Posted by conference on April 22, 2010 under Blog: New Postings, Dutch Research Stream, Italian Research Stream, Sponsors | 
We are thrilled to announce that the Dutch and Italian Ancestry streams at the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Conference 2010 have both received “official” blessing in the form of sponsorship support from the local consulates of the Netherlands and Italy respectively. The funds will help defray the extra transportation and publicity costs incurred in staging these special-interest programs. Equally important, the sponsorships give assurance to attendees that the lecture streams enjoy community support.
This is the second time we have welcomed support for genealogical education from the Netherlands Consulate General in Toronto. In 2007 the Consulate General supported the Dutch ancestry workshop staged by OGS Toronto Branch. For information about other consular activities, including those involving culture and the arts, visit the website at http://www.cgtoronto.org/homepage.asp.
Support in the Italian community comes via the Italian Cultural Institute (Istituto Italiano di Cultura), the Cultural Section of the Consulate General of Italy in Toronto, established in 1976. The main facility is on Huron Street in downtown Toronto, and there is a suburban location in Woodbridge. The Institute promotes cultural events and exhibitions, and offers language classes. For more information, visit http://www.iictoronto.esteri.it/IIC_Toronto/Menu/Istituto/.
For more information about, or to register for, the Dutch or Italian lecture streams at Conference 2010, visit: http://torontofamilyhistory.org/2010/dutch and http://torontofamilyhistory.org/2010/italian respectively.
We express our deep gratitude for this support from both Consulates General.
Posted by conference on April 11, 2010 under Blog: New Postings, Canadian Records, Innovations Stream, Marketplace, Speakers and Program, Sponsors |
We’re delighted to announce a number of extras for family historians attending the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Conference 2010.
Friday, 2:00 pm
Marketplace Grand Opening
For the first time at an OGS Conference, there will be a grand opening of Marketplace. We’ve cleared the schedule of lectures on Friday at 2 pm so everyone can participate. Every square inch of display space has been let and we’ll be able to pore through the offerings of a large number of OGS Branches as well as many commercial exhibitors. And to spice things up, we’ll have some fun—and prizes. See you there!
Friday, 5:45 pm
Graduation Ceremony for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies
Ontario is home to what may well be the world’s most successful provider of distance-learning for genealogists, the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2010.
A number of Conference speakers are National Institute faculty or graduates. The latter have completed a 40-course program and are entitled to the designation of PLCGS (Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Studies), jointly offered with the Continuing Education Division of the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto.
Please join with other Conference attendees and the National Institute in celebrating its 2010 graduates at a special ceremony to be held Friday at 5:45 pm.
NB: The National Institute has also kindly agreed to sponsor the closing plenary, featuring a tour-de-force lecture by the ever-popular, John Philip Colletta, “Hacks and Hookers and Putting Up Pickles: Snares of Yesteryear’s English”.
Saturday, 12:45 pm and 1:15 pm
Lunchtime Learning Sessions
Also new this year are lunchtime learning sessions on Saturday. During the 90-minute lunch break, there will be two half-hour slots, each of which will feature a 20-minute mini-lecture on what’s new with an important institution or program. So you can grab a fast bite and catch one of the lectures—or if you’re made of sterner stuff, maybe eat on the run and attend two. For your convenience, we’re repeating the two lectures most likely to command large audiences. Here’s the schedule:
12:45 pm and repeated at 1:15 pm
Introducing Genealogists to the New Toronto Public Library Website: Andrew Lofft
12:45 pm and repeated at 1:15 pm
New Developments at FamilySearch: Stephen Young
12:45 pm
Introducing Canada 150: Harry van Bommel
1:15 pm
How OurOntario.ca Can Help You Search Hundreds of Digital Collections: Loren Fantin
Watch for news of more “extras” for Conference 2010 attendees coming soon. There’s still time to be a part of Conference 2010, but a few sessions are full, and others are close, so be sure to register soon.
Posted by conference on February 15, 2010 under Blog: New Postings, Canadian Records, Innovations Stream, Speakers and Program, Sponsors |
Stephen Young will be part of "New Toronto Research Tools" on Saturday, May 15.
