Exhibitor Spotlight

Association of Professional Genealogists – Booths 117, 216
Association of Professional Genealogists Prepares for 2011 National Genealogical Society Family History Conference

APG Members to Educate Conference Goers on How to Hire a Professional Genealogist and How to Become a Professional Genealogist

The Association of Professional Genealogists (http://www.apgen.org) will head to Charleston, South Carolina, this spring for the 2011 National Genealogical Society (NGS) Family History Conference. Conference attendees can visit the APGbooth (#117 and # 216) to learn more about hiring a professional genealogist, as well as how to become one.

In addition to exhibiting at the conference, APG will host several events, including:

• The members-only APG Roundtable, to be held Tuesday, 10 May, 7–9 p.m. The panel discussion topic will be “Looking for Clients in all the Right Places.”
• An APG-sponsored lecture by Maureen Taylor, “Hunting History: Searching for the Revolutionary War Generation” on Wednesday, 11 May at 2:30 p.m.
• An APG Luncheon, to be held on Friday, 13 May, where Eileen O’Duill, CG, will present, “Mrs. Fancy Tart is Coming to Tea: Making Sense of Family Stories.”

Media Contacts:
Kathleen W. Hinckley, CG
Executive Director
Association of Professional Genealogists
P.O. Box 350998, Westminster, CO 80035-0998
Phone:+1 303-465-6980, fax: +1 303-456-8825, e-mail: admin@apgen.org

Corey Oiesen
Communications Officer
Association of Professional Genealogists
email: corey@genealogyheroes.com
###
APG is a registered trademark of the Association of Professional Genealogists. All other trade and service marks are property of their respective owners.

New York Genealogical and Biographical Society – Booths 507 and 509
The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society has been the essential resource for material on families in New York City, State, and region for 140+ years.  Visit the NYG&B booth and use our computer to search Worden’s Index of over 1,000,000 names of persons mentioned in articles published in The NYG&B Record and a consolidated table of contents from 1870 to 2001.  Talk to our Director of Education and resident genealogist Lauren Maehrlein.  Take home a free copy of our quarterly magazine The New York Researcher.  Receive a $10 discount on the purchase of a new membership.

NYG&B members have online access to every issue of the NYG&B Record; hundreds of useful articles on New York genealogical research; bibliographies and research tips; searchable cemetery transcriptions, religious records, and member biographical sketches that are unique to the NYG&B Society; plus more exceptional material.  And if you want to advance your research skills, take a look at the rich schedule of NYG&B programs, workshops, and repository tours offered through the New York Family History School.  Learn more at:

www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
36 West 44th Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10036-8105
Tel (212) 755-8532

Exhibitor Spotlight

Librarians' Day

Sponsored by

  



NGS’s special pre-conference program for librarians, sponsored by ProQuest, will be held Tuesday, 10 May, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m., at the Charleston County Public Library, 68 Calhoun Street, Charleston, South Carolina. Librarians who work with family history patrons are encouraged to attend this outstanding program.

"How Did that Yankee Get in the Family?" —Michael Hall is a BYU graduate who has worked for Family Search for more than twenty years. He is currently strategic relations manager working with libraries and genealogical societies worldwide.

"Putting All Your Library Resources to Use"—George Morgan is president of Aha! Seminars, Inc., a training company providing continuing education for libraries and library consortia.

"Solving African American Brick Walls"—Toni Carrier is founding director of the University of South Florida Africana Heritage Project.

"Social Networking"—Drew Smith is an academic librarian with the University of South Florida, Tampa.

ProQuest will provide lunch for registered attendees and will be available to answer questions about their products. The program will conclude with a tour of the Charleston County Public Library.

The program is free for Librarians but you must pre-register to attend the event. Registration can be found at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/attendee_registration. Click on pre-conference events.

The National Genealogical Society 2011 Family History Conference begins 11 May 2011 at the Charleston Area Convention Center, 5001 Coliseum Drive, North Charleston, South Carolina. Plan to register and attend this outstanding four-day genealogy conference.

