Lisa Louise Cooke zooming around the earth (with Google Earth)

More than 300 of us arrived bright and early (or maybe it was just early…) at the Byrnes Performing Arts Center in Arlington, rearing to go for Day 2 of the Northwest Genealogy Conference. But the hard-working members of the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society, sponsors of this third annual conference, had been there long before us, making sure everything was ready.

It didn’t take long for us to “Blast to the Past with Google Earth” with the amazing Lisa Louise Cooke as our expert navigator. We held onto our seats as we zoomed from historical maps superimposed over today’s terrain to identifying old unidentified family photos using Google Earth (really!). The tips and “gems” just kept coming — the sky was truly the limit!

Today was “Dress Like Your Ancestor Day” — so creative!

As if the Google Earth for Genealogy program wasn’t enough, Lisa also pumped us full of resources, ideas, strategies and tips during her “Google Tools and Procedures for Solving Family History Mysteries” and “Future Technology and Genealogy.” The only thing she couldn’t provide was time to do all the exciting opportunities she shared. Maybe that’s why I’m still on the computer and it’s after 11 p.m.!

The day also forced me to choose two hour-long workshops from the 14 offered today. (Side note: 40 different workshops were offered at the conference — and I had to choose only 6 — an almost impossible task!) I decided I needed the focus and motivation to get organized, so I attended “Solve Genealogy Problems by Creating a Timeline” with Beth Foulk and “Building a Research Plan” with Janice Lovelace. Two great classes with step-by-step (easy) plans, tools and resources to organize myself. I’m feeling positive about my future success.

The day closed with a banquet at the Glen Eagle Country Club where we were treated to Blaine Bettinger, tomorrow’s keynote presenter on DNA and genetic genealogy, giving us a peek at the “Science Fiction Future of Genetic Genealogy.”