Nightmare Averted

Everything was in neat little piles, ready to be packed in suitcases. Money had been exchanged (thanks to today being a bank holiday). Itineraries, lists and confirmation were printed. The excitement was building. Just 24 hours until my flight to Scotland. 

Up popped a notification from the WestJet app letting me know my flight was just 24 hours away. I could now "check-in" I clicked on the invite to see a notice that the flight had been cancelled! 

Surely not. Opened the laptop, onto the WestJet website. It was true. The flight HAD been cancelled. 

As a seasoned traveler I generally go with the flow when things go wrong, and chalk the experience up as being part of the adventure. Not this time. This time I completely unraveled. 

After a frantic hour on the phone, I was rebooked onto an earlier flight. A longer stop over and a bit of chaos but I will still make it to London on time to catch my connecting flight, be on time to pick up the car I have reserved and can still make it to the hotel that had been booked and paid for. 

Needless to say my night was almost non-existent with making sure everything that still needed to get done actually got done. 

Arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare. First on the agenda, a long, cold pint of craft ale! 

Scotland Here I Come

In 72 hours, I will be at the airport, waiting to get on board my flight to London (Gatwick). From Gatwick, I will fly up to Edinburgh, hire a car and be heading north. I have a week in Scotland before the group of participants arrives for our genealogy research time together in Edinburgh. 

In this first week, I will be driving up to Inverness, over to Dornoch and then north again to Scrabster where I will board a ferry for Orkney. I have three full days on the main island of Orkney, with plans to visit the poppy display at St Magnus, Stormness archives, Kirkwall archives, Skara Brae and a number of other historic sites. 

After my time in Orkney, I will be headed back to Edinburgh, hoping to take in the Scottish Crannog Centre along the way. 

Then it will be a day of catching up with Ian Walker of Borders Journeys - we have lots of exciting plans in the works, so stay tuned! After our day of planning, it will be time to meet the participants of the Spring 2016 tour and get ready for our 10 days together.

I will be blogging while I am in Scotland, so be sure to watch this space!

ONLY 6 SPACES LEFT FOR 2017

The May 2017 genealogy research tour to Scotland is filling up fast. There are only 6 spaces left!

If traveling to your ancestral homeland to research your family history is on your bucket list, why not take advantage of the spaces available and join us on the May 2017 tour? 

Wondering what you get in terms of support when you register? Here's my interview with Dear Myrtle: 

To register for the May 2017 tour: http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

Hope to see you in Scotland!

Poor Turn Out at NGS 2016

The setting seemed ideal for those of us struggling to find an end to winter. However, for genealogy enthusiasts, it wasn't much of a draw. 

The NGS Conference in Ft Lauderdale had a very poor showing this year. Apart from opening day, the Exhibition Hall was empty most of the time. I can't imagine many of the vendors were able to break even on costs, when considering booth rental, flights, hotel, shipping, meals. Unfortunately poor turnouts make them think twice about attending the following year. 

The consensus among those I spoke with - and believe me we had plenty of time to ponder - was that the new fad of live-streaming the talks makes it less desirable for people to want to attend in person. Sure they don't get to network, but much of that is compensated for on social media. And they don't get to visit the Exhibitors. Bit the savings on travel, hotel, conference fees and even the money they would spend at the vendor booths seems to be enough of a draw to simply sit back in their comfy clothes, with coffee in hand and attend from their favourite armchair, bed, deck chair. Its a win for the attendees and a huge loss for the vendors. It will also be a loss for the organizers who have the expense of venue rental, shuttle bus rental, speaker fees, speaker expenses. 

Are we doing ourselves a disfavour by allowing so many talks to be live-streamed? Or is this simply the way of the future for genealogy conferences? Perhaps they will all become virtual, with RootsTech perhaps being the exception, and vendors will simply pay to have advertising and links on the conference website. Goods can be shipped in a matter of a couple of day and subscriptions can be instantaneous. What the attendee misses out on, of course, is seeking advice from those in the know who can be easily accessed in the marketplace. 

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. 

Are You Interested in Evidence Based Analysis?

Are You Interested in Evidence Based Analysis? If so, the University of Strathclyde wants to hear from you. A post graduate student is looking for input from genealogists regarding the Research Process Map created by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

The post grad student is looking for genealogists to share their understanding of and experiences using Evidence Explained as a standard for source citation.

There are 9 questions to the survey. All survey responses are anonymous. Deadline for submission is May 15. To take part in the survey, simply click: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JQV5SVQ

Reactivate Your Expired ScotlandsPeople Credits

Starting today, you have two weeks to reactivate any expired credits in your ScotlandsPeople account.

To reactivate your expired credits, use the voucher code spring2016. The code is case sensitive, so make sure your Caps Lock button is off. You have until May 22 to activate the expired credits, but once activated, they are good for a full year.

What are you waiting for? Start searching: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

The credit amnesty will run from 00:01 (BST) on Friday 6 May 2016 to 23.59 (BST) on Sunday 22 May 2016.

Summer Institute of Genealogical Studies

One of the best and most popular ways to learn about genealogy is through Institutes. Those in North America will be very familiar with value of genealogy Institutes. A full week of intense learning by specialists in the field. And a side order of great networking with others researching in the areas you are interested in.

The University of Strathclyde, the Scottish University that started the post graduate degree in Scottish genealogy, is hosting its second annual Summer Institute from June 27 - July 1, 2016.

The topics and instructors for this year are:

• British Military Research with Simon Fowler
• Irish Resources and Research Techniques with William Roulston and Gillian Hunter of the Ulster Historical Foundation
• Practical Applications of Genetic Genealogy with Alasdair Macdonald, Debbie Kennet and John Cleary

Each course runs for the full five days, however, you can mix and match if you are struggling with narrowing down choices. 

For more information or to register, the website for the Institute is: http://www.strath.ac.uk/cll/cpd/genealogicalstudies/summerinstitute/