Largest Gathering of Family Historians in Canada

The Ontario Genealogical Society's next annual provincial Conference will take place in Toronto from Friday, May 14 through Sunday, May 16, 2010 at the Doubletree by Hilton - Toronto Airport. Toronto Branch is gearing up to host an event that promises something for every family historian.

The Conference 2010 theme is: “Essentials, Innovations and Delights”. A carefully-selected roster of top-rated speakers will deliver a content-rich program that is packed with relentlessly practical lectures and workshops and sprinkled with inspiring case studies.

Thomas W. Jones, one of North America's most highly respected and honoured genealogists, will lead off a special full-day lecture stream on Friday for the professional genealogist or advanced researcher, and will deliver the keynote Houston Memorial Lecture that evening.

The weekend programs will feature a full-day stream for the novice genealogist and two added specialized streams on the essentials of researching Dutch and Italian ancestry, and much more.

Saturday’s banquet speaker will be Karolyn Smardz Frost, the 1997 winner of the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction for her book I’ve Got a Home in Gloryland. Learn not only about Karolyn’s research subjects, the indomitable fugitive slaves, Thornton & Lucie Blackburn, but also about Karolyn’s own 20-year research odyssey.

New this year will be a closing plenary lecture, to be delivered by John Philip Colletta. People are still buzzing about his 2008 appearance at an OCAPG event in Toronto. Now we can all get to hear one of the most entertaining and informative family historians on the planet.

Extra options will include a pre-Conference "Hands-on Research" excursion, and a "Toronto's Irish Heritage" bus tour exploring the Irish connections in Toronto. And the ever-popular Marketplace will be back, with a full 10,000 square feet of display space.

For more about Conference 2010, visit www.ogs.on.ca/conference2010, and subscribe to the Conference blog to stay on top of the latest developments.

The Ontario Genealogical Society's three-day annual conference is the largest gathering of family historians in Canada. Conference 2010, hosted by the OGS Toronto Branch promises to be inspiring, delightful and a lot of fun. You won’t want to miss it!