Announcing the 2013 Genealogy Jamboree Call for Proposals

The Southern California Genealogical Society announces a Call for Proposals for the 44th Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, to be held at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, Burbank, California, Thursday through Sunday, June 6 through 9, 2013. Thursday will be a day of hands-on workshops.

Proposals for the 2013 Jamboree Extension Series webinars are also covered by this Call for Proposals. The very popular webinar series features sessions on the first Saturday and the third Wednesday of each month.

The theme of the 2013 Jamboree is "Travel the Path to the Past."  When it comes to genealogy,  travel can have several meanings. Travel thousands of miles to a distant homeland, or drive to a courthouse in the next county. Travel to earlier generations with just a few keystrokes, or by touching treasured artifacts, or straining to read faded ink on a long-forgotten document.

We look forward to receiving proposals for a variety of topics. We will be taking an in-depth look at the use of military records.

Special note to Samford attendees: Your schedule may conflict with attendance at Jamboree. Don't let that prevent you from submitting proposals. We will work with our speakers' travel schedules to permit appearances at both events.

The deadline for submission of proposals is October 21, 2012. Selected speakers will be notified by November 30, 2012, and contracts will be issued on January 1. What a great way to start the year!

Submission of proposals is done online through the Speaker Portal. Speakers are encouraged to download the submission guide to prepare the information in advance.

Please contact Vicki Hilb, Program Chair, at SCGSJamboree@gmail.com if you have questions. We look forward to hearing from you!

Download the Call for Proposals document

Download a hard copy of the Proposal Submission Guide

Enter your proposals through the Speaker Portal


Paula Hinkel, Co-Chair
Southern California Genealogy Jamboree
Southern California Genealogical Society
417 Irving Drive
Burbank, CA 91504
818.843.7262

Jamboree 2012 Attendance 1643+

We are very pleased to report that attendance at the 2012 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree was 1643 onsite and 673 remote viewers of the streamed sessions that were held on Saturday and Sunday.


Whew! No wonder we were so busy.

Thanks to everyone who made this happen.

Return from Anywherebutjamboreekistan

Friends, attendees, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, volunteers, SCGS members (old and new), Board members and hard-working, dedicated and exhausted members of the Jamboree Committee,

We Had a Wonderful Jamboree,

and

We Couldn't Have Done it Without You!

From the Thursday pre-events right through the closing Grand Prize door prize drawing, the weekend was characterized with the traditional Jamboree buzz or spark or energy or whatever it is that differentiates Jamboree from other national conferences.  We had a fabulous time and we hope you did too.

Jamboree old-timers won't be surprised to learn that each year, I (Paula) go on a self-imposed exile to Anywherebutjamboreekistan for a week or so until I regain my strength, objectivity, perspective and sense of humor. After being the problem resolver throughout the weekend and running on adrenaline and chocolate, I just can't handle feedback (good or bad) or constructive criticism until I am able to handle them with objectivity. This I know from experience.

But now I have returned from exile. I'm ready, physically and emotionally, to review suggestions, criticisms, accolades, and cheers. In a few days, all attendees will have an opportunity to provide formal feedback through an online survey. I hope you will all participate when you get the invitation. Look for an email with JAMBOREE 2012 FEEDBACK SURVEY as the subject line. If you don't receive it by June 23, send an email to jamboree@scgsgenealogy.com and ask that it be resent to you.

Watch for several more blog posts over the next few days to fill you in on all the skinny. There's a lot to celebrate.

Oh, and mark your calendars now.  June 7, 8, and 9, 2013.  Not sure if we're doing a pre-day, but you might as well mark that June 6 off too.



Thank you all again for helping make this a fantastic year!

Paula

Jamboree Recorded Sessions Available for Presale

Our conference recording partner, Conference Resources, is taking preorders for audio and video recordings of sessions at Jamboree, the Family History Writers Conference, and Tech-Trax workshop .  You'll enjoy a $15 discount for ordering the whole conference on a flash drive and video sessions on DVD. Your choice - pick up the recordings at Jamboree or have them mailed afterward.

Individual sessions will be available for purchase at Jamboree and (after a while) from the Conference Resource website.  We will be release a list of all 2012 recorded sessions in the next day or so.

We think the Conference Resource crew members are just great. Their videos and audio recording are high quality. They are pros and it shows.

Here's a link to their website.  You'll be glad you clicked.

Jamboree: #SCGS12 Mobile App is Alive and Growing

The #SCGS12 app is online and available for download at http://m.core-apps.com/scgs2012. It is available for Mac, Android, Blackberry and web-enabled smartphones.

At this time, the speakers are listed, as are the onsite and virtual exhibitors. The Twitter feed is buzzing and links to the SCGS Facebook and LinkedIn pages are active.

Nearly 100 syllabus articles are posted and available for download as well. THANK YOU to the speakers that are making this valuable material available on the app.

Exhibitors, you will receive an email with instructions on how to jazz up your listing with graphics, PDF downloads and other suggestions.

Enjoy and please help us pass the word.

LAST CALL for Printed Jamboree Syllabus Orders

We just sent the Jamboree syllabus to Tom Underhill at Creative Continuum, who is printing the syllabus for us again this year. The speakers submitted informative, valuable material; and Dave Obee did a wonderful job of editing. It's a valuable resource.

As a reminder, only those Jamboree attendees who registered for the full three day weekend during the early-bird period (before April 30) will receive a print copy of the syllabus. Everyone will receive a copy on CD.

