Using Genealogy Conference Syllabi: Take a Trip and Never Leave the Farm

This year I attended UGA’s SLIG conference, RootsTech  and will be attending in a few weeks UGA’s Family History Conference and I’m still trying to work out attending FGS in Sept. Wish I could have attended SCGS’s Jamboree, NGA and BYU Family History Conferences but wasn’t able to this year, but I did the next best thing – I  bought their syllabus. While the syllabus isn’t the perfect substitute for the real thing, it still is a great resource. Here is how I use them.

BYU Family History Conference 2011

• First, I make a print out of the each day’s classes and presenters and put it in a notebook. I also have it in a file on my pc.
  
• I make note of the classes I hope to attend in a future conference and put that in my conference folder.
  
• I also write the titles, presenter, conference and date and record it in my OneNote genealogy notebook under the subject heading you can read how I did that in this post, so I can find it again.
  
• I make a list of presenters that I want to learn more about. I check out the books, articles, webinars they have produced. I add them to my Twitter, Google+ and Facebook pages. Stalking Tracking their posts and comments I often able to glean more information on subjects I am interested in learning about, like their favorite websites and resources.
  
• I make a list of books mentioned and add it to my wishlist.
  
• I note any vendors that look interesting and check out their websites.
  
• I add websites and databases mentioned in presentations.
  
• I also follow tweets on Twitter from participants during the conference. They often clue me in to things that weren't mentioned in the syllabus.

So next time you are feeling blue about not being able to attend the latest conference. Do the next best thing and purchase the syllabus. I prefer the CD as it is cheaper and shelf space is at a premium in my office.
Did I leave something out? Would love to hear more ideas from you.