Writing-Related Sessions at FGS 2013

The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2013 Conference will be held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from August 21-24, 2013.  There are just a few days left to save $50 on the full-conference registration (early-bird rate ends July 1).

There are so many sessions available, covering a wide array of topics.  Following are some of the writing-related sessions, many of which I will be attending!  I’ve also thrown in a few preservation topics since many times, we incorporates photos, documents, and artifacts into our stories.

Date/Time (Eastern)	Session	Speaker
Wednesday, August 21 11 AM	Printed vs. Online Publishing for Societies [although this is targeted at societies, I have seen this lecture and Donna presents wonderful information you can use related to your own work]	Donna M. Moughty
Thursday, August 22 5 PM	Research Reports for Ourselves: More Than Just a Research Log	Paula Stuart-Warren
Friday, August 23 11 AM	Image Organization Made Easy	Eric C. M. Basir
Friday, August 23 3:30 PM	Workshop – Scanning+Image+ Editing+Placement [currently full]	Eric C. M. Basir
Saturday, August 24 9:30 AM	Creating Family Histories for Future Generations	Thomas W. Jones
Saturday, August 24 11 AM	Scanning 101	Eric C. M. Basir
Saturday, August 24 11 AM	It Takes a Human: Genealogists and Writing	Jeanne Larzalere Bloom
Saturday, August 24 2 PM	Speak, Write and Publish Safely: Staying Out of Copyright Trouble	Judy G. Russell
Saturday, August 24 3:30 PM	The Rest of the Story: Using Manuscripts to Create a Family History	Laura G. Prescott
Saturday, August 24 5 PM	Family History Writing Made Easier: Cloud-based Tools Every Genealogist Can Use	Lisa A. Alzo

The entire schedule can be found on the FGS Conference website.

Don’t forget, the early-bird rate ends July 1, so hurry on over and register today!

Writing-Related Sessions at Jamboree 2013

The Southern California Genealogical Society' Jamboree will be held in Burbank, California, from June 7-9, with a pre-conference event on June 6. 

Over 100 sessions are scheduled over the three-day conference, and there are plenty of writing- and storytelling-related sessions (I was thrilled to see such a selection!!).  I also threw in a few sessions on the preservation of artifacts, since many times, we incorporates these elements into our stories.

Date/Time	Session	Speaker
Friday, June 7 3:00 PM	Evidence from Material Culture: Using Artifacts in Research and Writing about Ancestors	John Philip Colletta
Friday, June 7 4:30 PM	Recording, Preserving, and Sharing Your Family’s Oral History	Thomas MacEntee
Saturday, June 8 8:30 AM	RootsMagic Demo, Publishing Your Family Online	Bruce Buzbee
Saturday, June 8 8:30 AM	Preserving Digital Files: A Step-by-Step Guide	D. Joshua Taylor
Saturday, June 8 2:00 PM	Turning Genealogy into Family History: Creating Stories from Stats	Jean Wilcox Hibben
Saturday, June 8 3:30 PM	Demo, Family Chartmasters: Beyond Scotch Tape: Charts to Fascinate Your Family	Janet Hvorka
Sunday, June 9 8:30 AM	Demo, Personal Historian 2: New Tools to Write Your Life	Bruce Buzbee
Sunday, June 9 10:00 AM	Creating a Custom Photo-History Book	Richard Humphrey
Sunday, June 9 10:00 AM	Paper or Plastic? Preserving Keepsakes Workshop	Denise Levenick
Sunday, June 9 1:00 PM	The Write Stuff: Using Nonfiction Writing Techniques to Write a Better Family History	Lisa Alzo
Sunday, June 9 2:30 PM	Demo, Use Legacy Family Tree to Create Shareable CDs, Books, Charts and More	Geoff Rasmussen

Not registered yet?  Early bird registration end on April 30, so hurry over and register today!

Writing-Related Sessions at NGS 2013

The National Genealogical Society Family History Conference will be held in Las Vegas, May 8-11, 2013.  Over the course of four days, genealogy experts will come together and speak on a variety of topics from records to technology to methodology and everything in between.  And, as always, there are some sessions related to writing and sharing stories/research that I thought I’d highlight for my readers.

