Comments on: Review Unlock the Past History & Genealogy Expo, Geelong 2-3 Sep 2011

By: News from MyHeritage Australia – 5 September 2011 - MyHeritage.com - English blog

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 23:37:36 +0000

[...] and family history associations from Victoria and Australia who exhibited over the two days. I've posted a wrap up of the event over on my blog for those who weren't able to [...]

By: Geniaus

Geniaus — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 05:05:37 +0000

Thanks for the blow by blow description, Shauna. Seems like it was a hugely successful event. I’ve learnt of a few things to look out for just by reading your post. Imagine what I could have learnt by being there.

I’m sorry we didn’t have an expo closer to Sydney this year – maybe 2012 will be our year. Newcastle? Central Coast? Wollongong? Blue Mountains?

By: Shauna Hicks

Shauna Hicks — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 01:43:07 +0000

Thanks Liz for all the feedback. I agree it is good if attendees can go home and relook at the talks or handouts online.
From a personal perspective I always have two USBs with my talks on and a paper copy so if all else fails I can still give the talk and they can go home and see the slides.
I do try and fly the flag for local studies collections and libraries especially in my It’s Not All Online talk and book – having worked in them at various times I know the wealth of information available. Perhaps what we need is a dedicated day for genealogy in local studies collections (bit like the Sense of Place conference we went to for librarians). Hope to visit out your way soon. Thanks

By: Unlock The Past Expo Victoria | Carole's Canvas

Unlock The Past Expo Victoria | Carole's Canvas — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 12:22:42 +0000

[...] more photos go to my photo album in Facebook, and for a full rundown of all the talks see Shauna’s blog. Follow an archive day on TwitterToday is Follow An Archive day on Twitter. Twitter users [...]

By: Liz Pidgeon

Liz Pidgeon — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 10:11:38 +0000

Shauna, Thanks for your most comprehensive blog posting and comprehensive links. A terrific two days that inspires and invigorates us to do our family history. I also agree that despite best efforts to keep up with newsletters, blogs and more it becomes difficult to keep track of the ever new information coming online these days- but a timely reminder from Susie that it is certainly not all on the internet.
I arrived hitting the ground running following a drive from Melbourne and was immediately frustrated by the lack of signage for speakers venues, my first talk – FindMyPast.com au by Rosemary Kopitke , I felt she was rushing through her talk with little time (by me) for adequate note taking. I also wondered with most presentations involving the internet– that an actual demonstration live online might have been useful but perhaps the IT support was not available for this.
Can I suggest that Unlock the Past could also have links to presentations or websites mentioned available on their website – thanks to those who do on their own websites – Shauna, Carole Riley, Susie and some others – perhaps available with a password to those who attended for a short time or something.
I thought that “Hit the Road Digger” presentation was interesting and well done but it certainly could have been cut shorter – especially as many guests would have had a very long day. I previously did not know the story of Howard Hitchcock, a figure more Victorians should know about.
I did attend some different talks to you and sorry that I missed some too. Thanks for the Victorian Collections link, (sorry I missed the Heritage Tourism talk) there was not much there last time I looked and I think this is a great resource to promote to local history groups.
The Expo was excellent and I also met a number of people face to face for the first time after meeting online, as well being able to say hello to other familiar faces.
I was actually stopped on the stairs and asked about my name (prominent on my name badge) from a lady from Canberra and we have passed on contact details.
I also had a speaker who had major IT issues to start – her PPT would not work. She admitted to not having notes, no back up whatsoever. Do speakers have a “plan B” in their pockets?
Perhaps next time round someone should fly the flag for Public Libraries as many researchers use them as one of their first points of call when starting their research and a great way to become familiar with the popular databases before committing financially.
Sorry for the long comment post Shauna. I attended one of your presentations (Asylums) and it was excellent. Keep up the good work.