A rather crazy busy January/February.

I don't know about you but I had a rather crazy busy January/February. Another group I belong to (the Guild of One-Name Studies) was on board for exhibiting at RootsTech (in Salt Lake City early in February). One of the volunteers who planned to not only work the booth but also provide some of our booth items ended up canceling her trip. Much of the planning, preparation, setup, "manning," and take-down fell to yours truly (with huge assists from a handful of dedicated Guild members/volunteers). I learned lots about exhibits at genealogy events in a short amount of time!

We were thrown a final curve ball when another volunteer had a medical issue come up the day of her flight and was also unable to attend and help out with the booth. Surprisingly enough, everything turned out fine and we ended up having a great time.

Lessons learned and these lessons also apply with our genealogy::

(1) something will happen (it always does) and you need to "go with the flow."

(2) advance planning is key - so is having a plan B (and a plan C, and perhaps a plan D).

(3) you are the only one who knows that things have changed or blown up - work through the process and put a smile on while you get to it (as Julia Child once said - you are alone in your kitchen (I think she picked up a chicken that fell off a platter to the floor - dust it off and present it! AND - don't apologize for what you have served, most times people don't know what it is supposed to taste like and they will take their cue from you!).

(4) have fun - make the best of any situation you are in, remember that others will take their cue from your attitude.

Bottom line - it was a very busy 6 weeks as we planned and prepped and flew and setup and worked and took down our exhibit (I also had 2 computer labs to run!).

I took the time to enjoy the keynotes, had dinner with Guild members, met several attendees who are in our LVUG, visited the Legacy Family Tree booth and several other exhibits, attended a few sessions, met up with my genealogy friends at DearMyrtle's after conference party, and just took in the experience of being at RootsTech.

Upon my return to "real life" I had to get caught up with day-to-day activities (work, home and family). A huge thank you to my co-moderators for taking up the slack while I put LVUG on the back burner for a bit, thanks to our terrific members who have been here asking and answering questions, sharing tips and just getting on with learning more about using our favorite genealogy management software. We all are in this community because we want to learn and share AND it takes all of us (no one is more or less in our LVUG - we are a team!).

Tuesday's Tip - and you knew I would get here eventually is to (A) be an active part of any group - in person or online - that you belong to; (B) check out the Legacy Webinars (a terrific resource for learning), the RootsTech recorded sessions (a great group of speakers and presenters on some really interesting topics); AND (C) download those syllabi from RootsTech - many presenters definitely added value by preparing excellent syllabi with some great resources.

For extra credit - If you have a chance, check out the geneawebinars' calendar to see if there is a local, regional or national conference or seminar in your area - you really cannot beat attending an event in person and getting to know your fellow genealogy and family history enthusiasts.

Thanks for reading and having my back this past 6 weeks - in March we will be back at it!