You could feel the excitement and energy in the building as more than 250 genealogy enthusiasts gathered at the Byrnes Performing Arts Center for the first full day of the 2019 Northwest Genealogy Conference.

Our keynote speaker was the amazing Angie Bush. Angie is a senior genealogist with Ancestry ProGenealogists. She’s also one of my favorite DNA speakers. She uses clear language, great examples and case studies and really keeps up on the ever-changing world of DNA.

Angie’s presentations today included Direct Line Testing (Y-DNA & mtDNA), Answering Genealogical Questions with Autosomal DNA and Power Tools to Make the Most of Your DNA Test. I had many “ah ha’s” to take home to apply to my own DNA results. Lots of notes scribbled on my syllabus.

In addition to the three keynote presentations, the conference attendees had to make the difficult choice of choosing just two workshops from the ten offered. I opted for Janice Lovelace’s “Becoming Washington: Who Came to the Northwest and Why” and “The Genealogical Proof Standard According to Sherlock Holmes” with Jill Morelli. Both classes were standing room only — more chairs brought in to Janice’s Washington class and Jill’s Sherlock Holmes class was moved to a bigger classroom.

I had a chance to visit a few vendors — interesting! Will buy raffle tickets and visit the Heritage Quest Research Library book store tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow…great fun is in store! It’s “Dress Like Your Ancestor” day! You can still register for the day. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. We’re waiting for you!