Librarians' Day

Speaker Spotlight: Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL

T209 8:00-9:00 a.m. Thursday ebooks for Genealogists
Learn about free and paid every-word searchable eBooks that can be used online or downloaded to a Kindle, smartphone, or iPad.

T248 2:30-3:30 p.m. Thursday Investigating Your Ancestors
Learn how genealogists can use criminal investigation techniques to identify ancestors, record evidence, analyze and draw accurate conclusions, and write comprehensive but concise reports.

F301 8:00-9:00 a.m. Friday Reporting the Facts: Record as You Go
Learn to record your research as you work to ensure accuracy, best analysis and use of facts, and adequate time to write the results well.

F329 11:00-12:00 noon Friday Digitizing Your Way to Organization
See how a scanner with an automatic document feeder and Adobe Acrobat software can organize those mountains of paper on your kitchen table.

I’m speaking on several of my favorite topics at the upcoming NGS conference in Charleston, South Carolina. My Scots-Irish genes often win out over my obsessive German genes to the extent that I’m always looking for an easier or faster way to do something. But then the German genes kick in and demand that my schemes have order and clear processes. It’s really a pretty balanced match, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be the first Scots-Irish person who married the German in my family, or vice versa. What a match! At any rate, my ancestral combos lead me to think in ordered ways about how to do something faster and better, and that’s how I came up with all four of the sessions I’m presenting in Charleston. I hope that some of you will attend and learn from my mistakes, since I always tell my audiences that I have learned things the hard way so they don’t have to.

In my previous other life years ago as a commissioned police officer and detective, I attended the police academy and advanced courses to learn about criminal investigative techniques. One day I came up with the idea of a genealogy lecture while pondering how many of the skills I had learned as a police investigator apply equally to researching family history: identifying the right individual by his or her modus operandi (MO)—characteristics, habits, and associates; carefully analyzing clues and drawing accurate conclusions; writing the results of our work in clear, concise reports; and putting together a case that a jury of our peers (other genealogists) would find reasonable and correct. Investigating Your Ancestors demonstrates the similarities in criminal investigation techniques and good genealogical research methodologies. My law enforcement experience also helped me understand the criminal court records where I find most of my ancestors, but that’s a different class.

In eBooks for Genealogists I’ll be discussing and demonstrating myriad sources of electronic books—both old and new—available online for free or inexpensive download to your home computer, iPad, Kindle, Smartphone, or similar device. You’ll also see how to download, store, organize, and use these books. While you might not find it comfortable to read an entire 500-page county history on a small cell phone screen, you should be thrilled to have such reference books in versions that are every-word searchable at your disposal wherever you travel. You may find yourself sitting back in the woods at an old cemetery wishing you could remember the name of that one ancestor that you found in the history of the adjoining church. With the eBook version stored on your phone or portable device, you could simply whip that device out, search for what you do remember, and have the information at hand in seconds—while you’re still onsite at the cemetery where you need it.

We genealogists are enthusiastic about the hunt; we think nothing of going on as many research trips as we can afford in a single month. However, we’re often not as eager to carefully sift through, analyze, and write up the results of that research. Isn’t it easier to just make photocopies of everything and pile it on the dining room table to deal with later? In Reporting the Facts: Record As You Go, I’ll be providing an alternative by suggesting that we learn to write our research reports as we actually do the work. For our personal research, this means we always have a current report that acts as a road map to inform us where we last stopped and what we still need to do when we pick up a project again. In our work for others, it ensures that we don’t use all the allotted time researching and then lack adequate time to write a comprehensive and clear report. This BCG-sponsored lecture just might help you begin to think about your gathering and stashing habits in a different way.

And speaking of all those piles of paper on the dining room table or spare bed in the guest room, Digitizing Your Way to Organization offers a solution to overwhelming stacks and the inability to find what you need without an hours-long physical search. See how a scanner or digital camera can help you skip the paper and create most of your research files electronically or process the piles of paper you already have into electronic files. Then, using free or inexpensive software, you’ll be able to organize and label the electronic files so that you can search for and find a particular item in seconds rather than having to dig through five boxes of paper. If you stay on top of the paper you bring home (or brought home long ago), and digitize whenever possible, you should begin to see a real difference in your ability to find what you need—from relevant articles in magazines to actual images of ancestral documents.

