You Don't Always Have To Be There: Is That a Problem?

Can you work on line with someone you've never met in person? Sure. Can you be good friends as well without ever having met? I don't think so.

So I agree with Michael LeClerc's post at Mocavo rejecting the idea that national genealogy conferences should become all-virtual. As he says, "Interpersonal communication is vitally important in the growth of any field of endeavor. This is accomplished in far better ways in person than online."

So why is national conference attendance these days stuck (at best) in the low four figures when family history is so popular? Because, while still important, national conferences are less essential. Attendance used to be higher because there were no webinars, no mailing lists, no web sites, no bloggers. For many genealogical purposes you had to be there. Now you don't. People have more options if they want to buy a book or bumper sticker, or join an organization, or hear a particular speaker. (Same thing applies to chess clubs, which have diminished but not died.) I know I'm more free than I would have been in the past to skip national events held in places inconvenient to me.

We all have more choices. In principle that's good. In practice it's darn confusing.

Take podcasts. And webinars. I rarely do, because I can always put them off. Back when I had to be tuned in at a particular time, I did so -- or did without. Now I can wait, and often I wait until I've forgotten I wanted to listen.

That particular response may be a generational thing. But it's true across the board that cyberspace's ever-growing menu of options and timeshifting opportunities means that every option has to sell itself more vigorously than ever before. National conferences are no exception, and they may need actual restructuring -- more variants on the regulation hour-long lecture, for sure -- as well as better pennypinching and better marketing. (That said, I'm not sure if even a restructured conference would tempt me onto yet another long airline flight.)

My guess is that we're still in the early stages of reconciling our human nature as hard-wired gregarious creatures with our increasing involvement in cyberspace. There's unprecedented room to try new things, but not everything will work.

I will venture one prediction: Our grandchildren will be long dead and forgotten before the pleasure of being in the same physical place as like-minded people has palled. It's always a good time there.




Michael LeClerc, "What Will the Future Bring for National Conferences?," Mocavo Geneaology Blog, posted 8 February 2013 (http://blog.mocavo.com/2013/02/what-will-the-future-bring-for-national-conferences : accessed 10 February 2013).

Harold Henderson, "You Don't Always Have To Be There: Is That a Problem?," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 11 February 2013 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

NGS Day Three (Friday the 11th)

At this stage of a national conference, many of us are operating like the elevator we tried to ride down in our hotel this morning: arriving at the 3rd floor, it announced the 1st floor, but never actually reached the first floor (we got out and took the escalators). Like that elevator, we're still in action, but not necessarily functioning on all cylinders due to information and sociability overloads.

My talk on the Indianapolis Orphan Asylum and its records was cordially received. It was part of an all-day same-room Indiana track, beginning with Dave McDonald on Indiana history and settlement patterns, and ending with Michael Lacopo on tips and advice in hard-core research in the state. His tour of courthouse records was very informative, especially the figures that less than 5% of 19th-century Hoosiers left wills, and perhaps four times that number had probates. "You can never have too many records."

For me as spectator Friday was Law Day. Michael LeClerc gave a virtuoso performance on Advanced Probate, minus his slides which had just been eaten by Dropbox. Two of many points to remember: read Inheritance in America, and be aware that when an estate has to be re-administered or is contested, the case may go direct to the appellate court without any obvious signals in the regular probate records.

After lunch Debra Mieszala gave the most fact-packed lecture I have yet had a chance to hear this week, on taking the "awww" out of the law library. I am looking forward to upgrading my legal knowledge and application. Knowing the difference between slip laws, session laws, code books, and annotated statutes will definitely help. (They're all good, but in different ways.)

The evening was spent in many pleasant conversations in the Hyatt lobby, the NGSQ centennial reception, and the ProGen Study Group dinner. Tomorrow is the last day of a conference that on Tuesday seemed like it would last forever.


Harold Henderson, "NGS Day Three (Friday the 11th)," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 12 May 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]