It was an enjoyable three-day conference at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank, California. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Southern California Genealogical Society, so there were birthday bashes and a festive atmosphere.

The Family History Guide was well-represented, at its booth in the Exhibit Hall and with a full-house vendor presentation. As this was the first time at the So. Calif. Jamboree, there were quite a few who had not heard of The Family History Guide. The reactions to seeing the site for the first time were generally quite positive. There were quite a few genealogy societies represented at the convention, and many of them expressed high interest in The Family History Guide, including Chula Vista, San Jose, Thousand Oaks (Conejo Valley), Antelope Valley, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.

There were plenty of interesting stories and interesting people:

• Donna Moughty, blogger for IrishFamilyRoots.com. She offered to share resources from her site, and we will feature her site in an upcoming blog article.
• Randy Seaver, noted gernealogy blogger. He will feature The Family History Guide in an upcoming blog post.
• Ron Higgins, a member of the Southern California African Genealogy Society
• A lady whose father was in the house-moving business, but it was before trucks: they used horses and rolling logs!
• “Marilyn … it’s free!” (one woman calling out to her friend who had just waled past The Family History Guide booth).
• A representative from the Antelope Valley Genealogical Society, whose current building is not far from the neighborhood where Judy Garland grew up.

All in all, a great experience. And as I’ve mentioned before, it’s great to see those “light-bulb” moments, where people encounter The Family History Guide for the first time … and the lights go on in their eyes. I never get tired of seeing that!