I’m looking forward to seeing Charleston’s colorful houses and historic areas, even though I had no ancestors that I know of in that area. I have learned to say that I know of because as sure as anything, the week after I’ve traveled to a wonderful conference where I’ve learned all kinds of new things but didn’t do local research because I didn’t have any ancestors there, the very next week I’ll find a document that reveals a new ancestor who lived just across the river from the conference site. And even if I don’t, going to any conference is worthwhile because everything we learn helps us in our own research. I can go to a New England conference where they talk about Pilgrims and witches, and I stubbornly say to myself, “Harumph! What do they know about hill people in East Tennessee or the Ozarks?” But I learn methods and techniques from every single lecture at any conference, and that knowledge applies equally to my ancestors.

I hope to see y’all at the NGS conference in Charleston, South Carolina.

Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL

Speaker Spotlight: Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL

Exhibitor Spotlight

The NGS 2011 Family History Conference exhibits area will be located in the North Charleston Convention Center, exhibit halls B and A1. The exhibit hall is free and open to the public, so please be sure to stop by.
View current complete list of exhibitors

Exhibit hall hours are as follows:
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Show hours: 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Show hours: 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
Friday, 13 May 2011
Show hours: 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Show hours: 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Plan your trip to the exhibit area. Listed below are product and service descriptions for a few of the exhibitors who will be present. We will keep posting more information as the event dates get closer.

Archives.com – Booths 229, 231
Archives.com is focused on making family history simple and affordable. Archives has assembled more than 1 billion historical records – birth, death, marriage, divorce, census, obituary, immigration, military and more – all in a single location, and we make them available for only $39.95 per year – 30-70% less than other genealogy websites. Archives also partners with several leading family history websites to provide integrated record collections, discounted memberships, hard-copy certificates, court records, and special promotions – providing a comprehensive resource for researching your family history. Membership is free to try for seven days, allowing anyone to explore the benefits without risk or obligation. Start discovering your family history now by visiting http://www.archives.com/.

Colonial Roots – Booths 427, 429
Colonial Roots carries books and CDs (over 2000 titles) for those researchers of family history in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The company was established initially as Family Line Publications in the 1970s and after the move to Lewes, Delaware we changed our name to Colonial Roots. Although our primary focus is on the colonial period we also carry items dealing with the 19th century.  Stop by our booth and check out our web site, http://ww.colonialroots.com/

Crystal Inn Hotel & Suites – Booth 319
We love our genealogists! The Crystal Inn Salt Lake City is located less than one mile from the Family History Library. Offering complimentary shuttles to and from SLC International Airport as well as the Library, the Crystal Inn is the perfect location for your next trip to Salt Lake City.  Start each morning with our Complimentary Full Hot Breakfast Buffet before you catch our free shuttle to (and from) the Family History Library. After a long day of research, enjoy our oversized junior suite rooms and relax in our indoor Jacuzzi, pool, or sauna.  You can even check last minute leads with our complimentary high-speed wireless internet. Affordable luxury awaits you at the Crystal Inn Salt Lake City.  Call Today and Make Your Reservation! 800-366-4466 or 801-328-4466 Offer good for single/double occupancy.  Taxes not included.  Blackout dates may apply.  Travel dates thru end of 2011.

Mention booking code: GEN11 for this special offer.  Crystal Inn Hotel & Suites Salt Lake City - Downtown, 230 West 500 South, I-15 exit 6, http://www.crystalinnsaltlake.com/

Driggers Photography & Restoration – Booths 423, 425
Driggers Photography and Driggers Art & Paintings owner Warren Driggers is recognized as one of the leading authorities on the restoration of old photographs. Driggers is known for being able to restore images that most people feel are gone forever. A well renowned speaker and guest at genealogy functions, Driggers will be available in the trade show to demonstrate how your damaged and faded photos can be restored to like new condition.

