Nearly 800 guests attended a record number of sessions, starting with Friday’s awe-inspiring trilogy of advanced lectures by Thomas W. Jones; ending with John Philip Colletta’s hilarious closing address; and peaking in the middle with a standing ovation for banquet speaker, Karolyn Smardz Frost.

In between, we enjoyed scores of fine sessions with speakers from Atlantic to Pacific—and even the other side of the Atlantic—as well as a sold-out Marketplace, an active Research Centre with free databases, expert consultations, special presentations, interesting tours and innovative specialist programs.

We were thrilled to welcome researchers with Dutch, Italian, and Eastern European roots who might not otherwise have discovered OGS. We hope they’ve seen the benefits of being part of a large active genealogical community.

Conference 2010 registrants still have one more week to access the online Syllabus—you’ll need the password that was sent to you by e-mail on Saturday, May 1 (or later if you registered after that.) You’ll even find some additional material from speakers Rick Crume and Alison Hare.

But once the Syllabus comes down on May 31, that will be it, as our rights to display the content expire on that date.

And don’t forget to fill in the online evaluation. If you were a registered attendee or a speaker, you should by now have received e-mail instructions as to how to access the site securely. (The e-mail’s subject line was: “OGS Conference 2010 Evaluation Invitation”.) It will only take a few minutes, and your participation will help next year’s conference organizers.

Thank you to all those who made Conference 2010 such an invigorating experience:

• the speakers who shared their knowledge and insights with such gusto
• the exhibitors who gave us access to more resources
• the sponsors and strategic partners who made the program possible
• the hotel and other suppliers for a seamless event
• the staff at our provincial office who handled registration
• the libraries, archives, and historic sites that hosted tour and research excursion visitors
• our many volunteers for their creativity, enthusiasm, smiles—and hours of work both before and during Conference 2010

And most of all, thank you to all the attendees—old friends and new—who helped spread the word, created the wonderful buzz at Conference 2010, and motivated everyone else.

Just two weeks away!

We already have family historians travelling from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, as well as Colorado, Utah, Illinois, Michigan and New York, and even Scotland, England and Italy. And of course, every corner of Ontario.

But we still have space for you, and we know you love a bargain.

So don’t wait. Spend some time today browsing the program and speaker pages. Make a note of the session numbers that interest you, or print out the handy daily schedules.

Click on “How do I register?” and select the registration package that suits you best. Then let the secure online registration form guide you through the process.

Then, perhaps a visit to the Marketplace page to start making plans for how you’re going to spend that money you just saved…

All of these folks have registered online (or printed a pdf from the website), but the paper brochure will arrive very soon in the hands of some 4,000 members of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

But you, a reader of the Conference 2010 blog, have the inside track.

If you haven’t already registered, quick, go to the program pages! You’ll find more details then ever before about lectures, tours, and our special Dutch and Italian streams. Check out the brand new “Lecture Streams at a Glance” page with printable schedules for each day.

Once you’ve made your choices, click on “How do I register?” and select the registration package that suits you best. Then let the secure online registration form guide you through the process.

Take the opportunity to jump in ahead of the pack. Register today.

For more about accommodation at Conference, including rates, special-needs rooms, roommate matching and so on, please visit the “Accommodation” page of the Conference website.

Back in the summer, Conference volunteers toured the Doubletree, including not only the public spaces where our events will be held, but also typical guest rooms. We were suitably impressed with our tour.

Conference registrants arriving by public transit will enter the Doubletree at the north end of the hotel, near the front desk. Visible across Dixon Road are off-site eateries, like Tim Hortons, Swiss Chalet and Milestones. In the hotel, you will find several restaurants and bars: the Orchid Café, where many conference attendees will have breakfast and other casual meals, Alfredo’s (northern Italian and Continental), Ginko (classical Japanese), Grand Chinese Cuisine (dim sum and elegant traditional dishes) and Harry’s Bar. For more information, see the “Meals” page.

Also on the main floor are the west entrance from the parking lot, a small retail area, and the pool and fitness centre. (See floor plan, below.)

The Plaza conference centre, where OGS Conference 2010 will be held, is on the second floor. Our registration area will be at the bottom of the stairs, but there’s an escalator and an elevator, too. Getting lost will be a virtual impossibility and everything is extremely compact. At the top of the stairs, escalator and elevator, the spacious Plaza foyer will be home to a number of activities and will serve as a gathering place. The 10,000 square-foot Marketplace and almost all meeting rooms are all clustered around this foyer.

And to top it all off, all sectors of the hotel, both public spaces and guest rooms, have complimentary wi-fi access.

We were impressed with the facilities, the attention to detail, and the staff at the Doubletree—and confident that it will be a great venue for OGS Conference 2010.

Fully wheelchair accessible, the Doubletree by Hilton–Toronto Airport, is located near Toronto Pearson International Airport, close to highways 401 and 427, and convenient to GO Transit and TTC (Toronto Transit Commission). For more information about the location and directions, please visit the “Location” page.

A SPECIAL NOTE:
If you have tried to reach us this weekend at conference2010@ogs.on.ca, your message may have been returned. We expect the problem to be resolved on Monday, January 4. If you want to reach us before then, please use info@torontofamilyhistory.org. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Whether you’ve been naughty or nice, now’s the time to register for the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Conference 2010 to be held in Toronto May 14-16.

• Check out the content-rich program, packed with more sessions than ever before.
• See leading experts talk in Canada or at Conference for the very first time; or hear returning speakers with the very highest ratings received at Conference 2009.
• Consider one of the pre-Conference programs on Thursday, May 13—a Hands-on Research Excursion or “Libraries and Genealogy” presented in conjunction with the Ontario Library Association.
• Shop in the spacious 10,000-square-foot Marketplace just steps from the lecture rooms.

Convenient to airport, highways, GO and TTC, the Conference hotel offers an early-bird rate until January 8—and it’s the same rate as in 2004, the kind of comfort and joy we can really appreciate!

OGS Conference 2010
Essentials, Innovations & Delights
May 14-16, 2010
Doubletree by Hilton–Toronto Airport

The Conference 2010 organizing committee launched our publicity campaign with a short presentation at the closing ceremonies of this year’s conference in Oakville—and a draw for a full weekend and a Friday registration. We were very pleased to present the weekend registration (which covers Saturday, Sunday, and Friday evening’s opening ceremonies and keynote Houston Lecture) to long-time Ontario Genealogical Society member (and active volunteer) Betty McQuillan of Toronto. The Friday registration went to Bill Whiteside of Toronto, and will entitle him to choose from a very full program of workshops and lectures, or a bus tour. Bill isn’t an OGS member, but tells us that his experience at Conference 2009 has convinced him to join.

Our congratulations to Betty and Bill!