I’ve been cruising the British Isles aboard the good ship Marco Polo with Unlock the Past Cruises. But this coming weekend, I’m heading into the heartland of the United States–to the Midwestern Roots Family History & Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. If you’ve got roots in the American Midwest, I hope you’ll meet me there!
The Midwestern Roots conference will kick off Thursday evening, July 31 with my Great Google Earth Game Show. During this interactive, virtual globe-trotting show, you’ll not only face some geographic genealogy trivia, you’ll see firsthand how and why to use the powerful, FREE resources of Google Earth for your family history research. Then enjoy a two-day event with over 30 sessions by nationally-known speakers on research skills, technology topics and more.
There’s a definite focus on technology at this conference (the theme is “What Would Your Pioneers Have Tweeted?”). As the conference site says, “Most of the sessions will focus on using ever-changing and emerging technologies and sources online. Other sessions will cover photo preservation, DNA, methodology and using traditional sources.” There’s something there for everyone–and Indiana is a friendly and affordable destination for a lot of folks living in the United States. Check out the full conference program here.
Online registration is still available for some pre-conference activities (some are waiting list only). You can’t register online any more for the conference, but you can register onsite beginning at 8am on the first day, so show up anyway!
Can’t make it to the conference but want to learn more about using Google Earth? Genealogy Gems Premium members have access to 3 videos on using Google Earth for genealogy on my website (learn more about Premium membership here). And anyone can purchase my 2-CD set, Google Earth for Genealogy. I’ll give you your own virtual tour of Google Earth and demonstrate how to find ancestral homesteads, explore your relative’s neighborhood streets, overlay historical maps with modern ones and more.
