Jamboree 2018 Recap
We had a fun time at the 49th Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree! From May 31 – June 2, a few members of the Geni team headed over to the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel in Burbank, California to participate in this exciting and engaging conference.
The Geni booth before the doors opened
For the first time, the exhibit hall was open on the Thursday, which is usually reserved for DNA Day. This year the day was packed with three different conferences – JamboFree, Genetic Genealogy, and the Family History Writers Conferences. The next two days of the conference were devoted to the Genealogy Jamboree, which was packed with a variety classes.
The Geni booth was packed with people
Once the exhibit hall doors opened, the Geni booth was packed with people eager to try out Geni and sign up for our special conference discount – 50% off Geni Pro subscriptions! We also had free access to all our premium features, including free access to MyHeritage Record Matches and Smart Matches, at the conference computers for anyone who wanted a chance to confirm their matches to their Geni profiles during the conference.
Randy getting some genealogy work done on Geni
Geni curator Randy Schoenberg joined us again at the Geni booth to chat with attendees about why they should be collaborating on Geni’s World Family Tree. In between the rush, he also managed to make time to get some genealogy work done at the booth.
Showing off our new HTML tree on an iPad
Attendees were also able to see our new HTML tree in action at the conference. Many people expressed their excitement that they were finally able to view their trees on their mobile devices.
Mike helping an attendee with her tree
We loved hearing from users about their experiences on Geni. A lovely woman stopped by to tell us that she had met a relative in a Finnish Facebook group who turned out to be a Finnish curator on Geni. She told us that within a few hours, her new relative had helped build family tree on Geni and connect her to the World Family Tree. She was amazed at how far back her tree went and was so happy to have made the connection to her Finnish cousin.
Having fun chatting with Randy Schoenberg and Kitty Cooper
We also had fun connecting with our genealogy friends at Jamboree. It’s always a pleasure to get to spend time with geneablogger Kitty Cooper.
Amanda and Randy Seaver at Jamboree
And we also got spend some time with geneablogger Randy Seaver, who always makes an effort to stop by and say hi.
Jamboree has always been one of our favorite conferences to attend each year and we can’t wait to see what the Southern California Genealogical Society has in store for their 50th birthday bash next year!