Back to "Real" Life

The trouble with genealogy conferences is...they end.

And then? We are left dragging ourselves through the duties of real life. Details which, once before conferences, weren't all that bad. Just ordinary.

It's the doldrums back home, where I arrived after a scintillating weekend at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree. With the last conference session ending at 6:00 Saturday evening, our family opted to make the six hour trip back home a leisurely drive on Sunday.

Then came Monday.

Like any Monday, my day started out preparing for meetings. The first Monday of each month is our genealogical society's board meeting day. So such mundane activities as drawing up the agenda become part of the not-so-scintillating life-afterwards duties in my post-conference reality.

But that's okay. Having had the opportunity to attend a large genealogy conference brings with it the mandate to bring back some of that excitement and educational value to our local setting. Our ninety-seven member society may not have the budget to bring in the likes of Maureen Taylor or Lisa Louise Cooke to speak at our monthly meeting, but we can report back to our members on what we learned.

Better yet, we can bring some of those members with us next year. While it is a long drive for members in our local society to attend the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree, where I've been enjoying myself for this past week, it is a reachable distance.

In fact, we had no sooner begun our board meeting yesterday, than one of our members mentioned that she had been considering attending this year. After hearing the reports from other members, she's definitely making plans for next year. Sometimes, it is much easier for a person to decide to attend if friends are going to be there, too. Conferences can be rather lonely experiences, otherwise.

The Southern California conference committee does everything they can to make first-time attendees feel right at home. They certainly do foster a friendly and welcoming environment. What a difference that can make. Besides making first-timers feel more comfortable, it has a way of convincing people that this is an event they'd like to return to, next year. And what organization doesn't appreciate repeat customers?

Perhaps all those touches are what go into creating an irresistible conference package—and what go into that letdown, once the car is parked back in the driveway at home, the suitcases are unpacked and the laundry is—ugh...well, you know what's ahead. It isn't glamorous.

I guess you could say that's the price we pay for having fun. But hey—I'd have to do laundry anyhow, even if I stayed home last week. If it weren't for such a great conference, I guess I'd have nothing to complain about.