Tag Archives: speaking

Upcoming Events

Presentations and Events,

I just wanted to pause before I start my blog series to let you know of some upcoming speaking events that will be finishing out the year for me.

Clayton Library Friends – Webinar

I will be presenting “Making Molehills out of Mountains: Getting Organized” on Friday October 29 at 2pm Central – Click here for more information.

Genealogical Forum of Oregon Fall Seminar

On Saturday October 30, starting at 9am Pacific I will be presenting on 3 topics:

  • It’s in the Bag: Preparing for a Research Trip
  • How’d You Find That?!? Tips for Locating Obscure or Hidden Records
  • Using Google’s MyMaps as a Research, Analysis & Trip Planning Tool

Click here for more information.

Bay Area Genealogical Society (Texas)

On Friday, November 19, at 7pm Central, I will be presenting “Using Church Records to Find Ancestral Origins.” Click here for more information.

Orange County California Genealogical Society

On Saturday, December 4th at 10am Pacific, I will be presenting two lectures:

  • How’d You Find That?!? Tips for Locating Obscure or Hidden Records
  • Who Lived Next Door? Using the FAN Club

Click here for more information.

I hope you’ll join me at one or more! Happy fall!

Spring and Summer Activities

Presentations and Events, ,

As some deadlines loom for some of my spring and summer activities, I figured I would take a moment to recap some of the upcoming events I will be participating in.

  • Mastering Genealogical PROOF Study group started last week. Upcoming study groups led by Cyndi Ingle and myself can be seen here.
  • May 1, 2021 – Tulsa Public Library will host 4 of my lectures, pre-recorded, for one month. For more information, see this link.
  • May 13, 2021 – Pastfinders, South Lake County, Florida – Webinar “Using Timelines”
  • June 5, 2021 – Webinar for Florida Genealogical Society Tampa – “Who Lived Next Door? Using the FAN Club in Your Research”
  • June 17, 2021 – Webinar for Portsmouth Public Library – “Heart of it All: New Hampshire to Ohio Case Study”
  • June 20-25 – Teaching at GRIP (Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh), I am coordinating the Great Lakes course and teaching in Paula Stuart Warren’s course “Digging Deeper.”
  • July 8, 2021 – Webinar for the Denton Public Library – “Family History Piecework: An Approach to Writing”
  • July 10, 2021 – Conference for the McHenry County, Illinois Genealogical Society with “The Genealogy Squad,” Cyndi Ingle, George Morgan, Drew Smith, and myself.
  • July 25-30 – I am A STUDENT and attending IGHR! (Taking the Irish Course)
  • Our study group for Mastering Genealogical DOCUMENTATION begins on August 4, 2021. See more details here.

Not every website has their events posted yet. I still have a few things that are not under contract yet and so aren’t posted here. You can always click on my calendar to see my upcoming events. My fall activities are still shaping up. I’m doing everything virtually again this year and will probably do so for at least the early part of next year. Here’s hoping for a better 2022!

Any plans for 2021?

Genealogical Goals, , , ,

2020 is in the rearview window. But what does 2021 look like? For me, it is still too full of unknowns. So I am only planning what I can reasonably expect to do from home until more is known and settled.

In the meantime, we’ve made the move back to Colorado and are in the process of buying a new home….so we will be moving again. But for the last time for a long time I hope.

I have some speaking plans for 2021, all virtual at this point. Click here to go to my speaking calendar.

The biggest project I have on my plate is teaching a newly revised and restructured course at GRIP this summer on the Great Lakes Region. I will also be teaching in Paula Stuart Warren’s course as well. All of the information on GRIP courses can be found on the GRIP website.

If you have “tackle writing citations” on your genealogical resolutions list, you might consider taking my study group based on Tom Jones’s book Mastering Genealogical Documentation. This is a seven-week study group that goes through the book together and discusses some of the exercises in the book. We have two sessions, daytime with Cyndi Ingle (of Cyndi’s List) or evening with me. More information on that course can be found here. Or click on “Services” at the top of this page, then “Classes and Study Groups” and then after browsing all of the study groups we are offering, find Mastering Genealogical Documentation toward the bottom of that page.

I hope we all find 2021 a better year!

2020 Mid-Year Update

Genealogical Goals, ,

Every year I write a post about my upcoming adventures in genealogy at least as I have planned at that point. Last December, I posted about the plans I had for the year and, with no idea about what was about to hit us this year, wrote about goal-setting. (Ha! I’d like to report most of my goals have been sidetracked and my latest goal is to get dressed everyday.)

So, most of my speaking engagements either got canceled by the sponsoring society or by me because I don’t feel that it is safe to travel this year (and possibly next, we shall see). I was able to convert one to a virtual event (the Caprock Genealogy Conference). The most recent to convert to virtual is the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference. I will be giving a class on finding and keeping volunteers, and workshop on using Google Maps to Plan and Analyze your Research.

This week, I am the coordinator for a new course for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) “Following Your Ancestors in Time and Place.” We started on Monday and it has been a great week so far!