Date/Time	Session	Speaker
Wednesday, May 8 2:30 PM	Genealogical Writing Made Easier with Scrivener	Kimberly T. Powell
Friday, May 10 4:00 PM	Publish Your Genealogy Online	Laura Prescott
Saturday, May 11 9:30 AM	ePublishing	Barbara Ann Renick
Saturday, May 11 9:30 AM	Magnifying Glass, Wide-Angle Lens, or Telescope? Charts to Visualize and Share Your Family Tree	Janet Hovorka
Saturday, May 11 11:00 AM	Go Beyond Words: Dress Up Your Family History Publications	Barbara A. H. Nuehring
Saturday, May 11 2:30 PM	Who Will Read Your Family History? Writing for Your Audience	Linda Coffin
Saturday, May 11 4:00 PM	Breaking into Magazines: From Idea to Query to Success	Leslie Albrecht Huber

Not registered for the conference yet?  There’s still time, but hurry, pre-registration ends April 22, 2013.  Registration and additional conference details can be found here.

Tell It Again – See the RootsTech Session Recording NOW

All I can say is, wow!  Kim Weitkamp gave a fantastic presentation today at the RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The presentation, Tell It Again, was streamed live via the internet and had a lot of buzz on Twitter. 

Kim is an excellent storyteller; I was truly fascinated (and it takes a lot to fascinate me!).  Instead of lecturing and telling you why you should tell your stories or how to tell them, she used the power of storytelling to illustrate her points.

It’s hard to explain here in writing, you just have to go and watch the recording for yourself.  You can access the recording of the session here or by clicking the image above.  I’m sure you will walk away with the motivation to tell your stories!

It really is a must-see!

The Family History Writing Challenge Begins Today!

It’s official.  Today marks the start of the third annual Family History Writing Challenge!  People all over the genealogy and family history community are taking this 28-day challenge, which entails a little bit of writing each day.  I will be participating again this year, and you can read more about my goals here.

Haven’t made the commitment yet?  That’s okay.  Head over to the Family History Writing Challenge website to sign up.  This nice thing about stating your goal publicly is that it makes you accountable and gives you a reason to follow through on your goal.  When you sign up, you receive inspirational emails each day during the challenge.  You should also consider participating in the forum, where you can ask questions, seek advice and encouragement, or help others on their quest.

Not convinced?  There are several family history writing articles posted at the challenge blog from last year, with more coming throughout the challenge.  These articles will give you ideas, encouragement, and advice to help you on your journey.  And for those who feel they just don’t have time, check out the post I wrote for last year’s challenge:  6 Tips for the Time-Starved Family History Writer.

Come on…what are you waiting for?  Join me in the Family History Writing Challenge!!

Make a Commitment to Yourself, Participate in the Family History Writing Challenge Next Month

For the third year in a row, Lynn Palermo (a.k.a. The Armchair Genealogist) is hosting the Family History Writing Challenge.  This 28-day challenge begins on February 1 and ends on the February 28. 

By participating in the challenge, you are essentially making a commitment to yourself to write x-number of words each day about your family history.  It’s a fun way to set a goal and work toward that goal each day during the month of February.  What’s even better is that you will get tips and support along the way.  And because it’s a “community” event, there’s also a sense of camaraderie knowing that others are right there with you, sharing in your successes and, yes, sometimes your frustrations.

This year, because of my busy schedule, I’m going to pledge to write 200 words each day.  Last year I had a plan for what I was going to do, but I didn’t really stick to it.  So for this year, there’s no plan.  I’m just going to write 200 words on whatever aspect of my family history I feel like writing about that day.  It may seem like a very disjointed approach, especially if you know me and how I work.  But sometimes it’s the best approach for the creative process.  And because I plan to write haphazardly (even though it makes me cringe!), I’m going to start using Scrivener so I can at least manage my jaunts and tangents in some organized manner.  (Too bad the Scrivener class I signed up for doesn’t start until February 19.)

So what about you?  Will you make a 28-day commitment to write about your family history?  I’d love to hear about your plans, so please leave me a comment or a link to your blog post about the challenge.

Writing-Related Presentations at RootsTech 2013

RootTech 2013 will be held March 21-23, 2013 in Salt Lake City.  Over those three days, attendees will have plenty of lecture sessions to choose from.  I though I’d share a list of presentations that may be of interest to you that relate to writing your family history.  I’ve also included presentations related to sharing your family stories in ways other than writing.

And since RootsTech has incorporated Story@Home into their conference, there are plenty of offerings to go around.  I’m sure you’ll find a few that will suit your fancy.

