Unlock the Past’s Australian History & Genealogy Expo 2016

Unlock the Past’s Australian History & Genealogy Expo 2016 is coming and it’s big … ok, it’s not to the size of RootsTech or Who Do You Think You Are? Live! … but it’s big by Australian genealogy conference standards. In fact, it’s the biggest we’ve had.

For anyone who’s into genealogy particularly those in Australia (or anyone who wishes to visit from overseas, you’re more than welcome to come and visit my beautiful home city of Adelaide), this really is something you won’t want to miss.

The Expo is being organised by Unlock the Past, who along with being one of Australia’s leaders in promoting history and genealogy, have organised Expo’s and other events around Australia and as well as held genealogy cruises over the past few years.

Firstly a few numbers and details
Let’s start with a few stats
– held over 2 days
– 100+ exhibitors (with many coming from interstate or overseas)
– 90 talks
– 35+ speakers

There will be workshops, getting started talks, advanced talks and one-on-one Research Help Zone sessions with experts, and a large Expo hall.

The Where: Immanuel College, 32 Morphett Road, Novar Gardens, South Australia
The When: 7-8 October 2016
The Time: Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 9am-4pm
The Admission Cost: $15/1 day; $20/2 days, 18 and under free

The Speakers
The speakers are coming from all around Australia with a few from overseas too:
– Dr Tom Lewis (author and military historian)
– Philip Payton (well-known authority on Cornish history, and Australia in WW1)
– Brad Argent (Ancestry UK)
– Jeremy Austin (Australian DNA Database Project)
– John Donaldson (Family Tree Maker specialist)
– Greg Drew (South Australian mining history)
– Andrew Gildea (from Finders Cafe)
– Jan Gow (well-known speaker from NZ, who will be talking on Legacy and other topics)
– John Graham (from Ryerson Index)
– Rob Hamilton (expert on Freemasonry records)
– Shauna Hicks (well-known Australian genealogy presenter)
– Rosemary Kopittke (expert with online sites, and other topics)
– Janette Lange (from the Lutheran Archives)
– Sylvia Murphy (from the Families in British India Society)
– Madeleine Regan (from the Veneto Market Gardeners Oral history Project)
– Christeen Schoepf (from the Cheer-up Hut)
– Sally Stephenson (from the Oral History Association SA/NT)
– Helen Smith (expert in medical history, DNA, methodology and many other topics)
– Richard Wilson (from DatacomIT)
and many more … click here for the full list.

The Topics
The list of topics covered is extensive, and covers everything from Cornish emigration to DNA, health history, Using maps, German genealogy, using FamilySearch, MyHistory, dating 19th century photos, oral history, Findmypast, Family Tree Maker, Print options for your family history, Police history, military history, digitising and preserving historical documents, basic charting, Family Historian, sporting ancestors, mining ancestors, flour milling ancestors, Ryerson Index and the list goes on.  View the current program here.

Cost of Talks
Many talks will be free, but some will have a charge of $10 or $5 per talk. Tickets to these will be available to purchase at the Expo, or you can buy a $50 Gold Ticket which gives you access to unlimited talks. Dyou can find details of that here.

The Exhibitors
The exhibitor list is long, and you can look through the full list for yourself here, here’s just a few to run by you:
– Ancestry
– Australian DNA Database Project
– Avonmore Books
– Big Egg Media
– Council Libraries
– DatacomIT
– Eezy Charts
– Family Tree Maker (MacKiev)
– FamilySearch
– Findmypast
– Finders Cafe
– Football Club Archives
– Geopast
– Guild of One Name Studies
– HistorySA
– MyHeritage
– School Archives
– Societies (many big and small societies are exhibiting)
– State Library of South Australia
– State Records of South Australia
– Teapot Genealogy
– Thornetree Genealogy
– Vivid Recollections
– Wakefield Press

The Goodies
Apart from the vendors likely to have specials during the Expo, and the registration kit being full of all sorts of fabulous stuff, there are thousands of dollars worth of prizes up for grabs, and here’s how to be in it to win.
1. Anyone who pre-purchases their ticket goes into a draw, simple as that.
2. Anyone who attends the Expo (including those who pre-purchased a ticket) go into a draw.
3. Take part in the Treasure Hunt for more prizes.
Please note: this does exclude exhibitors and those under 18 who get in for free

More Info
Website: www.unlockthepast.com.au/AustralianExpo2016
Email: inquiries@unlockthepast.com.au
Phone: (08) 8263 2055
Book: click here

And if you’re attending, please stop by the Gould Genealogy stand and say Hi, as that’s where you’ll find me.