The course is meant to be an enjoyable “journey” through some of the processes for following ancestors as they arrived in the United States, why they may have decided to come, how they might have moved through the country, records they may have left along the way, some methodologies on how to find those records, and some in-depth tips on how to keep all of that information organized.

This course is a little different than most courses in that we have one instructor for each day:

  • Monday – Rich Venezia – “FindingYourAncestors as theyCome to America”
  • Tuesday – David McDonald – “Religion and Records: Colonials & Immigrants”
  • Wednesday – Paula Stuart-Warren – “Finding Your Ancestors as they Moved and Migrated in the United States”
  • Thursday – Me (Cari Taplin) – “Methodology for Finding Ancestors in Published Sources and Beyond”
  • Friday – Cyndi Ingle – “Organizing and Maintaining Your Research Once You’ve Collected It”

I feel like we created a great line-up of super-stars who are the best in the field in their respective themes.

Having class in a virtual setting has its pros and cons (I like sleeping in my own bed every night and not missing my family while I’m away. BUT I miss seeing my friends in person and visiting my dear friend Rose Mary in Pittsburgh when I come to town.)

I hope you are doing ok making the switch to a virtual world. I know change is hard but I think this could have benefits for people who are homebound, can’t afford the travel, have other responsibilities that keeps them at home. This virtual option is opening the door for so many who haven’t been able to participate before and I want to welcome them aboard!

My scheduled speaking events for the rest of this year:

Maybe I’ll “see” you there!

Goal Setting: Looking Ahead to 2020

Genealogical Goals, , , , , ,

I don’t know about you but I have some big plans for 2020! I always feel a bit of excitement as the new year gets closer. I am not sure if I feel exhausted at the end of a year from all of the hub-bub of the holidays, or if it’s the Winter doldrums (short days and the yearning to hibernate), but I start to feel a bit “draggy” and thinking about the new year gives me excitement.

For 2020, I already have a considerable number of conference speaking contracts as well as three all-day seminars scheduled so far! I list my upcoming lectures and seminars on my Speaking Calendar on my website (can be found in the menu bar at the top). I have also just received a contract for a large project to be done at the beginning of 2020.

One of the biggest plans I have for 2020 is the development of my new National Genealogical Society Quarterly with Mastering Genealogical Proof (NGSQ/MGP) discussion groups. There are still a couple of seats available in the Monday afternoon session. I am excited to work with old and new friends in these groups, studying these scholarly journals through the lens of MGP and the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS).

Some of my 2020 travel plans include:

I will be presenting three lectures for the Houston Genealogical Forum in February. The Tulsa, Oklahoma Library has hired me to present an all-day seminar in March. And I have a few other things that will be announced as the details are settled. I have a busy speaking year ahead of me!

Other goals I have are to write several articles (ideas still forming) and continue building my client base through speaking, writing, and blogging.HappyNewYear

I hope you can find some time to assess what you’ve accomplished in the previous year and make some plans on how to grow or change in the new year.

Happy New Year!

It’s National Genealogical Society Conference Week!

Genealogical Education, Genealogy Conferences, Skill Building, , , ,

This week I am attending the NGS Conference and am so excited to participate! My schedule is quite full this time! First, I am attending the BCG Education Fund’s “Putting Skills to Work” day to refresh and update my skills.

During the conference I am presenting three lectures:

  • Session W154, Wednesday, 4PM, “Breaking New Ground: Creating a Locality Guide for New Research Areas”
  • Session F328, Friday, 11AM, “How’d You Find That?!? Tips for Locating Obscure or Hidden Records”
  • Session S421, Saturday, 11AM, “Family History Piecework: An Approach to Writing” (BCG Skillbuilding Lecture)

Working at the booths for the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the Board for Certification of Genealogists is also on my agenda.

Beyond this, I am looking forward to new and exciting “things” in the exhibit hall, learning new techniques at lectures, and catching up with old friends and making new.

This Year’s Plans (2018)

Events, Genealogical Education, , , , ,

2018 Started with a BANG! I taught my first ever course at SLIG, co-coordinated with Kathryn Lake Hogan of Ontario, Canada. The course was “The Third Coast: Research in the Great Lakes Region.” It was a lot of fun and went very well. However, it was an intense process to prepare for such a large endeavor. Needless to say, I’m happy I did it and I’m equally happy that it’s done. And I will likely do it again in the future.

SLIG and a week of research at the FHL started this year for me, so I’m just now able to take a breath, take stock, and make plans for 2018 in terms of my speaking schedule and my own educational plans. My speaking schedule is light, which I chalk up to spending so much of my energy last year prepping for SLIG and not spending any time marketing myself or planning for 2018, with a few exceptions. I’m happy to have a bit of a break, however!

