Should Newbies Attend Conferences?

If you're new to genealogy, you may think that genealogy conferences are for people who have been working on their family trees for a while.  Or, you may think they are for professional genealogists or academic types.  Or, maybe they just seem overwhelming.  Or, maybe you just think you'll stand out like a sore thumb (or a green one like our picture here).

Having attended my very first genealogy conference last weekend, I can tell you without hesitation that all of the above are true.  But, genealogy conferences are for newbies too and standing out in the crowd isn't necessarily the worst thing ever.  Good conferences find a way to include people of all skill levels, backgrounds and interests.

The greatest thing about conferences is that there are multiple sessions going on at the same time and each of these is geared toward a different audience.  You'll find a multitude of topics being discussed and you'll have the opportunity to choose which sessions you attend and which ones you don't.  There are bound to be a few geared toward beginners.  And even some of the more intermediate topics may be extremely helpful to you.  For example, I attended a session on finding Irish townlands.  Before I went to this session, I didn't even know what a townland was, but I learned all about them in this one hour and picked up some great tips and tricks for tracking down my ancestors from Ireland.  So, even though I haven't started researching my ancestors in Ireland yet, I took plenty of notes so when I do, I'll be able to put all those tips to great use.

The second best thing about conferences is the people.  You will meet a ton of other people who are just as passionate about genealogy as you are.  You'll meet everyone from professional genealogists to people who just dabble in it to other newbies like yourself.  I talked with a lot of different people and each one had a slightly different approach to their family history research.  It was fascinating to hear what things other people were working on and where they were stuck.

So, don't worry about being a newbie.  At any level, we are all genealogists.  Do a search to see if there is a conference near you and attend one if at all possible.  You'll learn so much and I know you will have a great time.  If you have any specific questions about conferences, feel free to post them in the comments below.