You are invited to bring your photos for a free evaluation. Special show prices will be available for any restoration projects along with limited on site copy and printing of your old prints. For more information go to http://www.driggersartandpaintings.com/ or call 803-798-8547.

e-Image Data Corp. – Booth 230
In business since 1989, e-Image Data is the industry leader in the design, manufacture, marketing, sales, and distribution of micrographic equipment. This experience includes providing micrographic equipment that has been supplied to end users around the world through the OEM brands of 3M, Kodak, Bell & Howell, various private labels, and the Micro Design brand.

What we will be showing at NGS Family History Conference
The ScanPro 2000 is the most durable, easy to use, versatile microfilm scanner available. The world's leading universities, libraries and private companies have been choosing e-Image Data microfilm scanners for more than 20 years and no other equipment on the market can match the ScanPro 2000 for its track record of performance and reliability. And its intuitive software makes working with microfilm fun for both experienced and first-time users.

Automatic controls like image adjustment, brightness and straightening makes working with microfilm easy, efficient and fun.

WORD-Search function allows users to search for key words within on-screen documents.
Automatically scan your rolls of 35mm and 16mm microfilm.
Find more information at the following link: http://www.e-imagedata.com/

Family Roots Publishing – Booths 109, 111, 208, 210
Family Roots Publishing offers wide variety of books for genealogists. We specialize in “research guides,” books that are how-to in nature. Beside the books that the company publishes itself, we offer nearly 1000 other titles published by dozens of other publishers. The FRPC booth is arranged by category, assisting in one’s search for the research guide that might help in a specific area of research.  Visit us at booths 109, 111, 208, & 210, across the aisle from the NGS booth in the exhibit hall.

findmypast.co.uk – Booths 118, 120
Leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk will be attending the NGS Family History Conference this year. Head to stand 118 to learn more about your British ancestry with millions of original historical records dating back to 1538 and before.

Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner (Rocky Mtn Ventures) – Booth 129
Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner http://www.flip-pal.com/
Preserve and protect memories…share them with loved ones

Memories and stories bind families together. How will you preserve and share yours? With the Flip Pal™ mobile scanner, no longer will your precious photos, documents and other memories be scattered, lost or hidden. Have fun and enhance your creativity, then share your memories with family and friends. And save time in the process. Take advantage of the patented flip-and-scan technology to scan photos safely while still in the album or frame.
Flip-Pal mobile scanning Tips Youtube video embed code: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFlipPal#p/u/5/icaY-bfrB_E

Fun Stuff for Genealogists – Booths 100, 102, 104
Fun Stuff for Genealogists http://www.funstuffforgenealogists.com/ has been selling goodies to the genealogist since 1998! They are located in South Bend, Indiana and they travel extensively in the Great Lakes area and attend national genealogy events. They carry Fun and Useful things for the genealogist including: T-shirts, mugs, scrapbooking, jewelry, pedigree charts, bumper stickers, kids t-shirts & bibs, clip art, specialty pens, tombstone rubbing waxes, journals, magnifiers, archival items, embroidered blue jean shirts & cardigans, tote bags & a lot of novelty items. They promise to be there with lots and lots of goodies. Visa, Master Card and Discover are welcome!

Genealogical Publishing Company – Booth 329, 428
Be sure to check out Booths 428/329 for the latest publications from Genealogical.com, America’s leading publisher of genealogy reference books and CDs  For example, you simply cannot go wrong with our growing lineup of inexpensive, laminated, portable research aids:  (1) The QUICKSHEET series by Elizabeth Shown Mills shows you how to cite your sources and sharpen your research methods. (2) Our GENEALOGY AT A GLANCE laminated folders, written by experts and now available for French-Canadian, Scottish, and Irish research, are perfect for packing on any research trip. You can also stop by to get a free copy of our latest catalogue.

We look forward to meeting you in Charleston!

Group National Publishing, LLC – Booths 123, 125
Group National Publishing will offer its recently published GENEALOGY Presentations (ISBN: 9780982668603). In a world where everyone is concentrating on the RESEARCH of genealogical information, this is a must have book that discusses a NEW and UNIQUE process to PRESENT genealogical information.