Thursday, March 21

• Digital Recording Tools for the Family Historian, Nancy & Biff Barnes
• The Timeline Grid: Visualizing a Family Through Time, Kathryn Grant
• Recording and Preserving Family Stories Using Your Hand-held IPad, IPhone, IPod, or Android Devices, Susan Kitchens
• Transform Your Note-taking and Remember Everything With Evernote, Tonia Kendrick
• Life Is in the Details, Leigh Anne Wilkes
• Mapping Ancestral Migration Trails and Their Stories, Laura Prescott

Friday, March 22

• Interest in Pinterest for Family History, Valerie Elkins
• Lab: Publishing, Shantal Park
• The Blog Blitz: Create Your Own Genealogy Blog in One Session Lab, Lisa Louise Cooke
• Being Present in Your Own Story, Ken Craig
• Do Your E-Book Right: Self-Publishing Secrets for the Family Historian, Lisa Alzo
• Turn Google Street View Into a Time Machine: HistoryPin and WhatWasThere, Amy Johnson Crow
• Wikis for Genealogists, Thomas MacEntee

Saturday, March 23

• Creative and Fun Ways to Cherish Your FamilyHistory, Valerie Elkins
• Storytelling With Kids, Amy Price
• Family History Writing Made Easier: Cloud-based Tools Every Genealogist Can Use, Lisa Alzo
• Taking Your Family History Electronic - Creating Your Own Amazing Ebook, Luana Darby
• Digital Storytelling: Beyond Bullet Points, Denise Barrett Olson
• 365 Days of Story Prompts, Jenny Eckton
• Writing for a Publisher, Christopher Robbins
• Publish Your Genealogy Online, Laura Prescott
• Authentically Telling Your Story, Stephanie Sorenson
• Live Your Stories, Increase Your Joy, Nicole Carpenter

I’m Accepting the Challenge, Are You?

During the month of February, The Armchair Genealogist encourages genealogists and family historians to participate in The Family History Writing Challenge.

What is this challenge, you ask?  It’s a commitment to yourself to write about your family history each day throughout the month of February.  You simply make a pledge to write a certain number of words per day and then stick to it.  All of the details can be found here.

I must admit, I did not participate last year.  It wasn’t because I didn’t want to, I just had too many competing priorities.  But that’s all behind me and I’m ready to commit to the challenge this year!

My pledge is 300 words (at a minimum) per day.  I’m going to use this time to write vignettes of my ancestors, which I will post (at GenBlog) throughout the month of February.  This is a very ambitious goal, but one that I hope to accomplish.

So who’s going to join me?

Writing-Related Lectures at the FGS 2011 Conference

If you are attending the FGS 2011 Conference in Springfield next week, you should consider attending at least one lecture related to the subject of writing your family history.  This is a great way to learn about different aspects of writing as well as find some motivation to start capturing your stories.

Wednesday Sessions

Although Wednesday is “Focus on Societies” day, there are a few lectures that are still applicable to the individual writer.

• 9:30am – But It’s My Family: Copyright Issues for Genealogists, Cath Madden Trindle
• 2:00pm – Effective Editing and Writing, Pamela Boyer Sayre
• 3:30pm – Printed vs. Online Publishing for Societies, Donna M. Moughty

Thursday Sessions

• 12:15 – Get Off That Fence and Start Writing!, Pat Richley-Erickson (this is part of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors luncheon, which is an additional fee)
• 2:00pm – Citing Your Sources, Russell Lynch
• 5:00 – Going Beyond the Bare Bones: Reconstructing Your Ancestors’ Lives, Thomas W. Jones
• 5:00 – Writing a Quality Client Report, Linda Turner (research reports are also good for your personal files and can help jumpstart the family history writing process)
• Workshop* – Social History and Genealogy: Writing a Family Narrative, Diane VanSkiver Gagel
• Workshop* – Writing Your Family History With Microsoft Word, Michael J. Leclerc

Saturday Sessions

• 8:00am – Digital Scrapbooking, Linda Woodward Geiger
• 9:30am – Build a Genealogy Blog, Thomas MacEntee
• 9:30am – Write Your Family History Step-by-Step, Lisa Alzo
• 11:00am – A Dozen Ways to Jumpstart Your Family History Project, Loretto D. Szucs
• 2:00pm – The Place of Place in Your Family History Narrative: Anchoring Your Family History in Its Setting, Dawn Thurston
• 5:00pm – Using Diaries and Journals to Add Personality to Your Research, Laura Prescott

*Workshops have an additional fee.  I’m not sure if you can sign up for them at the conference, or if you had to register for them beforehand.  I do know a few were “sold out.”