It could have been genealogy but that would have been too obvious! Bearing in mind where most of the team are at the moment, it would be remiss of us not to write about Who Do You Think You Are? Live during the course of the event and today, is the most suitable letter to connect it with.
For many years, Who Do You Think You Are? Live was in London at Kensington Olympia. Until 2014, that is…. And it first moved away to Glasgow in a year which saw two WDYTYA? Live shows. Now, it’s at the NEC in Birmingham and, although the travel is more challenging for me (Chippenham or Swindon to London Paddington and a small dalliance around the London Underground was much simpler), I still look forward each year to meeting up with those who otherwise are just names on Twitter or Facebook, without being ‘real people’!
Gatherings (or meetings of minds) with some souls are rare. Many people travel from afar to be at WDYTYA, including John D. Reid, Jan Brandt, David Evans and Brenda Turner (though now not so far as she is in England for a longer period of time!)…. the lectures are broad in range, with a smattering of time to visit and pick the brains of the local family history societies, national umbrella organisations and commercial groups in between times. Getting together with fellow genealogists is important. Yes, for the social aspect…. but also to learn from one another.
What do we know about researching in Germany, Scandinavia, South Africa etc.? Sometimes, a little but if our research took us in that direction, would we know who to call on? Yes, for those places! But not for all countries which may arise. Gather a bunch of genies together (Gaggle of genies? Is that the collective term?!) and the knowledge base increases enormously!
Would you know who to contact for research in Serbia, Estonia, Austria, Liechtenstein….? APG dinner, here we come…. hopefully, we’ll make even more great connections there!
