Friday, March 12, 2021

NERGC 2021: Will You Be Sad About Opportunities Missed or Happy About Opportunities Taken?

 

Sunrise over the Connecticut River in Hartford

Get Serious About Attending Virtual NERGC 2021

At first when we were shut in because of the pandemic, I remember freaking out that I wouldn't have society meetings to learn and see friends. I couldn't have been more wrong. At this point I've been to every conference as I'm no longer limited by the travel expenses. I still haven't finished streaming the sessions from one national conference before the next one happens.

Don't get jaded by these conferences when you start to think about NERGC. It is unique. It is the only conference that gives you rich content about New England research. Out of the 72 sessions included in the standard registration, 28 are focused on New England research. In a virtual conference you can stream every single one of them.

Before the pandemic when we went to conferences, we could see one session per time slot, missing four or five other sessions. Now we can conceivably view every single session our registration covers. Did you see all of the NGS presentations? Half of them? Have you been missing your educational opportunities because life intervenes? We all know it’s hard to plan hours of viewing when you have so many things to do already. The Demanding Genealogist has an idea about this.

Plan Your Viewing with the List from the Demanding Genealogist

The Demanding Genealogist has scoped out NERGC's New England content and provided a plan of action for your streaming choices. Here’s what you need to do.


Your base of operations is NERGC 2021.

  1. Register for NERGC using the NERGC registration system.
                        >>>>> Click here to register. <<<<
  2. Sign up to attend NERGC’s Live Chats using the conference website.
  3. Spend April looking at the wonderful presentations on Irish research, DNA research, technology, and other topics.
Pivot in May to the New England topics in the NERGC program. Use the Demanding Genealogist's schedule to plan your streaming sessions and Relaxing Breakouts.

Download the Demanding Genealogist’s list of presentations to stream each week in May.



Join Us for Weekly Evening Breakouts

The Demanding Genealogist will host five breakout Zoom meetings during the last month of NERGC. The Zoom meetings are limited to 100 people each week. You need to register separately for each one.

Date and Time

Registration Link

Topic of the Week

Breakout Rooms

Sunday, May 2, 2021

8 PM Eastern
(7 PM Central)
(6 PM Mountain)
(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

What Makes New England Research Different?

CT, RI, MA, NH, VT, ME

Monday, May 10, 2021

8 PM Eastern
(7 PM Central)
(6 PM Mountain)
(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

What Records Were Kept by the Towns?

Breakout rooms by record types

Sunday, May 16, 2021

8 PM Eastern
(7 PM Central)
(6 PM Mountain)
(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

Major Resources and Repositories

Breakout rooms by resource and repository

Sunday, May 23, 2021

8 PM Eastern
(7 PM Central)
(6 PM Mountain)
(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

Migration Into, Within, and From New England

Breakout rooms by migration patterns

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

8 PM Eastern
(7 PM Central)
(6 PM Mountain)
(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

What Questions Do We Still Have?

CT, RI, MA, NH, VT, ME


Grab onto this Huge Opportunity to Focus on New England Genealogy Research

At a virtual genealogy institute, you spend eight hours a day for five days sitting in your chair watching each presentation. You might have a grace period to see the presentations you missed, but generally not longer than a week. NERGC 2021 is so much easier than that. You can spread your on-demand streaming over the entire month of May.

Think of May as a virtual example of a genealogy institute on New England research. Your body will thank you because you can spread the viewing over the entire month. You will still have time to take care of your household, shovel your snow, make meals, and talk to your family members. Once a week you will be able to hang out with other genealogists also getting their feet wet with New England research.

Join the Demanding Genealogist and her friends for four weeks of fun getting acclimated to New England Genealogy.

NOTICE: This effort to use our NERGC 2021 content effectively is an independent effort. It is not a part of the official NERGC program.

Photograph Credit: Barbara Mathews, © April 16, 2015, sunrise over the Connecticut River, Hartford.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Join the Demanding Genealogist for Weekly Evening Breakouts During May, 2021

 

Motif #1, Rockport, Massachusetts

Missing our usual hallway meetups at NERGC? Wishing you could spend an evening over a Sam Adams with your friends, catching up? Want to start your day at the Dunkin Donuts, sure to spot a few friends in line getting their iced coffee and donut? Well, we can’t do that, but we can use technology to give ourselves some break time.

The Demanding Genealogist will host five breakout Zoom meetings during the last month of NERGC. We can say Hi to each other, talk about how much fun we’re having at NERGC, and relax with our personal beverage of choice.[1] We’ll also take a little bit of time to talk with our friends from outside New England about our regional ways of doing things, with a focus on family history. Very roughly, each hangout will be divided into one-third social time, one-third small group breakouts, and one-third answering questions.

The Zoom meetings are limited to 100 people each week. You need to register separately for each one.

Date and Time

Registration Link

Topic of the Week

Breakout Rooms

Sunday, May 2, 2021

8 PM Eastern

(7 PM Central)

(6 PM Mountain)

(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

What Makes New England Research Different?

CT, RI, MA, NH, VT, ME

Monday, May 10, 2021

8 PM Eastern

(7 PM Central)

(6 PM Mountain)

(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

What Records Were Kept by the Towns?

Breakout rooms by record types

Sunday, May 16, 2021

8 PM Eastern

(7 PM Central)

(6 PM Mountain)

(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

Major Resources and Repositories

Breakout rooms by resource and repository

Sunday, May 23, 2021

8 PM Eastern

(7 PM Central)

(6 PM Mountain)

(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

Migration Into, Within, and From New England

Breakout rooms by migration patterns

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

8 PM Eastern

(7 PM Central)

(6 PM Mountain)

(5 PM Pacific)

Click here to register for this week.

What Questions Do We Still Have?

CT, RI, MA, NH, VT, ME




NERGC registration includes all of these classes and Live Chats. There are additional classes that you can add to registration if you wish.

If you are not already registered for NERGC 2021, click here to register.


NOTICE: This effort to efficiently use the resources of NERGC 2021 is unofficial and in no way developed by NERGC 2021.

Photography Credit: Deborah Parks for the US National Archives, February 1971, Motif #1, Rockport, Massachusetts, no known copyright, flickr.com.


[1] The Demanding Genealogist wishes to thank Denise Cross, cg, for her wonderful suggestion of evening social time. It immediately struck a chord.


Wednesday, March 3, 2021

If Your Roots Are in New England, You Should Attend NERGC 2021

 

The Covered Bridge in Grafton, Vermont

Every odd-numbered year a consortium of New England genealogy societies puts together the New England Regional Genealogy Conference (NERGC). NERGC 2021 has 84 on-demand presentations available for two months. There will be a banquet speaker together with a Table Talks small groups gathering. In spite of the pandemic, NERGC lives!

While the number of sessions at NERGC is smaller than in previous years, our opportunities as attendees are greater. At past conferences we were able to select only one of the six lectures in every time slot. At this one, we have two months to view every one of the 72 lectures covered by the basic NERGC registration fee. In the past NERGC has offered lectures on aspects of New England genealogy as well as methodology and other general topics. 

Even with fewer sessions, NERGC retains its unique New England focus. The Demanding Genealogist counted and there are 28 presentations on aspects unique to New England research.

You must be asking yourself, “How do I structure my time to do all this?”