Southern California Genealogical Society's 2010 Jamboree: Day One

OK, so officially, Jamboree has not begun. But here I am in beautiful, WARM Burbank, California all excited about my first day of Jamboree time!

I very much enjoyed my flight to Burbank from Spokane via Oakland, chatting with fellow Eastern Washington Genealogical Society board members, Donna Potter Phillips and Cecily Cone Kelly. It has been 23 1/2 years since I've been to California (I marched in the Pasadena Rose Parade on New Year's Day 1987 with The Salvation Army Band - another lifetime ago!) and 25 years since I have flown. I love flying! I used to do it all the time growing up in Alaska and again as a college student in Washington State. But that was pre-Internet and pre-9/11 and flying has taken on another form from what I remember. The advantage of being able to book a flight and print my boarding pass online was heavily outweighed by the seriousness of airport security and reminders of the threat of terrorism. It was much like returning to one's childhood home: while you cherish those fond memories, things have changed and you realize that you can never really go back home again.

After lunch and rest, I went to the Marriott Hotel lobby to pick up my syllabus and registration packet, since I had pre-registered and had that option. While there, I ran into all kinds of old friends and new, most of whom I'd never met in real life until today! They included:

• Paula Hinkel, organizer extraordinaire of Jamboree
• The footnoteMaven, who was wearing a tiara!
• Kathryn Doyle of the California Genealogical Society and Library blog
• Schelly Talalay Dardashti of Tracing the Tribe
• Becky Wiseman of kinexxions
• Cheryl Palmer of Heritage Happens
• Gini of Ginisology, and her husband Steve
• Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
• Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage.com, and
• Tom Ryder of EasyNetSites.com (a great place to go if your genealogy society is looking to build a new website!)
• Ruth Himan of Genealogy is Ruthless Without Me
• Maureen Taylor of The Photo Detective

While I did attempt to take photos, the lighting in the lounge where we were sitting and chatting was very poor and they did not turn out well, for the most part. I know tomorrow will bring me many more opportunities for meetups and pics, so stay tuned!

Day Two - Part I
Day Two - Part II
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five