“The authors have devised a new way to record and present your family genealogy which is easy to access and obviates cluttered drawers or huge charts. This book does not contain any information on research techniques, but describes a way to present your data in a concise easily-understood form. . . .One advantage of this system is that it interacts with other families, so you can move easily from one to another (such as when your chart is of the Smith family, but a marriage to a Jones appears, you can easily access the Jones family). . . .The basis of this system is that each person is given a “Unique Identification,” based on his/her name, which is coupled with a “Family Unit”, and a “Pointer” which links one family to another. How to deal electronically with photographs and documents is also described in detail. This is a system that will appeal to well-organized people who like to display their genealogy to others.”
(Extract; Fall 2010 Detroit Society for Genealogical Research Magazine, review by Donna Valley Russell, CG., FASG)

You’ll be able to purchase GENEALOGY Presentations at their booth, pick it up at your local Barnes & Noble book store, or get it through their website; http://www.genealogypresentations.com/.

Heirloom Art Studio – Booth 212
Heirloom Art Studio, established in 1980, ships original oil, watercolour and digital portraits, paintings and high quality photographic restorations to sixteen countries throughout the world.

Owner, Kathryn Rutherford, is an internationally known, award-winning fine artist, instructor, lecturer and highly qualified fine art and photographic restoration artisan.

Recognized by such companies as Fuji Film, Kodak, and Epcot Center  for developing outstanding photographic darkroom and restoration techniques, Kathryn is the person to contact when you genealogical collections need more skill and attention than your home computer can provide.

The Heirloom Art Studio exhibition booth, at the 2011 NGS Conference, will display photographic and fine art restoration, portrait and painting skills and techniques available for you to take advantage of during to preserve your family history.  There will be a wide assortment of custom services and unique products available to purchase on site, or to order later, that will be specific to your family history and research needs and create one of-a-kind heirlooms for the future.

At the Heirloom Art Studio, we BRING BACK MEMORIES OF ANOTHER TIME.
Bring your personal photographs to the Heirloom Booth for an analysis of processes, date and contents identification and any questions you have about your research collections and possibilities for conservation and preservation.

Heirloom Art Studio
2616 Wears Valley Road
Sevierville, Tennessee 37862-8300
865-428-4900
http://ww.heirloomartstudio.com/

MyHeritage.com – Booth 420
MyHeritage.com is the most popular family network on the web with 675 million profiles, 16 million family trees, and available in 36 languages, is uniting families around the world in a private place for them, to keep in touch and showcase their family history. The Smart Match™ technology empowers users with an exciting and innovative way to find relatives. because all family information is stored in a secure site, MyHeritage.com is the ideal place to share family photos, celebrate and preserve special family moments.


Visit us at our stand # 420 and will we will show you MyHeritage main products:
Family Tree Builder: The world’s most popular free genealogy software, supports dual language input in over 36 languages, enables pros and beginners alike to build family trees, research their family history, add photos and videos. The software provides stunning geographical displays of where your family came from or live today. The new Chart Wizard creates beautiful charts in a few clicks. Publish your data securely to your own MyHeritage family site, with flexible privacy controls to choose which information you wish to share.
MyHeritage.com Family Sites: Create private family site to share your tree, preserve special family moments, keep in touch among relatives and get Smart Matches™ with other family trees worldwide, with innovative features like face recognition, Timeline, Timebook, beautiful charts ideal for showcasing family history.
 
Personalized Family Memory Game: One of the first ever online family tree games, automatically generates beautiful personalized cards of close relatives and ancestors - based on each user’s family tree. Users can play in competition with another family member, or solo against the clock, with a webcam option to include a live picture of yourselves. In addition, a set of personalized cards can be ordered so the game can be played without a computer.

And a brand new surprise feature: Sorry, we can not disclose more information about it here, so be sure to
pass by our stand # 420, even just to say hello.

We will love to see you there.

Pocket Tree – Booth 222

Pocket Tree is a 9+ generation ancestry chart that allows you to see your entire family tree at a glance.  A perfect research tool for libraries, cemeteries, courthouses, or family gatherings, researching becomes so much easier with Pocket Tree:  “When I do genealogy research on-site, I’m very mobile. It’s not practical for me to bring all my research on a laptop, because I’d continually be packing up the laptop so I could move around the building. However, it’s difficult to do genealogy research without key information in front of you.”  We Tree Blogger, Amy Coffin.

