And Suddenly, It's Over

After months of anticipation and a whirlwind weekend, suddenly....it's over. The annual conference of the Ontario Genealogical Society, or as it was known this year #OGSBARRIE2015 took place this past weekend.

The OGS conference is the largest in Canada and brings together like-minded individuals to learn, network and share. While the reported attendance seemed smaller than in past years, the busy-ness suggested otherwise. Unlike past years, the marketplace seemed to have a steady stream of customers, the talks were all well attended and for the first time, there were some pop-up talks, known as Fast Tracks. These were short presentations that were set up in the marketplace and which generally were a big draw. The location of these was ideal in that it meant more people were willing to make the trek to the marketplace, and that, in turn, brought more business to the marketplace, which was a plus for the vendors. 

It was wonderful to connect with people that I only know by name on Facebook - the other members of the various genealogy groups I subscribe to and who show up in my news feed on a regular basis. Thank you to those of you who made the effort to come over and say hello! 

And it was incredible to meet up with my colleagues, many again who I only know from social media or that I only get to see a couple of times a year. 

Mark Olsen, Thomas McEntee, Christine Woodcock, Lorine Massey, Dave Obee, Janet Iles, Kathryn Lake Hogan
Colby and Ryder
photo credit: Hubs Massey; Mark Olsen

What a fantastic hobby/obsession this is! I now have new genie connections, renewed genie connections and a whole new energy for the coming months. 

Plans are already underway for Conference 2016 - being hosted by the Toronto Branch. The theme is On the Cutting Edge and announcements have already been made that Judy Russell and CeCe Moore will be speaking. Conference 2016 is already shaping up to be every bit as fantastic as #OGSBARRIE2015.