Family History Events for your Calendar

 

Keeping up to speed on the wide variety of family history fairs, courses, conferences, classes, and open days on offer can be a bit of a task. Although they don’t list everything, there are two websites that post details of plenty of family history events, both online and in person. Note that many of these events do charge for attendance, but may be open to non-members of the host organisation. More about those two listings websites 👇

GENEVA has a strong emphasis on English research, mainly because very few other organisations seem to submit their events to the site! Come on, you other family history societies; this is a great (and free) way to publicise your meetings and services!

Conference Keeper, a U.S.-based website. Search its calendar for all forthcoming events, or select online-only meetings and talks. Although focusing largely on North American topics, there are plenty of internationally relevant themes too, such as the impact of artificial intelligence on genealogy. Some online meetings even offer on-the-spot help with your research. Also listed are Legacy Family Tree webinars as they occur. (Don't miss their free Webtember event that I blogged about last week)

Of course, your local archive or heritage group may not use these services, but rely on local media and word of mouth to promote their events. Keep an eye on posters and leaflets in your public library or archive, or check out the local council’s website. That’s where I found the details of a free event taking place in my community next month:

ByGoneCon is a regular all-day event sponsored by South Lanarkshire Council and held in different locations around the county. A bit like a family history fair, it features stalls and talks from heritage, local, and family history societies and organisations. Included in past events have been representatives from local archives, Lanarkshire Family History Society, FamilySearch and Scottish Indexes. Speaking of whom...

Scottish Indexes are holding their free quarterly online conference on Saturday 13th September. The schedule for the day will be posted on their website soon, but each presentation is aired twice, to allow viewers in time zones around the world to watch at a time that suits them. Subjects up for presentation this time include Scottish church records, and getting started on tracing your family tree. There will be something for everyone, and not all the talks will be solely Scotland-focused. You can watch on Zoom or via their Facebook group, and submit questions for the speakers.

If you belong to a family or local history society that needs to boost attendance and membership, do ask them to consider using GENEVA or Conference Keeper (or both!) to publicise the group’s events. That way, we’ll all get the chance to join in and learn more. There’s always something new to discover!