Friday, April 25, 2014

Attend our Special Sessions at NGS

We're having a great time with conferences lately.  We are headed out to the UGA Conference this weekend, but the week after next we are going to be headed to Virginia for the National Genealogy Society Conference.  And I've teamed up with two wonderful ladies to bring  you even more value if you are planning on attending NGS. 

Lisa Louise Cooke and Maureen Taylor are two dynamic and brilliant ladies in the genealogy community.  The three of us are going to set up a theater in the vendor's hall at NGS to be able to bring you some of the best ideas you will find anywhere.  With Lisa's expertise in technology and Maureen's expertise in photos in addition to the newest ideas I've been working on, this is going to be a fantastic place to find quick ideas that will boost your genealogy productivity.  We are each giving several 30 minute sessions.  Check out these great topics:

Attendees will be able to sign up to receive a pdf of all the handouts from the sessions and to enter a drawing for some fabulous prizes from each of us.  I'm so excited to see what new things they have to teach me, and I'm so excited to share my new ideas with you all as well.  We'll see you at the conference. 

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Orange County Family History Fair

I had a great time speaking at the Orange County Family History Conference last weekend. I had heard about this conference many times and knew the Family History Center had a great program there in Orange County.  So when they asked if I would come and give the keynote address Saturday morning it was an offer I couldn't refuse.  I was excited to head down and check it out for myself. 

Richard and Kathy McFarlane took such good care of me on the quick trip down there and back.  It was such a joy to get to know them and have time to chat with them over dinner.  They have a beautiful family and such a love for family history.  They have combined their love for their family's history and Kathy's background in Art history to create a beautiful home.  The centerpiece of their home are two magnificent reproductions of two ancestors that are particularly inspirational to them.  They were beautiful paintings that really set the tone in their home and I'm sure inspire their children and grandchildren.  What a great example they are of creating a strong family by sharing that family narrative that strengthens the current relationships.

Of course, when we arrived at the center, I was immediately drawn to the "Family Trees" display at the entrance to the center.  They had some nice representations of families but they had one item that particularly interested me.  I had never seen anything like it before.  It was the cross section of a tree that had been planted when a couple were married.  When the tree was cut down, someone when through and showed in the rings of the tree the family's progression, the marriages, the births and so on.  It was awesome.  It made me wish we had planted a tree when we had gotten married.  What a fantastic representation of the growth of a family.   


Another display showed a tree created by a beautiful 8 year old girl. No wonder they were so proud of her and displayed it in the family history center.  I knew when I saw it that in this center were people who shared my passion for involving youth with their family history.  You could tell this girl had caught the bug.  So going in, I knew that my sessions about how to involve your family would be well used in this conference. 

I gave my "Grandma's Bullet Proof Vest" lecture for the keynote as well as three others.  I think it went really well and Dick said the reviews were good.  I had reworked it quite a bit and added several points at the end about the principles I've learned over these past years in working with my children and writing my Zap The Grandma Gap books.  I think it got them thinking about making family history more of a family activity.  I hope they will.  That lecture clearly explains the benefits family history brings into your modern relationships and the strength it gives youth to know about their family's past.  Hopefully I was able to contribute more of that stability to the families in Orange County.  I sure had fun doing it. 


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Giving Back. 5% to for Mother's Day Orders

We've been doing alot of planning and evaluating here at Family ChartMasters and I'm really excited to tell you about a new program we are going to put into place. 

Mother's Day is often a big time for family history projects.  Family History is the perfect gift for Mother's Day because family is what Mothers sacrifice, love and live for.  Our charts have been the perfect gift for mothers and grandmothers all over the world.  And we love to help our clients create beautiful expressions of their love for their families. 

This Mother's day we've concocted a plan to make the holiday even sweeter for all of us.  For every order that comes through our Free Consultation page at www.familychartmasters.com/upload between now and Mother's Day, we are going to donate 5% of the order to the Center for Women and Children in Crisis.  The center provides a safe place for mothers and their children to find food shelter and support when their family situation is detrimental to their well being.  We want to help strengthen and heal families, and we are reaching out to find more ways to do that.  Will you help us?  This offer makes it a great time to get those family reunion chart orders in for the summer too. Let us know what we can do to help you celebrate your family and strengthen others at the same time.  Feel free to give us a call at 801-87CHART with any questions.  We're looking forward to making it a great Mother's Day for everyone.