Yesterday, while sitting in my home in Austin, TX., I was able to take part in the Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) Jamboree held in Burbank, CA.  Through a special sponsorship with RootsMagic, there were five sessions from Jamboree that were live-streamed for free to genealogists everywhere. I attended two of these sessions.

The first one was But it Ain’t Really the ORIGINAL Record! presented by Kory Meyerink, AG, FUGA.  Using many examples during his presentation, he showed us clues as to whether a document we are viewing was an original record created at the time of the event or a copy.  I didn’t realize how many hand-copies of documents there are. Understanding which copy of a record you are reviewing will surly make a difference in you analysis of that record. This was a great presentation.

The second presentation I attended was The Many Facets of the National Archives Website (NARA) by Kerry Bartels, archivist with the National Archives at Riverside.  I was so excited to attend this as I am always lost when using the NARA website.  Mr. Bartels was an excellent presenter and was able to walk us through several different ways to find the record collections we want, and then once we have that, how to access or request the documents.

Both of the presentations I attended were top-notch.  The live-streaming technology worked well and I was able to view the presenter, the projections screen, and even some of the audience.  It really was like I was sitting there live. The sound and video quality were very good.  After registering for the course, I was given a link to download the handout for the presentation.

These 5 sessions offered were part of the Jamboree Extension Series.  Twice a month, the SCGS offers webinars free to the first 1000 attendees.  These are recorded and the recordings are available to members of SCGS. The recordings from yesterday will also be available to members.  The membership is $35 per year.  I think that is great just to get access to all of the recordings in addition to other member benefits.

The SCGS Jamboree seems like a very fun conference from the all of the tweets and pictures I have seen coming from the attendees.  I will definitely have to put this on my list of conferences to attend!