2018 IN REVIEW

As 2018 comes to a close and 2019 begins to dawn, it is time to take a look back over the past year. Although it was less busy than 2017, I still managed to pack quite a bit in. 

January  was the first ever Scottish ViC. This was the first virtual conference dedicated to Scottish research and turned out to be an amazing day of learning. The day flew past and attendees were delighted with the amount of information that was shared. 

February  saw me #NotatRootsTech and before it was over, I had my hotel booked for 2019. It is a huge expense and a full week of non stop activity. But boy did I miss the chance to connect with my peeps. 

March was a fairly quiet month as I moved from my home of 24 years into a smaller place with less yard. However, I still managed to present to the Uxbridge Genealogy Group. What a great night with a great group of people. 

April was the start, for me, of the conference circuit as I headed to Washington DC for the Fairfax Genealogical Society's Conference. In addition to presenting 4 talks on Scottish research, I managed to re-connect with previous tour participants. 

May was the annual Genealogy Tour to Scotland, with two back to back tours. The first was in Edinburgh and the second was in Glasgow. I had repeat participants in each tour as well as three people who were in both tours. It was an amazing experience. 

June was the launch of the Virtual Genealogical Association, moderating three webinars a month. 

June and July saw me at home more, which allowed me to get back to my love of creating family memory books and helping others to do the same. 

August was another busy time with conferences. First up was the Celtic Connections Conference in Boston. This one was so much fun. I managed to get to Saugus Iron Works where many of the Scottish Prisoners of War from Dunbar were indentured. 

Immediately after the Celtic Connections Conference, I was off to Philadelphia for a "mini" institute. The ISBGFH partnered with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to provide a week of genealogy learning. Each day saw a different topic: DNA, Scottish, Irish and English. This was my first time in Philly and I was completely taken with the history. 

September saw me off to Denver to deliver a Seminar for the WISE Colorado Group. Another fantastic group of people. 

The fall has been busy with webinars for the ISBGFH as well as helping others to create family memory books. I have enjoyed being home more but definitely missed not going back to Scotland with a fall tour. 

On top of the bigger activities and events, I edited newsletters, held webinars, wrote articles, blogged and planned future tours and webinar series. 

I am already looking forward to all of the amazing opportunities to share my passion for Scottish genealogy and preserving family history in 2019.