Steve Myers sent me a letter this past week. A nice letter but not a happy one. Steve is chairman of the programs committee for the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2007 Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Steve wrote to tell be that my 6 lecture proposals were among the 530 rejected proposals. There were gentle words at the end, boilerplate excuses, I mean reasons, why mine did not make the cut. Perhaps you received one too?
If each of those submitters sent 5 or 6 proposals, there surely enough good speakers among the 100 to create two or three nicely balanced regional programs. But we don’t make the cut.
Here is a challenge for you. Examine the FGS and NGS conference syllabusses since 2002 and ignore the speakers, but focus on the topics. Who has creative new topics?
Now, look at the topics again. how many repeat for several conferences, several years. Are they worth it?
A very well known, very competent genealogy speaker told me that for NGS in Chicago, the program committee rejected her new, leading edge proposal and asked her to repeat an old lecture. Beats me why. Puzzled her too.
I am less and less excited about attending national conferences. For the money spent I think most people would get more benefit from one of the institutes like
Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research
The National Institute for Genealogical Research
These are all different, more filling and less expensive than blowing your money at FGS Boston this week.
And if you had your proposals rejected, rememer, the network you create attending these three is a network of superior genealogists like you!
Genealogy Education 
Here’s a working link for the . The link in the article has a typo in it.
[OK, let’s see if this works a little better.]
Here’s a working link for the Institute of _Genealogy_ & Historical Research. The link in the article has a typo in it.