John Konvalinka’s Speaking Schedule and List of Available Topics:

2001	(See 2001 Schedule)
2002	(See 2002 Schedule)
2003	(See 2003 Schedule)
2004	(See 2004 Schedule)
Jan 5, 2005	Cape Cod Genealogical Society
February 14	Delaware & Lehigh Valley Genealogy Club
February 26	Connecticut Ancestry Conference - Greenwich
March 13	Monmouth County (NJ) Genealogical Society
Mar 31-Apr 2	NERGC Portland Maine (3 lectures)
April 16	Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society (4 lectures)
April 30	Society of Genealogists – London/Family History Show (4 lectures)
May 7	Middlesex Genealogical Society - Darien, CT
May 7	New Jersey Society of Colonial Wars, Lambertville NJ
June 1-4	National Genealogical Society 2005 Conference (6 lectures)
June 9-11	Palatines to America Nat’l Conference– Ft Wayne IN (2 lectures)
September 25	Manchester (England) Jewish Genealogical Society
January 4, 2006	Cape Cod Genealogical Society
February 7	Morris Area (NJ) Genealogical Society
March 4	DuPage County (IL) Genealogical Society – All day Seminar (4 lectures)
April 8	Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society -- All day Seminar (4 lectures)
April 10	Delaware and Lehigh Valley Genealogical Club
April 21-22	Wisconsin State Genealogical Society – Two day Seminar (4 lectures)
April 26	NJ State Archives/GSNJ Lecture Series
June 6-10	National Genealogical Society (Chicago) – 5 lectures
August 26	Louisville (KY) Genealogical Society – All day Seminar (4 lectures)
Aug 30- Sep 2	Federation of Genealogical Societies (Boston)
Sept 29-30	GSP/WPGS Joint Conference – Pittsburgh
October 14	Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society Conference -- Bethlehem PA
November 12	Monmouth County (NJ) Genealogical Society

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List of Available Topics: (new topics developed on request)

