Jennifer Holik Speaks at Family History Expos
For me, it was a must to hear Jennifer Holik speak, she is not only a professional genealogist/author and speaker, but she is a very good friend. We actually went to the conference together and had a good time. It’s great to be able to get together with someone and talk about the things you have in common, but also to giggle about the little things in life that we go through. So, it was a no brainer that I would go and listen to Jennifer speak at the Family History Expos conference in Springfield, IL.
I have heard Jennifer speak in the past at local societies and I have written about what I have learned from her lectures. You can browse through my posts on Jennifer here. I have to say that she never disappoints when I listen, whether at a conference or when we get together, I always learn something.
At the conference Jennifer gave three different lectures and I went to two of those, Visualizing Your Genealogy Data and Finishing the Story. The one I missed was Branching Out: Teaching a Youth Workshop, I hope to be able to catch that one in the future.
Visualizing Your Genealogy Data is a lecture that I have heard and wrote about before (see link above), I learned many things and changed how I handled information as I find records. I went to hear this one again because I wanted to see how she created custom reports in Family Tree Maker so that she can track if she had cemetery photo’s. So, I was able to get the information on that and later share it again with a gentleman who had come to another lecture and asked her how she did it. She gives a lot of great tips in this lecture. It is a must attend for everyone!
Finishing the Story was a new to me lecture. Here she tells how she put together the story of three different soldiers in her family. It was well put together and emotional. Jennifer offers great advice on where to obtain what records for the soldiers in your family, but also shows you that each of them have a story that needs to be told. At the end of this lecture, when she opened it up to questions, there was not one. The room was quiet and then filled with applause. As a speaker I am sure that she was unsure of the silence of the room, all I have to say is that with the subject matter she discussed, it was due. Each of these men are American Hero’s and they deserved the reverence they received this day.
If you ever get a chance to hear Jennifer speak, I highly recommend that you do. (I hear she is working on a few webinars with The In-Depth Genealogist, make sure you follow their blog to stay up to date so you do not miss this event). You can find Jennifer blogging at Generations.
Disclaimer: I was an official blogger for the Family History Expos in Springfield, IL. for this I received free entrance to the conference. This concludes my posting about the conference.