There are 39 interview questions included:  “Already I could see this would be an incredibly handy resource. In the past I struggled to make sure I was asking ALL the things I really wanted to have recorded.  This list will substantially simplify that task.”  Blogger Carolyn Murphy, The Family tree Gal 
Folding your family tree into a sturdy, varnished cover, you can carry it with you at all times because it’s compact, lightweight, simple, and made of high quality materials.

GeneaBlogger, Thomas MacEntee:   “Pocket Tree©™ bills itself as the “Quick, Light, Simple, & Complete 9-Generation Ancestry Chart!” and I couldn’t agree more.  

Roots and Branches – Booth 505

Roots and Branches: An African-American Genealogy Project.
Stop by Booth 505 for tips on things to consider when researching African-American ancestors in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Hear about sources available for your research and opportunities to connect. “Roots and Branches” is a Lowcountry-based project building a network of genealogists researching African-American ancestors with Gullah/Geechee roots.

RumbleSoft – Booth 618

RumbleSoft will be showcasing our newly released software product GenDetective.  GenDetective, the finest data analysis and reporting tool for individuals doing genealogical research, will revolutionize how you conduct your research.  You will finally be able to easily answer questions like:

• Do I know what relatives were in the 1905 NY State Census, or the 1885 New Jersey Census or the 1911 British Census?  Am I ready for the release of the 1940 US Census, or the 1911 British Census?
• Do I know which relatives were eligible to fight in the Civil War?  How about the War of 1812?
• Have you ever tried to figure out what cemetery to visit and who might be buried there?
• Have you ever tried to figure out what relatives might be mentioned in a local newspaper that was available for certain years (ie. Boston 1830-1843)?

GenDetective is easy to use and offers insight as to where additional research can be performed.  These targeted research guides can be sent to your iPhone, Droid, iPad, Kindle, smart phone, minicomputer, laptop, or printer, allowing you to conveniently take them with you!

Wolf’s Head Books – Booths 317, 416

Wolf's Head Books in sunny St. Augustine, Florida has been in the used, out of print and antiquarian book business for over 30 years. We have enjoyed traveling around the country to national and state conferences and meeting so many wonderful people.

We will bring books, pamphlets and journals of local & state interest, biographies, military unit histories, genealogies, European histories, church histories, secret societies and more. Please feel free to contact us if there is a special subject catalogue you would like.

We have WAY too many items to bring…so, to help us pack…what particular subjects would you like us to bring for you?

Barbara Nailler & Michael Theeke
Wolf’s Head Books
67 B San Marco Ave
St. Augustine, FL  32084
904-824-9357
wolfshead@wolfsheadbooks.com
http://www.wolfsheadbooks.com/

Exhibitor Spotlight

Researching at the South Carolina Historical Society

The archives and library of the South Carolina Historical Society will welcome NGS conference attendees on Tuesday, 10 May and Thursday, 12 May from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m..  Due to limited seating capacity in our library, we ask that NGS conference attendees make research appointments in advance. Three- hour blocks of time will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Within each research interval, there are slots for 8 researchers.  Please e-mail Mary Jo Fairchild maryjo.fairchild@schsonline.org to set up an appointment. If you plan to visit the SCHS, we also encourage you to visit our website http://www.schsonline.org/ and online catalog (a link is provided at the bottom of the website’s homepage) in order to familiarize yourself with our holdings, research guidelines and resources pertaining to your interest(s).

Appointment times are as follows:
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, 12 May 2011
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Please note that members of the South Carolina Historical Society are free to conduct research at the Fireproof Building as often as they like without charge. Non-members, however, must pay a $5 research fee per day to use our library. Membership forms will be available at the conference.

The South Carolina Historical Society is located in the Fireproof Building at the southeast corner of Meeting and Chalmers Streets (100 Meeting Street). To get there follow Interstate 26 east to the end and take the Meeting St./Visitor Info exit. Turn right onto Meeting Street and continue for approximately 1.5 miles. The Fireproof Building will be on the left at the corner of Meeting and Chalmers Streets. You can also find us using MapQuest or Google Maps.

