Central New York Genealogical Society Conference - Saturday, April 16, 2011

We're Here On Saturday!

In the event that you’ve finished your income taxes AND if you have a free Saturday this coming weekend, AND if you’re going to be in the greater Syracuse, NY area (specifically Dewitt, NY, which is just a hop, skip and jump from Carrier Circle), you just might want to come to the Central New York Genealogical Society’s April Conference which will be held at the Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, 5299 Jamesville Road. 

I’ll be presenting a three-lecture program AND I’ll have tables of books AND the folks of CNYGS will have home-made stew available for lunch.  Here’s the link to the program so you can see what’s what. 

The current weather forecast suggests that there will be a 90% chance of “precipitation”, which will probably be rain.  Still, it’s April and this is New York, so it might be anything.

Anyway, it doesn’t sound like a great day for gardening.  It’ll be rainy and damp.  Sounds like a "stew for lunch" day to me.

With a conference thrown in for good measure.  With friendly genealogists like yourself.  Who won't look at you all funny-like when you tell them what you do for fun, like lots of your other friends and relatives do...

Come join us if you can.  Registration starts at 8:30 AM.

NERGC 2011? Is It Soup Yet?

It’s Sunday.  10 April. 7:03 PM.   

Is NERGC over?

For vendors like Jonathan Sheppard Books, the 2011 New England Regional Genealogical Conference (aka “NERGC”) almost came to a close yesterday at 4 PM when the Exhibit Hall closed. 

However, that was just the “close” that the conferees saw. 

For the folks like us in the Exhibit Hall, the work continued. The guys from the decorating company arrived to dismantle and cart away their drapery, drapery pipes, tables and chairs.  Meanwhile, the vendors packed up their boxes and display equipment.  

We worked (two of us) from 4 PM till about 6 PM getting stuff packed up.  Then the fun began.  Moving stuff from the third floor to the first floor loading dock.  While the decorating company was moving their stuff out. While, at the same time, the hotel was moving stuff in for the “dance competition” the next day.

Anyway, here’s what we had to do:

A. Remove books from shelves.  Pack boxes. 

B. Load 4 or 5 boxes of stuff on hand truck.

C. Exit Exhibit Hall with loaded hand truck, turn left, head down service corridor to elevator. Pray that decorating company not using elevator.

D. Ride down three floors and exit near kitchen.

E. Navigate the “backstairs” part of the hotel, past the kitchen, past the employee breakroom, past crates of oranges, and onto loading dock.  Elapsed time: 6 minutes.

F. Lift each of 35 pound boxes and 30 pound bookcases (11 of them) down from the chest-high loading dock and put in van.

G. Repeat steps A through F about 20 times.

Thanks to the folks from our fellow NERGC exhibitors Maia’s Books and Family Chronicle, who willingly gave us a helping hand with the moving, we were able to get our stuff loaded by a little after 7 PM. 

One thing that may not be apparent to the conferees:  the folks in the Exhibit Hall consider each other colleagues, not competitors.  If we’re sold out of a popular in-print title, we refer customers to our colleagues on the floor.   Our colleagues do the same for us. That’s the great thing about this biz – genealogy is a common interest that promotes collegiality. 

None of us will ever get rich doing what we do, but none of us will be without friends, either.

About 2 hours later we were home, the van securely parked.

Today, we started at 9:30 AM with the unloading process.  Every box needed to be removed from the van, and every unsold book needed to be returned to the proper place on the shelves.  We worked until 4:30 PM, and did occasional conference paperwork in between.

There are still boxes in the van that will need to get moved tomorrow, weather permitting.  Then, we’ll do inventory, see what needs to be re-ordered, and start planning for the next event.  There will still be about two full days of accounting, inventory and general record-keeping work that needs to be done before we can declare NERGC 2011 officially “over.”

The next event is in Dewitt, New York (a Syracuse suburb) next Saturday.

I’ll be the “all-day” speaker (3 talks) for the Central New York Genealogical Society’s spring event.  Since we’re also exhibiting as “Jonathan Sheppard Books”, we’ll be doing all of the above again, but on a smaller scale.

Yeah, we both have loose screws…otherwise, if we were interested in monetary rewards, we’d wear paper hats, stand behind a counter and ask customers, “Would you like fries with that?”

Van's Ready: Time For "Speaker Mode"

Now that the van is packed, I'll be heading east to the New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC) momentarily.  Meanwhile, I’m in full NERGC “speaker” mode, at least for a while. 

Fortunately, my first talk isn’t until late Friday afternoon – in that last time block before “Happy Hour” (4:45 PM – 5:45 PM)

That talk (which, in your program is F231-   “Sixty Hours a Week, Ten Cents An Hour:  Records of New England’s Industrial Heritage”) takes on a topic that doesn’t often get much serious attention by genealogists. Still, it’s important to remember that if your ancestor – male or female – worked as a mill operative, a factory worker, even as a shoemaker or hatmaker, or any number of jobs, he or she probably spent more time with co-workers and bosses than with spouse and family. 

Decisions about where to live, where to move, where to shop and where to worship were often heavily influenced by a person’s job.  Job-related records were created that can help today’s genealogists in a number of ways.  Reports were written that can today provide insight into an ancestor’s daily life.  Things were published that contain key genealogical facts, most of which are never looked at by genealogists.

I’ll be showcasing several key industries and pointing you in the direction of records that can help you in your search for more complete information.  Plan on joining me late Friday afternoon.  I’ll work hard not to cut into your “Happy Hour” time.

The next morning, you can drop by for my “wake up” talk at 8:30 AM.  The topic might well pop your eyes wide open when you learn about all the records dealing with both public and private charity that still exist.  If the terms “outdoor” versus “indoor” relief, and the “law of settlement” are not in your vocabulary yet, or if you’re not sure about when the “Age of the Asylum” began or what it meant, plan on dropping by.  The talk is called “When The Trail Leads To The Almshouse And Cold Charity” (it’s S-304 in your program). 

One of the most important concepts that I’ll keep trying to underscore is that the records of charity don’t just deal with the poor; lots of folks find themselves in these records because of their occupations, empathetic natures or specific skills.  Think of it this way:  when we talk about the records of “medical care”, for example, we’re usually talking about more than just sick people.  We’re more often than not also talking about health care providers, hospitals & clinics and the folks who build and staff them, nurses, the drug industry, the medical equipment engineers, the whole ball of wax.  “Medical Care” is more than sick people; it’s a whole industry.   

The “public and private charity” thing I’ll be talking about as a lot like that.  A whole industry, producing voluminous records, naming names from all walks of life.

Chances are, you’ll find something of interest in each of these talks. Hope to see you there!