The Newest Electronic Frontier – Searchable Scanned Newspapers	It is finally becoming possible to tap into the genealogical riches in many unindexed newspapers because optical scanning has made a reality of online, “every word searchable” access to many newspapers.  This session will provide detailed examples of what is available.
Keeping Up With the Neighbors – Learn About Your Ancestors from the People they Knew Available AudioTapes	Learning more about the people who lived near or had any of several kinds of associations with our ancestors  may help us fill many of the gaps in our knowledge about their lives and ways.
Newest, Unusual and Exciting Web Sites for Genealogists Available AudioTapes	This talk explores the newest development for genealogists who are already somewhat computer literate.  It deals extensively with online census records, passenger lists and immigration records, cemetery and obituary data, and the applicability of DNA analysis in genealogical research.  The latest and newest sites in each of these areas are discussed in the talk and included in the handout.
Improving your Online Research Using NGS Standards for Use of Technology In Genealogical Research	"It's a jungle out there!" The world of online research becomes more fascinating and more treacherous all the time. This session will help you achieve the best results from your online research by following the common sense standards that have been developed from experience by the NGS leadership.
Cyber Roads Less Traveled – Mail Lists, Newsgroups, Genealogy CD-ROMs Available AudioTapes	With all of the attention paid to The World Wide Web, other important genealogical resources – Internet newsgroups and mail lists and  genealogical CD-ROMs. – are often overlooked.  In this session we discuss how to use these resources, including the construction of effective queries.
New Jersey Genealogical Research – Finding the Rosetta Stone(s) Available AudioTapes	New Jersey has a rich genealogical heritage dating from Colonial times.  In this session we discuss where and how to find early and modern records in the major repositories and in some lesser known collections.
Genealogical Research Possibilities in Major U.S. Repositories	This talk was prepared for audiences outside the U.S. to introduce them to the wealth of repository information available in the United States – with special emphasis on those resources which can be accessed remotely from abroad.  (Offered at the Society of Genealogists in London in February 2002.)
Discovering London's Genealogical Treasures	This talk was prepared for audiences in the U.S. to introduce them to the wealth of genealogical information available in London.  We discuss the nature and holdings of the principal  repositories – The Society of Genealogists,  The Public Record Office, The Family Record Centre  and The British Library –  as well as the holdings of many other important London specialized libraries and archives.   We discuss how and in which repositories to find the various kinds of records and documents  (not only for London but for many areas of the United Kingdom) which may be important to genealogical research.  We  discuss what type of information may be available online (and what is NOT) – and [for those who plan to go to London] how to use the websites and other information to prepare to get most benefit from their trip.
Your Immigrant Ancestor(s) -- Find 'em in Cyberspace Available AudioTapes	Locating the sources and finding individuals’ immigration records involves answers to several  key questions: WHERE – did your immigrants settle, where did they land, and FROM WHERE did they depart?  WHY – did they settle where they did?  (This might provide a clue as to WHERE they arrived/settled) WHEN – did they come? WHAT – kinds of records might be available for that time period? In this talk we explore the implications of these questions and offer suggestions for finding records in the “virtual” repositories made possible through advances in genealogical computing and the resources of the Internet as well as in traditional “brick and mortar” repositories.
Making Your Case Using the Genealogical Proof Standard	This talk reviews the history and various components of the Genealogical Proof Standard, explains in detail the meaning of the various definitions, and shows how they are applied in real life examples, including several difficult and ambiguous ones.
Finding Living Relatives (Using Traditional and Computer Based Genealogical Sources) Available AudioTapes	This talk uses presentation materials and case studies to demonstrate the effective use of computer based resources in addition to traditional repository research in locating and making contact with living relatives – even ones we didn’t know we had.
Genealogy Research in the 21st Century Available AudioTapes	In this talk we review the major areas of genealogy “repository” research – census data, vital statistics, property and land records, wills and other courthouse documents, and published and compiled genealogies.  We then examine how each of these areas is being impacted by modern computer and Internet technology.    Throughout the talk we use case studies to demonstrate the applicability of the approaches and techniques presented.
Are We Using the Internet to its Full Potential?	This talk describes the background of the Internet and gives examples of how Internet searching has improved the results of a genealogical search. We offer a “10 step program” to take advantage of the many resources available to genealogists through the Internet – and discuss why some things that are on the Internet may not easily be found.
Traditional vs. Computer Based Genealogical Research: Not "Either/Or" but "BOTH" Available AudioTapes	This talk uses “for instances” to demonstrate the many ways that computer based research can be used in conjunction with traditional repository research.  We emphasize that genealogical research is not an “either/or” proposition, but that successful genealogists will use BOTH traditional and computer based approaches to produce better results than either approach could have produced alone.
Successful Ways of Using Computers and The Internet in Genealogical Research	These talks offer a basic introduction to ways of using computer based resources in genealogical research.  They are designed for genealogists who may not be overly computer literate.  They offer the participants a broad overview and many specific suggestions and websites to begin to use to improve their skills and build their confidence in using computer based tools. (This talk has been presented many ways – from a one hour overview to a 12 hour, six session course at the Princeton Adult School.)
Avoiding Tangles in the World Wide Web -- Introductory
Avoiding Tangles in the World Wide Web -- Beyond Google: Successful Searching Techniques Available AudioTapes	This talk concentrates on successful ways of searching the World Wide Web AND other areas of the Internet not usually searched by the better known search engines.  The emphasis is on using a variety of basic and more advanced techniques (including Boolean logic) to get past the clutter on The Internet and concentrate on finding useful results.
Westward Ho – Making a Family Story into a Genealogical Research Project Available AudioTapes	This talk describes the travels and accomplishments of an Easterner who went to California in the Gold Rush years and later traveled to Russia to work out trade agreements between the US and that country. The emphasis in the talk is how to place the “family story” in an accurate historical context and how to deal with the genealogical puzzles and surprises that inevitably result from that research.
The “Other Side” of the Courthouse	This talk deals with the valuable genealogical records which can be found in court records BEYOND the ones normally researched by genealogists and how modern search engines and online legal record services can simplify and improve the success at finding valuable records.
The SECRETS of Making Effective Genealogical Presentations	This talk offers guidance and practical pointers (designed around SECRETS as an acronym) for improving the quality of genealogical presentations and includes a demonstration of the effective use of Microsoft PowerPoint.
Teaching College Level and Adult Education Genealogy Courses	This talk describes the benefits and key success factors for genealogists who would like to teach at the college or adult education level
PowerPoint for Genealogists -- Beyond the Basics	This talk is for genealogists who have mastered the basics of Microsoft's PowerPoint but would like to learn how to produce some straightforward, "genealogically interesting" effects in your presentations.

Other Topics Under Development:

Super Sleuthing the Census:  Beyond the Population Schedules and the Federal Census	With today’s computer technology we can dig deeper into the Federal Census population schedules and to go beyond them to find useful information in  the “special schedules” as well as in State and local census records and various census substitutes.
Computer and Data Security for Genealogists
The SECRETS of Good Documentation

New genealogical topics developed on request. Also, based on many years of experience with computers and The Internet, (as well as many years of genealogical experience) I am prepared to offer presentations on any computer related topic which might be useful to genealogists: hardware (including new devices,) software and/or The Internet. In any such presentation, I always stress the themes reflected above – that computer based resources are not a substitute for repository research, but tools which can be used very successfully – as finding aids – in conjunction with traditional genealogical research.

If you are interested in scheduling a presentation for your group, or would like more details, please contact me -- john@konvalinka.com