Lisa Louise Cooke will be at CAGGNI’s GeneaQuest 2018 in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Saturday, June 23. Join her and other expert presenters all day to learn Google strategies for genealogy, a master plan for organizing your research, DNA solutions, brick-wall solutions and more!
The Computer Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois (CAGGNI) is welcoming Lisa Louise Cooke as a featured speaker at GeneaQuest 2018. This year’s annual event will be held at Northern Illinois University (NIU) Conference Center in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Saturday, June 23, 2018 from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm.
The theme is Building Your Genealogy Skills, and a genealogy conference is a great place to do just that. In addition to nurturing your skills in the area of analysis, genetics, geography, organization, problem-solving, research and technology, GeneaQuest offers you an opportunity to come shoulder to shoulder with genealogist’s who share your passion for climbing the family tree.
More on GeneaQuest 2018
Who: Lisa Louise Cooke and other expert presenters What: GeneaQuest 2018 Where: Northern Illinois University Conference Center, Hoffman Estates, IL When: Saturday, June 23, 2018, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm Cost:Register onlineby May 31 for $60 ($55 for CAGGNI members) or $70 after June 1; registration includes buffet lunch (if you register by June 12). Extra fee for labs. Event Host: Computer Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois
Lisa will kick off the day with the brush-up-on-Google presentation every genealogist needs, “Update Google! What’s New.” She’ll tell you what you need to know about how Google is evolving and changing. Then she will unleash some advanced Google search strategies for genealogy that you can put into practice right away to get the best results from your online searches.
She will also be teaching these powerful family history classes:
Create a Free Google Earth Map Collection for Your Research. Come to this session and you’ll walk out with potentially thousands of free historic maps organized for your family history research. And the good news is, you don’t need a lot of tech know-how to do it! You’ll learn how to find free digital maps for your ancestral locations, add them as permanent map overlays to Google Earth and then organize them into your personal map reference collection. Lisa will also cover best practices for keeping them organized so that they continually enrich your research.
Genealogy On the Go With Mobile Devices. Tablets and smartphones are built for hitting the road and are ideally suited for genealogy due to their sleek size, gorgeous graphics and myriad of apps and tools. In this class, you will discover the top apps and best practices that will make your mobile device a genealogical powerhouse! (iOS and Android.)
How to Organize All This Genealogy Stuff. Save yourself future frustration and disappointment by putting a solid genealogy organizational plan in place for all the types of items that will be coming your way. Lisa will share with you the systems she personally uses that have proven to be reliable and efficient. She will cover systems for four types of stuff: paper and physical items; digital files; family tree data and all that information you’ve discovered online and need to put somewhere.
Other topics for the day also promise to be fabulous. There will DNA labs for AncestryDNA and GEDmatch, strategies for finding the most elusive ancestors (including DNA strategies), finding female ancestors, and introductory presentations on the free websites, WikiTree and Find A Grave. Click here for a detailed schedule of the day’s event and registration information.
Learn Virtually: Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning
Can’t make it to GeneaQuest 2018? You do have another learning option. Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning gives you access to video versions of Lisa Louise Cooke’s top classes for a full year! Think Google, Google Earth, organizing your genealogy, Evernote, using the cloud for genealogy, mobile research strategies, methodology and more than 20 classes from Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard on getting the most out of your DNA testing. You’ll need that full year to get through more than 50 video classes as well as all episodes of the Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast! Click here to see how Premium eLearning can help you open new doors in your genealogy research.
This Canadian genealogy conference is one of western Canada’s largest. Coming this fall to British Columbia, it features 3 days of learning from 11 acclaimed speakers and a Marketplace to explore new genealogy products.
Canadian genealogy conference coming up
The Kelowna & District Genealogical Society in British Columbia, Canada, is pleased to announce its Harvest Your Family Tree Genealogical Conference and Marketplace, to be held September 28-30, 2018. The conference website describes this event as “one of Western Canada’s largest conferences, featuring three days of learning & discovery, opportunities for one-on-one networking and much more.”
