No Sooner Said...

Well, it may not be entirely completed, but one goal I had in mind when I arrived at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree has expeditiously been attended to.

After a full day of proceedings in the Genetic Genealogy day preceding Jamboree, I had several still-unanswered questions lingering about that idea I mentioned yesterday of starting a DNA project. I figured I knew just the person to talk to.

But first, I couldn't start the day off at Jamboree without attending one class in solidarity with a fellow genea-blogger, so I headed straight to Randy Seaver's session on using social media for both personal genealogical research and society-based outreach. Good call. Randy knocked it out of the park with his thorough coverage of all the possibilities.

One of the pluses of attending regional conferences is the organization's ability to draw big name speakers. This year, Jamboree attendees had the opportunity to hear, among many other notables, Thomas W. Jones of Mastering Genealogical Proof renown. I wasn't going to miss that kind of opportunity and have, so far, attended two of Dr. Jones' sessions.

I had had good intentions of rocketing through the rest of the day—a long day, with sessions going straight through until 6:30—in like manner, but the summertime heat got to me, and I took a detour to stay in the air conditioned exhibit hall.

Don't count me as a malingerer, though. I had ulterior reasons. In the lull between class breaks, it is far easier to conduct business with the vendors in the noisy exhibit hall, and that is exactly what I had in mind.

I was on the lookout for one specific key person at ISOGG—the International Society of Genetic Genealogy—who I knew could answer my questions about starting a DNA group project. She, as it turned out, had let me know I could find her at the exhibit hall.

Within half an hour, she patiently listened to my questions, addressed my newbie-fear concerns, and guided me to just the person who could help me set up a new group project at Family Tree DNA.

And voilà! The deed is now done (well, all except for some administrative details which I'll need to complete soon). There now is a Perry County, Ohio, DNA project established at Family Tree DNA.

See? Conferences aren't just for learning—although that is an excellent way to go about picking up some helpful training. They are for connecting with people, too—and not just for social benefit. Those connections become a great way to get stuff done, as well.