The South Carolina Historical Society does not have its own parking facility. Metered street parking is available in the surrounding area, and the city operates several public parking garages in the vicinity. Parking is also available in the Charleston County Garage on the right side of Meeting Street just past Hibernian Hall.

Researching at the South Carolina Historical Society

Conference Checklist

Happy New Year!

Are you just as excited and looking forward to attending the conference in Charleston, South Carolina from 11-14 May 2011 as we are?

We just want to drop a friendly note to remind all of you to -

• Make your hotel reservations
• Make your travel arrangements
• Register for the NGS 2011 Family History Conference
• Watch the NGS Conferences - What to Expect video
• Take a moment to review the FAQs, pre-conference and special events.
• Subscribe to the conference blog and stay current with conference updates, tips , and information about local research resources

Hotel

Our main conference hotel is the Embassy Suites that is connected to the North Charleston Convention Center via a walkway. In addition to the Embassy Suites, NGS has negotiated room blocks with six other hotels. Complete information is available at
http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/Accommodations. The conference hotels are filling up quickly and the Embassy Suites is now sold out!

Travel

Charleston International Airport is located approximately 13 miles northwest of downtown Charleston. Charleston International Airport is centrally located in the Charleston metropolitan area in North Charleston.

Currently, the Charleston International Airport is served by Continental, Delta, Northwest, US Airways, United Express, American Eagle, and beginning March 13, 2011 Southwest Airlines. For more information click here.

Need driving directions to the North Charleston Convention Center?Click here to view a map of the area and enter current location to view driving directions.

Conference Blog

Visit http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/ and use the Subscribe via e-mail box on the left menu bar to receive e-mails as soon as a posting is made.

Don’t miss out on these wonderful postings that will improve your conference experience.

Stay tuned. We will be posting more information on Charleston, the area research resources, must see locations, and more and look forward to seeing you all in Charleston, South Carolina!

Conference Checklist

NGS Opens Registration for the Thirty-Third Family History Conference, Charleston, South Carolina, 11-14 May 2011

Where the Past is Still Present

(1 December, 2010) -- America's fascination with ancestry is increasing because of the recent television series "Faces of America" on PBS and "Who Do You Think You Are" on NBC. The National Genealogical Society is pleased to announce that registration opens today for next year's conference, which will be held at the Charleston Area Convention Center, 5001 Coliseum Drive, North Charleston, SC 29418, 11-14 May 2011. The Society selected Charleston because of its significance in American history. In addition to attending the NGS 2011 Family History Conference, participants will have an opportunity to tour Charleston's historic buildings, churches and homes as well as its many museums and research facilities. The National Genealogical Society anticipates 2,000 genealogists from around the country will attend next year's event. Read more.

April 2011 will mark the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War at nearby Ft. Sumter, so the four day family history conference will feature talks on both Revolutionary War and Civil War records.  More than seventy-five nationally recognized speakers will provide over one hundred and eighty lectures on a wide variety of topics including research in South Carolina and the surrounding states, migration patterns, religious records, research methodology, and problem solving. The conference program will also include lectures about researching various ethnic groups including Germans, Cherokee, African Americans, Huguenots, Irish, Scots, and Scots-Irish.

Special Saturday workshops include an all day beginner's workshop, "Genealogy 101: Getting Started with Family History" and a "Kids' Kamp" for children and young adults ages eight through sixteen.

An exhibit area with more than one hundred exhibitors will be open and free to the public Wednesday through Saturday including the latest in genealogical software, online research providers and DNA testing services.

Founded in 1903, the National Genealogical Society is dedicated to genealogy education, high research standards, and the preservation of genealogical records.  The Arlington, VA-based nonprofit is the premier national society for everyone, from the beginner to the most advanced family historian, seeking excellence in publications, educational offerings, research guidance, and opportunities to interact with other genealogists.  Please visit the NGS Pressroom for further information.

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For press information:

Jan Alpert

jalpert@ngsgenealogy.org

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/

843-837-2177

NGS Opens Registration for the Thirty-Third Family History Conference, Charleston, South Carolina, 11-14 May 2011