We are pleased to announce that FamilySearch is sponsoring OGS Conference 2010 and is generously underwriting two previously unannounced appearances at the Conference by one of its most experienced project managers, Stephen C. Young, MA, AG.
Stephen will participate in both the “New Toronto Research Tools” session on Saturday afternoon and will also deliver a newly scheduled lunchtime learning lecture on new developments at FamilySearch, also on Saturday.
Stephen is no stranger to southern Ontario, having been born and raised in London. Indeed he has an ancestor buried in the Toronto Necropolis, one of the cemeteries in the Toronto Trust group (more on which below).
His interest in family history extends back to the late 1970s. After undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, he obtained his Master’s in American History at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. An employee of the LDS Church since 1988, Stephen enjoyed a four year appointment (1992-1996) in England supervising the British 1881 Census Project. His current responsibilities (in Salt Lake City, Utah) entail working with archives and other genealogical organizations, such as OGS, in the cooperative indexing and publication online of historical records in Canada, the British Isles and the South Pacific.
And that’s how Stephen comes to be part of “New Toronto Research Tools”. As many members will be aware, a FamilySearch Indexing project is now well under way with Toronto Branch to index the records of the Toronto Trust Cemeteries, including the York General Burying Ground, Toronto Necropolis, Prospect and Mount Pleasant. Indeed Stephen was not only instrumental in getting the project off the ground, he is also one of our volunteer indexers.
One of the quirkiest things that could conceivably happen to any researcher is to find that one of your ancestors was responsible for the death of a colleague’s ancestor. That happened to Stephen when he discovered that his fifth great-grandfather, Henry Windecker, had reportedly killed the colleague’s ancestor during the Revolutionary War. Stephen told the story in his article: “Henry Windecker, U.E., and His Descendants.” Families 48, No. 1 (February 2009): 24-29, 18.
If Stephen weren’t busy enough already, he’s also researching and writing a book about his father’s experience in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War II, including service on a minesweeper off Omaha Beach on the night and morning of the D-Day assault.
Welcome home, Stephen!
Posted by conference on February 4, 2010 under Blog: New Postings, Innovations Stream, Speakers and Program, Sponsors |
Lesley Anderson of Ancestry.ca
Conference speaker Lesley Anderson has sent the happy news that Ancestry will provide free on-site access to their worldwide databases for attendees at the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Conference 2010.
This commitment is part of a larger agreement whereby Ancestry.ca becomes a top-level sponsor of the Conference.
Other benefits to attendees include:
- an Ancestry-sponsored luncheon on Friday, featuring a presentation by Lesley on New Projects at Ancestry (special ticketed event)
- sponsorship of the Conference bag
- an Ancestry display in Marketplace
These commitments by Ancestry are in addition to Lesley’s previously announced two-hour workshop, Working Effectively with Ancestry.
Lesley brings a wealth of genealogical and family history research experience to Conference 2010. She has been pursuing her own family history for more than 35 years. (Yes she started as a teenager!) A director of BIFHSGO, Lesley shares her enthusiasm for genealogy by teaching courses through the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board’s Continuing Education Department and she’s been a long time volunteer with the Ottawa Stake Family History Center.
For the past 2-1/2 years, Lesley has enjoyed being the Canadian representative for Ancestry.ca. Her primary responsibility is to develop strategic relationships with content providers across Canada to acquire new Canadian historical records. She has made several radio and television appearances on behalf of Ancestry.ca. Check out her TV spot on Canada AM.
Lesley collaborated with fellow Conference speaker Glenn Wright to develop and present Ancestry.ca’s first Canadian Webinar on the Historic Canadian Census Collection—1851 to 1916.
She contributes a monthly column, called “Discovering Your Roots”, to the CanWest chain of newspapers, appearing in the Ottawa Citizen, Windsor Star, Winnipeg Free Press and Calgary Herald to name a few.
We are delighted to acknowledge both Lesley and Ancestry.ca’s contributions to Conference 2010.
