News from MyHeritage Australia – 5 September 2011

This is a guest post by Shauna Hicks.

Shauna is a professional genealogist, former archivist and librarian who has been researching her own family history since 1977.

—

This month is a big one for genealogy events. Last week in Victoria was the Unlock the Past history and genealogy expo at Geelong with over 70 exhibitors and 36 presentations. MyHeritage had a special presence with inserts in every show bag and they were joined by a large number of the leading genealogy and family history associations from Victoria and Australia who exhibited over the two days. I’ve posted a wrap up of the event over on my blog for those who weren’t able to attend.

For New South Wales genealogists, there is the annual conference of the NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies, 16-18 September in Inverell. There is a great program of talks and exhibitors  but unfortunately I can’t make it this year. I just hope someone blogs it!

I’m often asked how do I keep up with what is happening around Australia and there are three main places I look first. Australian Family Tree Connections is a monthly magazine with events listed state by state as well as major future events.  Another quarterly magazine is Inside History which tends to have notices of the bigger events.  I hear that MyHeritage will have a special feature in this month’s Inside History, so keep an eye out for that. Both magazines  may be found in newsagents, libraries and family history societies.

An online website is Unlock the Past’s Events page which lists history, genealogy and heritage events. It only has events people have listed there, so don’t forget to check local places, too, e.g. family history societies, libraries and archives. Attending events is a great way to learn new things and to meet new people and network – you just never know who might be able to assist with your research!