Georgia Family History Expo - Day Two

I got a relaxing start to Day Two with a nice breakfast at the hotel and a nice, leisurely stroll through the book vendors.  I bought a couple of books and headed toward the blogger's table.  I had no sooner walked into the area when I was forced to pose for a photo (for the record, I'm usually allergic to cameras, but I think these ladies are pretty cool, so I made the sacrifice):

L to R: Me, Ruby Craft, Valerie Craft, DearMYRTLE, Linda McCauley, and Tonia Kendrick

At 10 a.m., we headed to our sessions.  Here are the sessions I decided to take today:


The Tired, the Poor, the Huddled Masses and the Wretched Refuse: U.S. Immigration from 1820 to 1954 (Joan Healey, A.G., FamilySearch)
This was a beginner course, but I really needed some answers about Canadian border crossings, which I got.  I wasn't pleased.  Turns out that no border crossing records exist before  1895, and no records for Canadian border crossings before 1906.  The ones I need are from 1875, so I'm out of luck.


The Campaigns Forgotten: American Wars After the American Revolution and Before the Civil War Record (Robert S. Davis, M.Ed., M.A.)
The focus was on the Indian Wars, War of 1812, more Indian Wars, and the War with Mexico.  I haven't found any direct ancestors in any of these wars, but I'm so glad I went to this class anyway.  Mr. Davis is such a wonderful speaker and really knows his stuff!  He was so full of useful information ... and it was all in his head.  I can't even imagine what that's like.


After lunch, I went to my next two classes.  They go together, so I'm lumping them into one item:


Google Earth for Genealogy - Rock Your Ancestor's World (Lisa Louise Cooke, GenealogyGems) and
How to Create Awesome Interactive Family History Tours with Google Earth (Lisa Louise Cooke, GenealogyGems)
This class was fascinating!  I had used Google Earth a little, but after this class I realized I was only using a small percentage of it's full capacity.  Let's just say that the things Lisa showed us we can do with Google Earth were AMAZING!  So amazing, in fact, that between classes, there was a mob of people at her booth to purchase her CDs and Google Toolbox book.  I managed to get a set of CDs before she sold out (whew!)  I can't wait to get started with my new toy!


It's always a sign of a good conference when you leave with twice as much stuff as you came with.  Logic dictates that this must have been a good conference.  Look at the new stuff I got today!

BCG Genealogical Standards Manual, Genealogy Gems 1st Season book, Google Earth for Genealogy (Vols. I and II), and History of South Dakota (c) 1968

Plus, I made 5 new friends!  Nothing beats that ... AND I won another prize!!

You can't really tell from the photo, but there's a sparkly picture frame, a cute little pencil and lots of sticky arrows!

Overall, today was also a great day.  My brain is so full now I'm afraid it will pop!  I have decided that I need to start buying lottery tickets so I'll have time to work with all this new information without a pesky job getting in the way.


Kudos to Holly Hansen and all the folks at Family History Expos for organizing another great conference!  Nothing is final yet, but it looks like the Georgia Family History Expo will be on November 9-10 next year, same bat place, same bat channel.