Family History Expo, Loveland, CO Post 2

Genealogy has made me bold.The fact that I’m pictured here standing beside Lisa Alzo is proof! I’ve read Lisa’s magazine articles for several years and have learned so much from reading about her research methods. Last year was my first experience at attending a genealogy expo/conference. I was so thankful to Holly Hansen and her FHExpo company for bringing that opportunity to Colorado. The first morning at breakfast I spotted Lisa eating alone and I walked right over to her and introduced myself. The Becky Jamison “pre-genealogy” would never have done that. But I’m grateful to genealogy for that and so much more! Lisa is a darling person and very friendly. I was fortunate to have several opportunities at this Expo to visit with her, and I attended one of her classes on “Websites We May Be Missing”.  Lisa introduced her audience to an abundance of websites that were new to most of us. It was a great presentation.
Meet “Charlie and his Angels”. We all got a good laugh when Thomas MacEntee (back row right) asked the Bloggers of Honor Gayle Gresham (back row left), Ruby Coleman (back row center), Speaker Lisa Alzo and me (Becky Jamison, front row right), to join “Charlie” for this picture of him with his angels. Notice we all were gifted with Thomas’s beads, this time in a red and green western motif of cactus and cowboy boots.    I met up with FHExpo President Holly Hansen at the elevator Saturday morning. She looked surprisingly chipper and well-rested, while I was already starting to show signs of “wear”!

The wonderful Gena Philibert Ortega presented an extremely entertaining and informative class on “Using Google for Genealogy”. Gena’s sense of humor kept us entertained and the volume of information she presented on the resources Google offers to enhance our genealogical research was unmatched in valuable content.

My husband, Larry Jamison (at right), is pictured above with Tom Underhill of “Creative Continuum” whom he visited about publishing a book on our family history. It was a pleasure to visit this booth as Tom’s children were assisting him by handing out Hershey kisses. 

 Michael John Neill was present at the Expo on Saturday and stopped by the “Beacon of Bloggers” table long enough to visit with Thomas MacEntee.

When my husband asked Bruce Buzbee, creator or RootsMagic genealogy software to pose for a picture with me, Bruce replied that he knew this would show up on Facebook. I sure can’t disappoint Bruce! Those who attended each of the RootsMagic classes presented by Bruce and his partner Michael Booth were given the opportunity to win wonderful prizes. Larry and I attended the Expo with our friends from our local Family History Center, Ken and Lureen (pictured below with my very patient husband Larry), and were happy when Ken’s name was called to win the RootsMagic software, instruction manual and accompanying jump drive to use with RootsMagic-To-Go! 

We’re fortunate when we attend the expos to learn from the experts and meet many of the popular and well-respected genealogists and speakers from around the nation. But we’re also blessed when we run into cousins! I had not met this cousin previous to the Expo, but have communicated with her over the last few years by email and on Facebook. I’m pictured here with Colorado genealogist Sharon Koleber, who’s married to my dad’s first cousin. That makes her my cousin, doesn’t it?

 

Above, Cullen Brimhall of Family Search, presents a class about all the new resources available at www.familysearch.org.

One of the highlights of the Expo was the Keynote Address “Let Your Light Shine” delivered in great humor and style by Beau Sharbrough. This picture was taken long before the conference room was filled by the 300+ attendees of the Expo.  

Here are random shots of the Exhibit Hall:

In “FHExpo Loveland, CO Post 3” I’ll share with you some of the specific gems I came home with.