Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Wholly Genes (Land) Cruise in 2009

I received this email from Bob Velke, the creator and owner of The Master Genealogist program, announcing that the Wholly Genes conference will be held on August 26-30 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, not aboard a cruise ship:

We've had a lot of inquiries about when and where Wholly Genes will be hosting our 5th Annual Genealogy Conference and Cruise so I thought that I'd give you a little advanced notice...

Due to the state of the economy and other discouraging circumstances in the cruise industry, we will not be hosting a cruise this year. However, because of its popularity, we intend to continue the practice of an annual conference.

So this year we are planning a "land cruise" – a genealogy conference in our normal tradition but that happens to be on land. Come 2010 and the prospect of an improved economy, we may resume our past practice of conducting the conference on a cruise ship.

Although this year's Wholly Genes conference is expected, as in the past, to far exceed the attendance of other genealogy "cruises," it will be somewhat scaled-back from our usual annual event, with fewer speakers and spanning just four days to accommodate people's busy schedules. The objective is to continue to provide an unparalleled educational opportunity but at a cost-effectiveness that will astound you.

As always, our focus is on providing first-class genealogical speakers on topics that will interest all researchers. This year's speakers will include:

- John Philip Colletta, Ph.D. - a popular speaker, prolific author, and expert on research at the Library of Congress, among many other topics.
- Marie Varrelman Melchiori, CG, CGL - a full-time researcher for 30 years, an expert on the National Archives, military records, and other topics.
- Patricia O'Brien Shawker, CG - the Director of the National Institute on Genealogical Research, author, and an expert on research at the DAR Library and National Archives, among other topics.
- Craig Roberts Scott, CG - publisher, professional researcher for more than 23 years, and an expert on a wide variety of record types and resources, including colonial, Civil War, federal records, migration,military, Quaker, and government publications.

We'll also have many presentations related to The Master Genealogist (TMG), of course, as well as some surprises.

Our 2009 Genealogy Conference and "Land Cruise" will be held Aug 26-30 in a grand 19th-century hotel in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. There will be a day and a half of lectures about methodology, repositories, records, and finding aids in D.C. (including NARA, the Library of Congress, and the DAR), followed by a full-day research trip to the nation's capital (the "land cruise" part), and then another day and a half of presentations, among other activities.

The best part? All of this will be less than $400 a person (double occupancy), including all meals and conference events! That's less than half the price of the cruises and there's even free wireless internet and free parking.

Please watch our newsletter or www.WhollyGenes.com for a press release and full details...

I think that this is a really, really smart move by Bob and his company. Nobody knows how bad the recession will be. The conference and land cruise are focused and sound like a lot of fun, held in a beautiful part of the country, with the extra bonus of researching in Washington DC. It will be the week before the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) in Little Rock, Arkansas, which may affect the Wholly Genes turnout.

What I really want to know is: if John Titford from England isn't coming to the conference, who will lead the singing of "I'm My Own Grandpa" at the closing cocktail party?

4 comments:

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...

An easy drive for me, at a price I can afford and during my vacation. What am I missing?? It sounds too good to be true.

Anonymous said...

Pardon my English, but "land cruise" means luxury bus tour?
That would mean Wholly Genes goes wobbly mobile with The Master Busdriver? ;-)

Sheri Fenley said...

I'm with Apple - less than $400 per person and that includes lodging, meals and conference? What a deal. It does sound too good to be true.

Eileen said...

This was such a terrific idea that I have already signed up. Of course, I can drive, which helps. I really look forward to the day at NARA.