Here’s where I’m planning to be this coming year:

  • Beginning in April, I will be facilitating a discussion group on the topic of becoming a Certified Genealogist® hosted by Jill Morelli and the Seattle Genealogical Society. (For more information email: jkmorelli@gmail.com)
  • National Genealogical Society Annual Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 2-5 where I am presenting: W144 “Third Coast: How the Great Lakes Shaped America”; S423 “Casting the Net: Denominational, Ethnic, and Specialized Newspaper Research”;  S456 “Using PERSI Like a Pro”
  • Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), Athens, Georgia, June 2-7 where I will be taking “Writing and Publishing for Genealogists” taught by Tom Jones
  • Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 22-27 where I will be taking “Women and Children First” by Judy G. Russell
  • International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBGFH), Salt Lake City, Utah, October 15-19 where I will be taking “Researching Your Irish and Scots-Irish Ancestors” by Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt and my husband will be taking “Scottish Research: The Fundamentals and Beyond” with Paul Milner

There are some other items in the fall that are still materializing but this is what I have planned so far. I hope you make the investment to enhance your genealogical education plan with conferences and institutes. Nothing beats being in class with other genealogists!

And if your society is planning an all-day seminar, consider me for your speaker. I have a lot of topics to choose from. Check my Lecture Topics page for a complete list.

My 2017 Plans…at least so far

Presentations and Events, , , , ,

calendarI know it has been an incredibly long time since I have posted anything. I’d like to report that I have been away on a fancy vacation, backpacking across Europe or something equally as exciting and adventurous, but let’s be real here. I’m a parent and a self-employed genealogical researcher and speaker. Who has time for adventures like that? (Well, unless it’s research-related, right?)

This doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy! The biggest thing that has happened is that I have taken a position as the Case Manager for my friend and colleague Deena Coutant of DigiDeena Family History Solutions. This means I am working to supervise all of the projects she’s got going, sending them to contractors, helping with marketing ideas, and working on research projects as needed. This job has been keeping me quite busy, especially as I get stabilized and familiar with the processes, and learn how to work with the contractors Deena already had in place, and helping to hire new contractors. It is an exciting time and we are having a great time working together!

I have also been busy getting my speaking schedule in order for the coming year. Here is what I have on the calendar so far:

*all times in Central time zone unless otherwise noted

There are several other items I have in the works, but the details aren’t firmed up yet, so when those items are worked out I will be sure to update this page and my calendar.

Here’s to 2017 being an awesome genealogy year!

TxSGS Annual Conference Presentations

Genealogical Education, Genealogy Conferences, Genealogy Program, Presentations and Events, Texas, , ,

I can hardly believe that it is almost time for the Texas State Genealogical Society Annual Conference again! It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I was speaking at last year’s conference, for the first time. Well, this year I will be speaking again! The conference will be held in Dallas at the Crowne Plaza, October 28-30.

Friday, October 28,  I will be presenting two lectures:
Ahead of the Times: Texas Newspaper Research (2-3pm)
Newspapers were daily snapshots of our ancestor’s lives; Texas newspapers are no exception. Examine the broad spectrum and history of Texas newspapers for genealogical research. Methods, techniques, and strategies for obtaining those items of interest will be demonstrated.

From Deeds to Dirt: Analyzing Research with Maps (5-6pm)
This program demonstrates skills needed to move from land descriptions in historical documents to maps depicting those locations in order to analyze and solve research problems.

Saturday, October 29,  I will present:
Who Lives Next Door? Using the FAN Club in your Research (2-3pm)
Untangle individuals of the same name and solve genealogical mysteries using the “FAN Club” principle. Methods to identify FAN Club members and case studies will be demonstrated.

I’m so honored to be speaking at a conference alongside some of my favorite colleagues and friends! Such talented genealogists and speakers attending are Judy Russell, Cyndi Ingle, Deborah Abbott, Lisa Louise Cooke, Rick Fogarty, Sara Gredler, Colleen Greene, Michael Strauss, Billie Fogarty, Kelvin Meyers, Teri Flack, Debbie Parker Wayne, Ari Wilkins, and at least twenty other speakers!

Early Bird registration is open through October 7, 2016. Don’t delay! This is sure to be one of the best state conferences yet.

Village Genealogical Society Seminar

Presentations and Events, , , , , ,

villagesI am VERY excited to be presenting an all-day seminar to the Village Genealogical Society and the Akansa Chapter, NSDAR on 17 September 2016. The seminar will be held at the Coronado Community Center, 150 Ponderosa Lane, Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. To register visit this website http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arhsvgs/ or click here:  VGS Workshop 2016 Flyer and Entry Form (pdf).

The group has picked some fantastic topics. I will be presenting:

  • “Census Hurdles: How to Jump Over or Go Around”
  • “From Deeds to Dirt: Case Studies in Analyzing Research with Maps”
  • “Cluster Research and the Fan Principle: Finding Your Ancestors through their Friends, Associates, and Neighbors”
  • “The Heart of it All: Migration Research Methods”

This seminar will begin with some foundational research record sets and methodology (censuses and maps), and then build on those lectures in the afternoon with two methodology lectures. The “Cluster Research” lecture will explain the FAN Club principle (thank you Elizabeth Shown Mills) and demonstrate some of the best methods for identifying your ancestors’ FAN club. The second, “The Heart of it All” will bring together all of the records, techniques and methodologies from the day into a final case study on determining one family’s migration route and their reason for moving.

I’m looking forward to this opportunity and I hope to see some of you there!