- Tuesday, February 1:  6pm GMT (1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific)
-- Thursday, February 3:  8pm Eastern (5pm Pacific)

The webinars are free but advance registration is required. Click here for more information, to register, and to learn about additional future offerings.

Elise hopes to repeat the beginner session during the first week of each month, and is also working on offering intermediate and advanced genetic genealogy webinars.

Webinar: Finding ancestors in EllisIsland.org

"Ellis Island: Find Your Ancestor in a Sea of Online Records" is a webinar with Lisa Alzo, scheduled by Family Tree Magazine on Wednesday, July 21.

Nearly half of all Americans have relatives who arrived at New York's Ellis Island. Those passenger records - some 22 million online records - are a key resource to help researchers jump back to the old country to pick up the trail.

The 60-minute webinar, presented by Lisa Alzo, will provide the tricks and tips of searching EllisIsland.org. It begins at 7pm Eastern.

Participants will learn:

-- Tricks to searching the Ellis Island passenger list database
-- Secrets from a demo search of a hard-to-find immigrant
-- How to use Steve Morse's One-Step search tools to locate elusive passengers
-- The differences between Ancestry.com and EllisIsland.org

To register, click here.

Family Tree Magazine: Brick Wall Solutions Webinar, June 15

Researchers often hit brick walls, and now there's a live webinar that can be accessed from everywhere to help with solutions to these problems.

Family Tree Magazine is offering a Brick Wall Busters webinar on Tuesday, June 15, from 7-8pm (US East Coast Time). Presenting will be FTM publisher/editorial director Allison Stacey and New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) online genealogist David Lambert.

According to the official description:

Sooner or later, every genealogist gets stuck. You run into an ancestor or family line you just can't trace any further. What do you do when you hit that dreaded "brick wall"? In this live, interactive Web seminar, Allison Stacy and David Lambert will walk you through strategies for getting around those research obstacles.

Participants will learn how to assess a research problem, tips for surmounting common brick-wall scenarios and professional genealogists' favorite methods for conquering research challenges.

Who may find this worthwhile: Genealogists looking for free and inexpensive ways to research online, genealogists who find themselves stuck with a research problem they cannot move past, beginning family history researchers, and "paper genealogists" who want to take advantage of online resources.

Registrants may submit their own brick wall problems and receive personalized advice from a professional genealogist. Some submissions will be tackled during the webinar. Although the magazine cannot feature all submitted brick walls during the event or guarantee results, every registrant who sends in a question will receive a personalized strategy email.

The early bird price is $39.99, and includes participation in the live presentation and Q&A, unlimited access to the recorded webinar, presentation slides PDF and a bonus handout.

For more information on this program, click here. For general information on webinars, click here.

Los Angeles: Jamboree discounts end April 30

The Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree is just around the corner, June 11-13, at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel and Convention Center.

Some 1,600 attendees will benefit from 120 sessions, workshops and events; 50 internationally known speakers, and 70 exhibitors displaying products and services.

The geneabloggers will again be there in force with two special Blogger Summit sessions. Go from zero to blogging in only 60 minutes in the first, while the second will take you higher as you learn how to market your blog, make it more appealing and even more important issues.

Tracing the Tribe is on the panel for the second blogger session (11.30am-12.30pm, Saturday, June 12, "Now that You’re a Genealogy Blogger") My genea-colleagues for that session are Lisa Louise Cooke, Kathryn Doyle, Thomas MacEntee and Craig Manson.

Later that day (2-3pm), I will present "The Iberian Ashkenaz DNA Project: The Administrator's Viewpoint." it will cover developing and building a DNA project from initial concept, project goal, criteria, participation and results.  

Early-bird discounts end April 30. Register by then and receive a $10 registration discount, $5 discount on all special events, and a free copy of the printed syllabus ($20 value).

More reasons - there are many - include:

-- Free Friday kids' session for ages 8-16, as well as librarians and beginner researchers.

-- Free "Genealogy World" roundtable small group discussion sessions Friday morning - dozens of topics lead by experts (Tracing the Tribe and Daniel Horowitz will each lead one on Jewish research). Topics include regional and ethnic research, searching birth families, genealogy society management sessions. The Jamboree blog will detail these roundtables scheduled over three hours.

-- Free document and photo scanning provided by Ancestry.com.

-- Free webinar to help get the most out of any genealogy conference, including Jamboree. Click on the webinar image here.

-- Friday morning tour of Evergreen Cemetery (Los Angeles), followed by lunch at Philippe's Who says genealogy isn't delicious? Philippe's is where, according to legend, the French Dip sandwich was created!

-- Excel, Word, Skype, blogging and Google applications in hand's-on minicourses.

-- Door prizes - worth thousands of dollars - include a week at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, a weekend at Strawberry Creek Inn or Bunkhouse B&B (Idyllwild, California).

-- Beginner, intermediate and advanced classes.

-- Live podcast Saturday - with Lisa Louise Cooke of Genealogy Gems Podcast.

-- Friday night banquet with Chris Haley, nephew of Alex Haley ("Roots").

-- Free webinar Saturday morning with DearMYRTLE. Societies from across the US and Canada can participate from home via GoToWebinar. Join us onsite for breakfast (fee) or over the web.

Dates to remember:

April 30: Early bird registration ends at midnight.
May 1: Mini-sessions registration opens.
May 10: Marriott hotel discount ends.
June 1: Pre-registration closes.

Get all the details on Jamboree; click on the Jamboree logo.
Follow all Jamboree blog updates.