Acclaimed speakers from Australia, USA and Canada will present on 31 topics for beginners to seasoned researchers:
DNA with world-renowned genetic genealogist Blaine Bettinger and Lesley Anderson of Ancestry DNA;
Hands-on learning about Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and internet searching for family historians;
Connecting with relatives and records through social networking;
Organizing your computer & your research;
Getting the most out of Ancestry, the Canadian Census, Library & Archives Canada databases and learning about more great places and techniques to find records;
Inspiring ideas for writing your family history, wringing out every clue from documents, and putting those family photos to work;
Expert advice for finding your ancestors in Eastern Europe, England, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
According to the site, “Our Marketplace will be bursting with information and the products you need to take your genealogical pursuits to the next level, including Ancestry. Add to this, the KDGS Family & Local History Research Centre’s Open House, Meet the Speakers Reception, Guided Historic Cemetery Walking Tour and bushels of fabulous Door Prizes and Raffles all set in Kelowna during Apple & Grape Harvest Season… making THIS an event not to be missed!”
Click here to learn more about this Canadian genealogy conference and to find registration information.
More genealogy events
Internationally-acclaimed genealogy speaker Lisa Louise Cooke has spoken at this conference in the past. Click here to see a list of her upcoming events and locations.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!
Our RootsTech 2018 pass giveaway is underway! Enter by November 15, 2017 to win a chance to attend the world’s biggest genealogy event for FREE. Meanwhile, there’s more RootsTech news: the class schedule is posted and two keynote speakers have been announced. We think you’ll want to go! The real question is, will you get in for free?
It’s time to give away a RootsTech 2018 pass to one lucky Genealogy Gems fan! This is a great prize: all-access admission to the world’s biggest genealogy event at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, UT, February 28 – March 3, 2018. It’s a $279 value! Keep reading to see how to enter. But first, a quick update on RootsTech 2018.
The Latest RootsTech 2018 News
RootsTech is:
A conference. Choose from more than 300 classes on traditional research skills, DNA, tech tools, photos, stories, and organizing.
A convention. The biggest names in the genealogy industry share a huge Expo Hall with hundreds of other vendors, societies, and services. All want to answer your questions and show you the latest and greatest tools and resources to help your research.
A party. There’s no denying the fun, festive atmosphere of RootsTech. There are world-class keynote speakers (Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton and “Humans of New York” Brandon Stanton) and dazzling evening entertainment (love the 1940s extravaganza this year!).
This short highlights video captures it all. Check it out:
The RootsTech class schedule has been published. I’m super excited about classes being taught this year by the Genealogy Gems team. Just one example: Google Earth guru Lisa Louise Cooke and Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard are teaming up to deliver a powerhouse talk about putting your DNA matches on the map. Click here to see the full Genealogy Gems lineup.
RootsTech 2018 Pass Giveaway
We have a RootsTech Full Registration Pass to give to one lucky winner! This pass includes* access to over 300 classes, keynote/general sessions, the Innovation Showcase, Expo Hall and evening events. (Click here for more info about RootsTech 2018.) All you have to do to enter is take our 5-question survey by midnight (CT) on November 15, 2017.
Can’t attend Rootstech? Enter anyway for a chance to win a 1-Year Genealogy Gems Premium Membership!** Everyone who completes the survey below will be automatically entered to win.
We want your input: We know many people are not able to attend RootsTech in person, and that’s why we hope to make several of our booth classes available on video. Tell us which topics you want to see, and help us continue to make Genealogy Gems the best it can be.
Rules: Must complete survey by 12:00 am CT on November 15, 2017 to be eligible. No purchase necessary. Winners announced and notified on November 16, 2017. *RootsTech 4-Day Pass only covers registration (does not include airfare, hotel, or other expenses). If the winner has already registered for RootsTech 2018, the original registration fee will be refunded. **Premium Membership prize eligible for both new members and renewals. Non-transferable and no cash refund.
It’s a joy to announce that I’ll be keynoting at the Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry in Sydney in 2018! Mark your calendars and meet me there!
