Thursday, May 4, 2017

Dear #NGS2017GEN Attendees

The Ancestry Insider is a member of the NGS 2017 conference social media press.For those headed off to the 2017 National Genealogical Society Conference, in Raleigh, North Carolina, from 10‒13 May 2017, I have two items: syllabus and conference app.

I attended a genealogy conference recently and heard that some attendees—first time conference attendees—were confused when presenters kept referring to handouts and syllabi. They were surprised that other attendees seemed to have copies of these handouts when they, themselves did not.

Don’t be caught in the same situation at NGS.

If you paid for a printed syllabus or syllabus on a flash drive, then you will receive said syllabus when you check-in at the conference. If not (or even if you did), you should download the syllabus PDF file beforehand and print any pages that you wish to hold in your physical paws during the conference. All conference attendees should have received by now an email with instructions on how to download the syllabus. (I received my email on Friday, 28 April 2017.) The file is 70 megabytes, so it will take forever to download if you wait and try to do it using the conference center wi-fi. Wi-fi connections at conference centers are seldom robust.

I also wanted to point out that the conference app is available now for download. To download it, visit http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/mobile-app. The app offers another way to access class syllabi. To access the syllabus through the app requires a password. You received that password in the same email that gave instructions on downloading the PDF. Reading the syllabus on a phone is difficult, but it isn’t bad on a tablet.

If you have attended an NGS conference before and never deleted the conference app, then when you install this time, there is an additional step you must take to see this year’s conference. The new conference app uses a blue color scheme (below, left). If you see the green color scheme from last year (below, right), you need to tap the icon on the bottom row that is titled “Exit to Conference List.” Then select the 2017 conference.

2017 National Genealogical Society Family History Conference app2016 National Genealogical Society Family History Conference app

The third of the two things I wanted to mention was the class schedule. Look through it beforehand to decide which classes you wish to attend, and which classes to attend if your first choices are full. If you are inclined to purchase recordings of some sessions, consider attending other sessions at corresponding times. Sessions marked “(R)” will be audio recorded and those marked “(LS)” will be lived streamed and video recorded.

Hope to see you next week, at the 2017 National Genealogical Society Family History Conference!

5 comments:

  1. I did not receive an email with instructions on how to down load the syllabus. What can I do? I am registered.

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    1. Check your junk mail folder. Contact NGS. I think their website lists email addresses for all their staff if you can't find it, let me know.

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    2. I contacted the NGS & was told to check my 4/28 email. I did not receive one. Hoping to hear back again. fingers crossed.

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    3. THANK YOU! Without your blog I would not have know I could download the syllabus. Now I am busy printing relevant sections. Thanks!

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  2. Send me an email and I will see what I can do. My email address is AncestryInsider followed by the @ symbol, and then the domain is gmail.com.

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