See you in Burbank!

Webinar: Make the most of a gen conference, March 27

Are you a first-timer planning to attend a genealogy conference? If so, don't miss this free expert webinar on Saturday, March 27.

Participating in a large-scale event can be overwhelming if you don't know what to expect or what to do.

Whether you'll be attending the Southern California Jamboree, the IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, or any other gen conference, learn how to get the most out of such an event.

After all, you're making an investment of your time and money!

George C. Morgan of The Genealogy Guys Podcast will present a free webinar to help you get the most out of any genealogy conference - one of the best ways to enhance your research skills, learn new techniques, resources and strategies for finding ancestors.

It may even provide new ideas to those who have attended conferences in the past.

George will cover the folowing:

-- Registering for the conference

-- Planning your conference schedule

-- Planning your attack on the exhibit hall (from preliminary research on company websites to a shopping list)

-- Utilizing the program and syllabus in the best use

-- Networking and socializing to make connections

-- Encouraging cousins to attend.

-- Travel arrangements

George will also provide activity suggestions once your at the conference: meeting other attendees, arranging one-on-one time with favorite speakers, and how to work exhibit hal vendors to gather new information.

The original broadcast of the March 27 webinar is limited to 100 "live" attendees, but the program will be available for download or viewing anytime at the Southern California Genealogical Society.

"How to Get the Most out of a Genealogy Conference" is set for Saturday, March 27, from 10-11am PDT. Register here. After registration, you'll receive a confirmation email with detailed information on how to participate.

IPhone: Genealogy podcast app launched

Geneablogger colleague Lisa Louise Cooke of Genealogy Gems Podcast has just informed Tracing the Tribe about the first genealogy podcast application for IPhone/iTouch.

Genealogy Gems Podcast - the top ranked podcast in the iTunes genealogy category - has launched the first genealogy podcast app, in partnership with Wizzard Media, for iPhone and iTouch.

The app will provide users with streaming genealogy audio and video on the go and exclusive bonus content. Genealogy Gems Podcast is a free "online genealogy radio show" and has provided innovative research strategies, family history expert and celebrity interviews, and genealogy news since 2007.

Tracing the Tribe was featured in an interview with Lisa at the 2009 Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree.

Her podcasts provide information that can inspire family history researchers of all skill levels and help them use their research time appropriately. With the new app, the podcast can reach many more people.

“Mobile technology is the wave of the future,” says Producer and Creator Lisa Louise Cooke. “At Genealogy Gems we strive to be out in front bringing the highest quality genealogy education to those seeking to enrich their lives through family history research. The app makes this possible on a whole new level.”

All the episodes are included (including show notes) and new podcasts are downloaded automatically. Bonus content includes audio files and custom genealogy-themed wallpaper, as well as Lisa's 20-page PDF ebook, "5 Fabulous Google Research Strategies for the Family Historian. " New content will be added as episodes are published.

Learn much more about Lisa's work at the link above.

In addition to Genealogy Gems Podcasts, she's also created the Genealogy Gems TV channel at YouTube, the Genealogy Gems News Blog, a toolbar, authored "Genealogy Gems: Ultimate Research Strategies," produces and hosts The Family Tree Magazine Podcast, teaches online webinars and writes and produces videos for the magazine. Contact Lisa if you have questions.

And you thought you were busy!

Now, if Tracing the Tribe only had an iPhone.

Family Tree Magazine: Photo-Retouch Webinar, Dec. 9

Look around your house now. Do you see faded or scratched photos? Tracing the Tribe has a few in this category.

I've tried to fix some of them with varying degrees of success, but need some expert help. Riding to the rescue is Family Tree Magazine's next Family Tree University webinar on Photo-Retouching, set for December 9.

Editor Allison Stacey and art director Christy Miller - who fixes photos on a daily basis - will help participants digitally correct flaws and bring your family pictures back to life. They are subtitling it "Give Great-Grandma a Makeover."

Early color photos are victims of fading as most of us know personally. Each webinar participant is invited to submit a photo and Christy will demonstrate the techniques on some during the session. Afterward, each webinar registrant will receive a digital copy of his or her retouched photo.

The two will also offer tips on getting good scans of pictures, recommend user-friendly (and wallet-friendly) photo-editing software, and tell you how to get professional help for repairing badly damaged pictures.

Learn all about it at 7pm, Wednesday, December 9, at "Photo Retouching: How to Bring Old Family Photos Back to Life." The cost is $49.99 and includes participation in the live session and Q&A, unlimited access to the webinar recording, downloadable Genealogy Guidebook featuring 100+ brick wall-busting tips, and a digital copy of your retouched photo.

Click here to register at ShopFamilyTree.com. After registering, use the link on your order confirmation page to confirm your webcast registration.

Webinar: Footnote.com at Family Tree Magazine

If you'd like to learn more about Footnote.com, Family Tree Magazine is offering a free 30-minute webinar for your enjoyment.

Footnote launched in 2007, and the subscription site offers millions of photographs and other images, such as census, military records, naturalizations, newspapers and much more. Additional resources are added very frequently.

The webinar will cover what records are available at Footnote, search demos, the Footnote image viewer, how to create Footnote Pages about your ancestors with information and images you upload (these Pages are also available for non-subscription members).

To see the webinar, click here to read more at Diane's post in the Genealogy Insider blog. Click the big orange button in the blog post, type in your first and last names and email address. Then click "Register" to launch the webinar player.

Enjoy!