Join Me in Sydney, Australia!
The Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry will meet in March 2018 in Sydney, Australia. I’m honored to be one of the four-day event’s keynote speakers. Here’s what you’ll want to know now:
What: 15th Australian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry Where: International Convention Centre, Darling Harbor, Sydney, Australia When: March 9-12, 2018 Hosted by: Society of Australian Genealogists
Australasian Genealogy Congress details
This event is held every three years to “bring together passionate family historians from around Australia, New Zealand and many parts of the world,” explains the event website. They’ve invited a range of expert speakers from Australia, New Zealand, England and the US to give a lively combination of plenary sessions and concurrent streams of lectures on a variety of topics. Their vision for 2018 is to bring together the best of their own past events plus the things people love about big events like RootsTech:
“Our aim is to give you a great range of speakers, the opportunity to speak with sponsors and exhibitors, the chance to share your experiences with both new and old family history friends, and to do all this in a relaxed and friendly environment.” -Congress organizers
We’ll miss you if you can’t make it, but you can still sit in on some of my most popular classes. Genealogy Gems Premium membership offers 24/7 access to video classes of my most-requested lectures AND the full archive of the Genealogy Gems Premium podcast. You get a full year’s access to all this with one low fee. Click here to learn more.
Join me at the Midwestern Roots 2016 conference in Indianapolis on July 15-16! Early-bird registration rate applies until June 30.
I look forward to speaking at Midwestern Roots 2016 in Indianapolis next month! Will you be there?
This conference has a unique Midwest vibe: welcoming and unpretentious but absolutely solid in the value and education it offers. Indianapolis is easy to get to from many U.S. cities. The conference venue itself, located on the outskirts of the city, is also easy to reach and has free parking.
“This year’s theme is #YourStory, and many sessions focus on the technologies that are changing the ways genealogists research and share their family history,” says the conference brochure.
I’ll be sharing a bit of my own story during an evening banquet: memories of the summer my family spent living like it was 1867 on the TV show Texas Ranch House. I’ll go behind-the-scenes of ‘not so reality’ reality TV, reveal what it was like to live the daily routine my Texan great great grandmother may have, and most importantly, share the ways in which the experience drew my family even closer together.
Join me for my classes:
How to Use Evernote for Genealogy
Google! Everything New that You Need to Know for Genealogy
How to Reopen and Work a Genealogical Cold Case
Lots of fabulous presenters (including some who have been on the Genealogy Gems podcast) will be at Midwestern Roots. Curt Witcher is giving the Friday opening session (he joined us to dive deep into U.S. census records in Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 10). CeCe Moore will talk about DNA, as she did on Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 178.
Here’s the scoop:
WHAT: Midwestern Roots 2016
WHEN: July 15-16, 2016
WHERE: Indianapolis Marriott East 7202 E. 21st St, Indianapolis, IN
REGISTER: Click here—Early-bird registration discount ends June 30!
Pre-conference activities on July 14 include an all-day workshop for librarians and volunteers who work with genealogy sources as well as computer labs, writing workshops, preservation workshops and research opportunities for all attendees.
Bring my lectures to you
If you can’t join us in Indianapolis, Genealogy Gems Premium website membership brings my most popular classes to you. Membership gives you a year’s worth of on-demand video classes and handouts. Among these classes are all the topics I’m covering at Midwestern Roots 2016 in even more depth including:
an entire Evernote for genealogy series,
three classes on my Google search methodology,
a “cold case” research class and a companion video on finding living relatives like a private eye.
Click here to see the full list of video classes, and consider giving yourself the best value in on-demand genealogy education around!
We’ll miss you if you can’t make it, but you can still sit in on some of my most popular classes. Genealogy Gems Premium membership offers 24/7 access to video classes of my most-requested lectures AND the full archive of the Genealogy Gems Premium podcast. You get a full year’s access to all this with one low fee. 
“This year’s theme is #YourStory, and many sessions focus on the technologies that are changing the ways genealogists research and share their family history,” says the conference brochure.