If you would like to order a print copy of the syllabus, we will take orders through May 16. Limited copies of the print version may be available for purchase at Jamboree.

Order your syllabus at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=45. Both CD and print versions are available. Copies of prior syllabi may also be purchased online.

If you are unable to pick up your syllabus in person at Jamboree, it will be mailed out by the end of June. Shipping charges will apply.

Jamboree Weekend Activity. Whoa. This is So Cool!

We are lucky to have family members who willingly (or maybe begrudgingly) tag along to genealogy events like Jamboree. They aren't interested in genealogy but they support our never-ending search for "just one more" one document, photo or web search.

This year may be the year to reward them with something special that is uniquely Southern Californian.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, is holding an open house the weekend of Jamboree. Open house hours are Saturday and Sunday, June 9 and 10, from 9am to 4pm.

Quoting from the website, "The annual Open House at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., welcomes over 38,000 visitors. This year's theme is "Great Journeys," inviting visitors to share in the wonders of space through high-definition and 3-D videos, live demonstrations, interactions with scientists and engineers, and a first look at JPL's new Earth Science Center."

JPL is an easy 20 to 30-minute drive from the Marriott.  Information on the Open House is here.

Is someone in your party interested in visiting JPL? Post a reply to this blog post and maybe we can help you put together an informal side trip for the "genealogically tolerant."

Thanks to Susan Kitchens for tweeting this!

Jamboree: Exhibit Hall Free and Open to the Public in 2012

Jamboree's Exhibit Hall is one of the favorite destinations for our attendees. Whether you're looking for software, or books, or you want to purchase a subscription or membership, you'll find the help you need in the Exhibit Hall.

This year, the exhibit hall will be open to the public at no charge throughout the weekend.  Anyone wishing to stay only in the Exhibit area, and not attend classes or any other Jamboree activity, can c'mon in and pay no registration fee.

"We expect that this will be a real benefit to our SCGS members and others who want to volunteer, but are not interested in attending classes," said Leo Myers, Jamboree chair. "This is an experiment for us, to be sure, and if it works out, we'll repeat it in the future."

To help room monitors easily identify the Jamboree guests who are authorized to attend classes, all  attendees will receive vinyl identification bracelets that will be worn throughout the weekend. We appreciate the cooperation of everyone as we try this experiment.

To volunteer to work at Jamboree, even for an hour or two, fill out the volunteer application at http://2012JamboreeVolunteers.surveyconsole.com. That will help our volunteer coordinator, Jane Van Tour, find the spot that best suits you.

By the way, if your spouse or other family member is accompanying you to Jamboree, even though they are not particularly interested in family history, they are welcome to pitch in and help out too.

Jamboree: How do I Sign Up for Classes?

Many of you have written to ask how you indicate which classes you want to attend.

If you used the printed registration form, just circle the session numbers on the back page and send in your registration form. It's a snap.

If you already sent in your form and did not indicate your classes, no worries. You'll do what the phone and online registrants do. Read on.


If you register online or by phone, you'll receive an email notice in about a month to complete an online survey. That survey is the method we use to gather information on the sessions that you want to attend.

It is very important that you complete that survey so our results are as accurate as possible. We evaluate the registration survey and make final room assignments based on the number of people who chose each session.  More people = bigger room. In the past, we have gotten answers from only about a third of our participants, which leaves a big margin of error.  Please, please participate.

When you fill out the survey, you'll be able to indicate, day by day and hour by hour, which sessions you plan to attend.

Regardless of how you indicate your selection, here are points to consider:

1. You are not locked in to attending the sessions you list on the survey. You are welcome to change your mind at any time.
2. We cannot guarantee that seats will be available for every session you wish to attend. Seats are filled on a first-come, first-seated basis. 
3. Safety of our guests is our primary concern. We do not allow overflow seating on the floor, aisles, etc.
4. If there are sessions that you are particularly interested in attending, we encourage you to volunteer to serve as room monitor for one or more sessions, which will assure that you will have a seat. 

Room monitors help to get people seated, distribute and collect evaluation forms, communicate with conference leaders when necessary, and assure compliance with fire marshal regulations. If you wish to help as a room monitor, volunteer at http://2012JamboreeVolunteers.surveyconsole.com.

Jamboree "Mom, She's Touching Me"

Every year, our post-Jamboree survey includes comments about the chairs at the Marriott.  The general theme of the comments is that people of a certain size don't exactly fit on the conference chairs and "She / He is touching me."

We all want to have personal space to be comfortable. We want to be able to set our purses, briefcases, computers, syllabus, and other belongings in the chair beside us. 

The unfortunate truth is that we just don't have extra seats at the Marriott.  Here are some facts about seating and chairs at Jamboree.

• The chairs are hooked together due to Fire Department regulations. We can't unhook the chairs.
• The room capacity is determined by Fire Department regulations. We can't move chairs from one room to another.
• Seating is at a premium and we are asking your cooperation. Fill all of the chairs. People will not be allowed to sit/stand in the back of the room due to Fire Department regulations. Please do not deny your fellow genealogists an opportunity to learn just so you have "space" around you.
• "Saved" seats will be released 5 minutes before the start of the session. 

Just a note that the Fire Marshal will be at the Marriott all weekend.

Please be kind to all of your fellow Jamboree attendees. She might be fluffy, true. But maybe, just maybe, she is a cousin with a paper jackhammer to break down your own brick wall.

Thank you for your cooperation and your kindness toward other participants.

It's all about safety. Your safety.

Thank you for your support.