Click here to see the Anniversary Quilt to be given away at the Conference
Loretto Dennis Szucs ("Lou") is currently executive editor and vice president of community relations for Ancestry.com, a part of The Generations Network. She has served on advisory boards for the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation and the Illinois State Archives, as well as governing boards of several genealogical societies. She was founding secretary and is currently a board member of the Federation of Genealogical Societies.
Titles of some of Lou’s books include: The third edition of The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy (the most recent edition that she co-edited with Sandra Luebking and was published by Ancestry in 2006); They Became Americans; Chicago and Cook County Sources; and with Sandra Luebking, she is the co-author of The Archives: A Guide to the National Archives Field Branches. With Matt Wright, she is co-author of Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records.
She has received awards from the National Archives, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the National Genealogical Society, the Polish Genealogical Society, the Illinois State Genealogical Society, and the Utah Genealogical Society, and the International Society of Family History Writer’s and Editors.
Lou previously worked for the National Archives-Great Lakes Region in Chicago, and has been with Ancestry for 15 years.
D. Joshua Taylor "Josh" is a nationally known and recognized genealogical author, lecturer, and researcher. Josh is a frequent speaker at genealogical societies, libraries, and other organizations. His speaking previous engagements include GENTECH, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy.
He currently writes the “Essential Technology for Genealogists” column in Digital Genealogist, and his articles have appeared in UGA Crossroads, FGS Forum, Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly, and New England Ancestors.
Josh has served as parliamentarian for the Utah Genealogical Association and the USGenWeb Project, and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists where he served on the Website Enhancement committee. He is the recipient of the 2003 and 2004 Distinguished Service Awards from the Utah Genealogical Association and the Rubincam Youth Award from the National Genealogical Society.
Josh is the Research Services Coordinator at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, Massachusetts, and is pursuing an MLS (Archival Management) and MA (History) at Simmons College.
Houston native Beau Sharbrough received a Philosophy BA from Texas A&M in 1977. His programming career began in 1980, and he has presently a product manager for MyFamily.com. He is the founder of the FGS web site, the GENTECH web site, and the Lexicon Working Group. He is a former president of GENTECH. Beau writes regularly on technical topics in family history, with an occasional overdose of humor, and maintains the RootsWorks.com website.
Eric Basir owns a photo retouching studio in Evanston, IL. He serves the genealogical community as a teacher and author of "Ask the Retoucher," a column for genealogical publications. He recently published his first book "Digital Photo Restoration Book I." In service to the genealogical community, Eric's studio sponsored the launch of Lostandfoundphotos.net, a free service to provide genealogists a forum to identify lost or unknown photographs. Eric will also be available in the exhibit area before and after his session for no-charge consultations about your problem photo and software questions. So bring your laptop and files if you are able.
Susan A. Anderson serves with her husband Bruce as Area Family History Advisers for the FamilySearch Program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving an area that covers parts of six states with 70 family history centers. They spend much of their spare time traveling and teaching others about FamilySearch programs. They are parents of 6 children and grandparents of 17. Susan began searching for ancestors at age 20 and immediately got hooked! She has been a genealogy teacher and lecturer for many years. Bruce is Director of the Normal Illinois LDS Family History Center.
Debra Mieszala, Certified Genealogist, has been involved in genealogical research for over 20 years
She is currently President of the Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society. Other memberships include the National Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the Illinois State Genealogical Society. She is a member of the Board for Certification’s Outreach Committee, and writes press releases about those who are newly certified.
Debra is a multi-year alumnus of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University and has attended the National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Kathy Carey has been Illinois State Registrar and State Organizing Secretary and has her Volunteer Genealogist Certificate from the National Daughters of the American Revolution Society. She has given numerous workshops on Genealogy and how to fill out the DAR Application.
Topic title: The DAR and Technology
Topic Description: There will be a presentation on what is available on the DAR website and the information you can access online from the DAR Library including use of the Patriot Look-Up Service and the type of information you can obtain about the ancestor. There will be a summary of internet sites we would access to give us additional information.
Lori Bessler has worked at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library Archives since 1988. She is a Reference Librarian and Outreach Coordinator. She has lectured throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest on genealogical topics for over 15 years and has been researching family history for over 30 years.