But what a great conference! As one of the Program Tri-Chairs, along with Marian Pierre-Louis and Maureen Taylor, I was happy to hear so many positive things about the speakers and the talks. There were some flubs and miscues, but for the most part everything was great. It always amazes me how many dedicated volunteers and how many grueling hours the various committees put in to pull it off. As I sit here trying to recover, the planning for NERGC 2017 in Springfield has already begun. I'll probably not be as actively involved for the next one, but it was a great experience.
My talks were pretty well received, though I have to consider renaming the one entitled "GPS for Genealogy: Another Kind of Navigation" since when I began with the disclaimer that it was about the Genealogical Proof Standard, and not Global Positioning Systems, several of the people got up and walked out of the room. Oops. I got to speak to a very large group for my talk "Which Autosomal DNA test is right for YOU?" and had some of the best in the business in the audience, including The Genetic Genealogist (http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com/) himself, Blaine Bettinger, who I finally got to meet.
I met a bunch of cool people working at 2 of the booths in the exhibit hall, APG and BCG, which were conveniently across from one another. And my other favorite activity was the Ancestors Road Show where I met 6 fabulous genealogists with questions about RI research. I should have told them to check out my blog...
The other new activity that I participated in this time was the Special Interest Group, Becoming a Professional Genealogist. Lots of budding professionals were there, talking about taxes and LLCs, and of course, becoming a Certified Genealogist, though there is often some confusion about the difference between being a CG and being a professional.
I can't even choose the highlights! Probably the most significant was meeting old genealogy peeps and making new ones, and getting to listen to some of the best speakers in the business (Judy Russell comes to mind!). That and being able to sleep with no cats, dogs and kid in the room (I treated myself to 2 nights in Providence!)But now, it's back to the old grind, scaring up cool stuff relating to RI genealogy for all to see.
The executive chef here was a genuinely nice person and never made us feel like we were just "business" for him. He was extremely competent and organized. Because of the natural beauty of the place for space Miami events, we were able to get away with very minimal decorations.
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