Recently I heard from podcast listener Julie, a New Zealander living in Kuwait. My podcast made her aware of Who Do You Think You Are? Live, the huge
Here I am in last year’s experts panel
family history conference coming up in the U.K. in 2014. She’s bought her plane tickets but, she says:
‘I am overwhelmed! I have never been to any sort of family history event, fair, society meeting – this will be my very first one. I’m not even sure which entry tickets I would be best to get – I am going for the three days but am wondering if a VIP ticket the first day might be a good way to get introduced and then get the two day ticket for the remaining days. With all the SOG workshops, DNA workshops, experts, the “Heirloom Detective,” exhibitors and so much more, I’m not sure how to get the most out of the three days.”
To anyone else feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of attending WDYTYA Live, let me see if I can be of some help:
RE: VIP Day – Since I have been a presenter the last three years, I didn’t deal with tickets. However, I can tell you that the most popular speakers do fill up (particularly the celebs). Also you can spend valuable time standing in line without reserved seats. So if you are keen to see particular talks and want to save time, then a VIP day would probably be really nice. If you’re willing to get in line early and wait, then you can certainly get in to just about any talk you want with pre-purchased workshop tickets. At least that’s how it seemed to me.
RE: Workshop vs Hall. While it would be easy to just spend all day every day in the workshops, in my mind it is the exhibit hall that is really special. They do the exhibit hall much better in London than they do here in the U.S. It is huge, and exhibitors incorporate a lot of hands-on opportunities. You could easily spend one full day just on exhibits. I would allow at least 1/2 day for the “vendors” and 1/2 day for the “society tables” and fill the rest of my 3 days with lectures and workshops.
The photo specialists are extremely popular. Bring photos with you if you want them looked evaluated, but prepare to queue up for a very long time. (Perhaps get in line first thing one morning.)
Here’s one last important tip: be sure to follow the event blog and keep an eye out on the website as they tend to announce new and last-minute events right up until the end.
I hope that helps you all! And to Julie-from-New-Zealand-in-Kuwait: thanks so much for listening to the podcast!
