2012 IAJGS Annual Conference Paris, France 15-18 July 2012

This past week was the 32nd annual conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) which was held in Paris. I was in attendance representing FamilySearch and presenting lectures on The Jews of the Caribbean and how to use FamilySearch to find your Jewish ancestors.
The organizing committee did a wonderful job, and the conference was a huge success. As it was an international conference held outside the United States, I was able to meet many great people from places far distant, such as the North Africa region and many European countries.

Of course at night  I was able to visit some of the world famous landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

 These beautiful places are truly sites that everyone should have the chance to visit at some point in their lives. I will not soon forget all of the places I visit while in Paris. Of course, there is one place that stands out as my favorite place that I visited. That would be the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. One of the world's most visit and beautiful cemeteries, I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon walking the grounds. Even though I got lost more than once, it was wonderful to see the names of people who had so much influence on the history of Paris and the world. I have

a habit of spending far to much time in cemeteries, however this was one visit that I wish could have lasted a lot longer. Hopefully someday Ill be able to return.

Los Angeles July 2010 30th IAJGS Conference

This week has been the 30th International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Conference in Los Angeles, California. Held at the new JW Marriott hotel next to the Staples Center, the conference was a great success.
I was able to spend most of the time working with Dan Schlyter in the booth representing Family Search. It is always a lot of fun to be able to visit with Jewish researchers from all over the world. In my free time I was able to renue aquaintances with people from, Canada, England, Australia, Israel, and all parts of the United States. Last week, the Knowles Collection was expanded to over 115,000 people. At the conference I was able to teach a class on how to use it. It was nice that within 24 hours of teaching that class 5 people had already sent me there own families for inclusion.
This year the conference was sponsered by the Los Angeles society and they did an excellent job. Next year we move to Washington D.C., which should be a great location.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I had the opportunity to attend the 2009 International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies annual conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is always a great chance to pick the brains of so many people who share the same passion. I was able to join Laurence Harris and other members of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, on a panel to answer questions raised by those in attendance. I tried to attend as many of the classes as I could that dealt with Sephardic Jews. There seems to be more and more good information coming out each year.

Chicago, Illinois September 2008

New York, New York 2006

This was a very exciting trip for me. Not only was it a chance to visit one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, but it was the first chance to present The Knowles Collection to such a large audience. I was nervous and excited to present, and it went quite well. I had a full room and there seemed to be a lot of interest. After the class I found it very gratifing that so many people stayed and talked about their own families. 2 people even donated names to the collection. The following day I presented a class on using English records. Again, I was overwhelmed by the many nice comments. I truly enjoy attending these conferences.