The Game of Genealogy – The Single Leaf

The 48th Annual BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy: An Epilogue

The 48th Annual BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy came to a close on Friday, July 29th, 2016. After 4 days of attendance, 3 keynote addresses, 40 sessions offered each day, vendors with their products and services, and visiting with friends, old and new, I must admit I didn’t “catch ‘em all!” Participants came from coast to coast in the United States and from Canada and Italy. Here are some additional highlights.

Paul Cardall spoke of the incredible spiritual journey he and his wife experienced as they searched for and found many of his wife’s ancestors and the joy of finding some of her living relatives residing in Slovenia.

Paul Cardall

All of this took place in the context of writing a song with Elder David A. Bednar of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titled, One by One. The music and lyrics are available at lds.org.

Steve Rockwood

Steve Rockwood was true to form in approaching the plenary session upside down and backwards. He began with a Q&A and ended with an invitation to address any individual questions of global concern about FamilySearch International. In between, he discussed the five experiences that FamilySearch strives to provide those seeking their ancestors: the family tree, searchable records, memories, contextual help, and discovery to create a joyous outcome for families wherever they may live throughout the world.

Paul Milner

Paul Milner, MDiv, MSc began his address by expressing appreciation to the hotel that kept a “genealogy” book by the bedside and then began to recite lineages recorded in scripture to the amusement of participants. He then commented, “we remember the stories, don’t we?” He gave an example of a young woman named Elizabeth who didn’t know the story of a small village, whose response upon learning its history exclaimed, “nobody told me; nobody told me!” Paul encouraged those in attendance to write their stories so that their descendants would not be left to say “nobody told me!”

As I mentioned above there were 8 sessions to choose from each hour, culminating in 20 sessions that each participant could attend during the conference week.

Jean Naisbitt taught a couple of beginning genealogy classes and Terry Dahlin shared the treasure trove available at the BYU FHL. Did you know that these two are siblings by marriage?

The DNA Roundtable was an inaugural success!

The majority of vendors spent two days highlighting their products and services. There were a few stationed in the main hallway throughout the week:

ICAPGen with C. Lynn Andersen, AG prepared to answer any questions about the accreditation process

Research Ties with Jill Crandall, AG

BYU Print and Mail

BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy

The Game of Genealogy

Legacy Family Tree

Historic Journals

RootsMagic

BYU Family History Library

Family ChartMasters

Many presenters and participants enjoyed an all-you-can-eat buffet each day at the Morris Center located nearby on campus. Thank you to each of the employees that served us so well!

Some of the Morris Center Employees

The Conference Committee

Finally, I would like to thank the conference committee for organizing this year’s conference: Alisse Frandsen, Ann Baxter, Kelly Summers, Suzanne Adams, Jill Crandall, Stephen Young and Michael Provard each representing their respective organizations and the sponsors of this year’s conference: BYU History Department, BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy, FamilySearch, Family History Library, ICAPGen, and BYU Continuing Education.

The 49th Annual BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy will be held July 25-July 28, 2017 at Provo, Utah! I hope that you will place these dates on your calendar and plan to attend :-)

A serendipitous encounter with Cosmo!

Although I didn’t catch all that took place at the conference, I must say I was delighted to catch a moment with the mascot of BYU — Cosmo!

Football season is upon us. BYU has a new head coach. It’s a new season — Go Cougars!

Personally, I find football, family and family history a great combination. Is family history going to be part of your game plan this season? For our family, it’s a definite “YES!” Whether or not you attended the conference, it is my hope that you will score many genealogical touchdowns (i.e., family history breakthroughs and/or success stories) this season! Keep me posted :-)