Looking Forward to April!

I am most definitely looking forward to April.

No, it's not because I'm tired of the snow.  I love snow - I'm in my element right now.

But in April, I'll truly be in my element with friends and folks who enjoy family history and genealogy just as much as me!  The New England Regional Genealogical Conference takes place April 6-10 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

If you don't already know I enjoy genealogy, I definitely encourage you to follow my "Take a Good Hart Look at Genealogy" blog.  I plan on starting a project of posting and explaining a total of fifty letters that my great-grandfather John Tyler Fairall wrote when he was a pilot during World War I in France.  So friends, even if you don't care that much about genealogy (but how could you not?), you might find the true adventures of a young pilot during WWI as mighty interesting reading!

So.  Back to the conference:

The above image advertisement is proof I'm going. ;-)

The NERGC takes place every two years, and the one in 2009 was the first one I attended.  It was really my first experience meeting other people who enjoyed genealogy, other than my grandfather.  All I had done before that was solo research and e-mailing other newfound cousins.  But I was able to meet two wonderful cousins at the conference in person for the first time (and I plan on seeing them again this time around)!  I met some amazing people, volunteered a little bit, and learned so much that it was a bit overwhelming.

It was at this conference that I learned about the Boston University Genealogical Research program that I later enrolled in from January to April 2010, where I earned the course certificate, fantastic knowledge, and many more friends.  I've stalled out a bit with my genealogy research since then, as work and personal life have dominated.  But I imagine going to the NERGC will rekindle that initiative to push forward with my family history.  I plan on volunteering more this time, and now that I'm much more comfortable in the genealogy world, I know I'll gain even more friends and knowledge.  I'm so pumped!

Early bird registration for the conference ends February 15, so if you see yourself as someone who'd love to learn more about genealogy (and you really could go to this conference knowing nothing and still gain much), you should consider it!