Jamboree in Burbank, CA

Several members of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society and the San Diego Genealogy Society attended the Jamboree in Burbank, CA.
We met at the train station by 5:30 am and had a pleasant ride to Burbank via Amtrack. Some of us sat in the upper berths and some stayed down closer to the tracks. It was a great way to start the adventure we were about to embark on.

We arrived in Burbank and were shuttled to the Marriott Hotel with a quick, efficient dispatch of a courier once our call was made to the hotel. Checking in was easy and the service was very pleasant. Alas I learned my key did not work, but sharing a room with four meant getting everyone back together to change it so I just went with with the flow.

Our group of four split up and seldom did we see the same talk. We should be able to share much information with our fellow researchers here at home.

I attended William Dollarhide's talk "Scots-Irish to Backwoods America 1717-1775. As always he does an excellent presentation and makes the information interesting. I purchased this book to go along with others of his that I use.
The hope is it will help my family to find the missing pieces of the puzzle for our Scott's, among other surnames.
I am very lost looking for John MORROW's family in Monroe Co., Ky in 1820. I have his wife's Tuttle line back to New England via southern trails.

I then went to his booth and shared the knowledge of his books with fellow genealogists that recognized me from my past
hosting on various on line forums.

I ordered William Dollarhide's talk "The Cavaliers of Southwest England to Virginia and Maryland, 1641-1675. (Our train was leaving I was told, before the presentation would be complete on Sunday.)

Shirley and i went to Denny's for dinner and then to bed early to unwind since we were up before 4 am.

Saturday
Wandered around the Exhibit Hall looking for familiar faces. I found a few which was awesome, but missed a cousin attending.
I was thrilled to see Pat Richley and George Morgan and Drew Smith and Maven. I attended the Bloggers Conference Saturday on a whim and it turned out to be one of the more interesting events I attended. It was not really about blogging but about where the genealogical world is probably going in the future.

I pod's, pod casts, and Up in the Air Genealogy, was hinted at and mentioned by almost each presenter in one message or another. They all recommended we make our web pages more friendly to the search engines and the people looking for connections. The same applies to our queries and comments.

I caught up briefly with Cheri Mello Saturday afternoon. To brief, we did not get to talk she was about to do a presentation and I never saw her afterwards.

Having attended, Stephen Danko, Ph.D., "Genealogy and the Changing Map of Eastern Europe". Learning he was a quality speaker and expressed his thoughts and knowledge, so that beginners and advanced could enjoy what he presented. Stephen,
I would love to have more talks on these types of topics. Diana attended this event with me.

I attended Dear Myrtle's talk on "7 Habits of Highly Effective Genealogists". I wanted to see if I had forgotten any over the years.
It was a great refresher to keep one on their toes. This class had probably 80% new attendees to Genealogy, a overwhelming large group. I think there was about 8 of us that had done genealogy any length of time.

Shirley and I attended "Researching in New York by Christopher Child" , we then hurried over to the NEHGS booth to get the book "New York Essays". I took notes to share with Jean H also since she was doing book signings at this time or a talk.
This talk was very informative and I am glad we both went so we can compare what we remembered of the talk. Love reinforcement in genealogy.

Having completed our day we then went to the Facebook Friends and Tweet Meet. Many old friends and acquaintances there.
Later I ordered a salad from the Cafe and enjoyed the company of Everett Ireland and his lovely wife. It is always a pleasure to share and swap our knowledge.

Sunday arrived, O my, the last day of a terrific Jamboree was arriving in full bloom and heat. I was amazed when I walked to the Exhibit area early to feel the heat off the pavement between the complexes.

I attended Leland Meitzler's " The Lay of the Land Using Directories, Maps and Gazetteers". We were informed of many new urls and maps and places to look for them. I absorbed much at this session.
I then had a small break and had some breakfast, missing Tony Burroughs, FUGA, "Adding DNA to Genealogy". I will probably order the disc for this to share with others. I met him earlier on when he was setting at the booth looking sad and alone. He has an awesome smile. :>)

I went to attend Lisa Louise Cooke "Google-A Goldmine of Genealogy Gems I and it was past standing room only. Shirley did attend this so I hope to learn from her notes. I did earlier ask Lisa what model recorder she used. I neglected to write it down when I was at the Bloggers event.

Stephen Danko, Ph.D. "A New Look at Immigrant Passenger Manifests", was very enlightening. I knew some of what he was discussing but he did an awesome job of reminding me of the hardships these people went through and the ridiculous method of determining who was eligible to stay in the USA and who they sent back to Europe etc..

Lastly, I attended a talk by old friend George G Morgan "Genealogical CSI". It was a fun and refreshing look at genealogical research. Remember the underlying theme seemed to be make it lighter and easier to track, so google and other researchers can find you and your research. George thanks for the terrific presentation. I am sorry I missed Drew's but will be sending him a note soon. Thanks for signing the book for me.

It will be interesting to see the events that other members attended and will be sharing.

Hoping others may share their thoughts about the events and what they felt they learned.

I think Paula and Leo did one awesome job for us. I attended two years ago and the difference was noticed immediately
on the handling of room sizes and situations. GOLD STAR for you both. We sure learn as we go. ">)

Susi