The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Genealogical Partnership
"The Virtual Society in Action"
11 December 2009
Embassy Suites Hotel - Valley Forge, PA

Supported by The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's Statewide Organization Grant Program

In today's electronic world, genealogical societies of all sizes are turning to the virtual world to interact with and provide services to members. Join us on Friday, 11 December, for the 2009 Pennsylvania Genealogical Partnership's Genealogical Leadership Summit with David E. Rencher, chief genealogical officer at Family Search, as featured speaker at the all-day event.

Focus of the event will be "The Virtual Society in Action." Rencher will address ways society officers and directors can deal specifically with shifting their organizations into the twenty-first century and increasing their outreach by adding to their Internet presence. Joining him on the program will be Tim Siftar, librarian in the Information Science and Technology Department at Drexel University's Goodwin College, and Seth Horwitz of CommuniShare Consulting.

Schedule
9 – 9:30 AM	Registration
9:30 – 11:45 AM (with break) David E. Rencher	Societies Going Virtual Today’s genealogical societies must deal with the intense competition they are receiving from the Internet. The organizational focus of genealogical societies for the last 150 years will not allow them to survive in a virtual world. This session helps society officers and directors deal specifically with shifting their society into the twenty-first century.
	Societies Going Virtual — An Update A host of off-the-shelf products and services are available to manage your society. As “digital immigrants” most society officers are swimming in unfamiliar waters when it comes to using the latest technology. If you were all “digital natives” like your grandchildren, this would be simple! This session reinforces the learning from “Societies Going Virtual” and takes the strategy to the next level.
11:45 AM – 1 PM	Buffet Lunch and Networking
1:15 – 3:30 PM (with break) Tim Siftar, Seth Horwitz and Tom Ceresini	Getting Started with Virtual Meetings and Service Delivery: Options and Best Practices Between Internet growth and travel budget shrinkage, more colleagues and clients are becoming telecommuters. Has your organization risen to the challenge of virtual collaboration and service delivery? Today’s virtual meeting options go from the shoestring to high definition. The speakers have used a variety of e-meeting, e-presentation and e-instruction platforms to help different types of organizations meet a range of needs. This session will present an entertaining overview of the issues that arise in selecting and running virtual meetings. You will leave the session with a sense of what your options are to move into virtual collaboration and service delivery for your organization.

Two representatives of each Partners member society may attend the event without charge. The fee for additional society members and representatives of non-member societies will be $40 each, with lunch included. The conference will begin at 9:30 AM and end at 4 PM. Wireless Internet will be available in the meeting room.

Embassy Suites Valley Forge, site for the conference, is conveniently situated just off Route 202 between King of Prussia and Exton. Located just a few miles from the Schuylkill Expressway, Interstate 476, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the hotel offers easy access from all parts of the state. Parking is free. The hotel's web site, www.vfsuites.com, offers more information.

This project is supported by a grant from The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA, is employed by the Family History Department in Salt Lake City as the Chief Genealogical Officer and the Director and Planning and Coordination Division. In addition, he continues to direct collection development activities for Family Search, www.familysearch.org. A professional genealogist since 1977, he was accredited in Ireland research in 1981. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1980 with a B.A. in Family and Local History. He is the Irish course coordinator and instructor for the Samford University Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research (IGHR) in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a past-president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), 1997–2000, and of the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA), 1993–1995 and a Fellow of that organization.

Tim Siftar is a Reference Librarian at Drexel University's Hagerty Library. He is the subject specialist in the fields of education, information systems and library science, earning him the informal title of “meta-librarian.” Tim holds two masters degrees, one in Library & Information Science and the other in Information Systems.

Seth Horwitz is the principal of CommuniShare Consulting, which helps non-profits enhance their online collaboration and knowledge management. He is an organizer of Philly NetSquared, which encourages the use of social technology for social good.

Tom Ceresini is a library technology consultant who works with cultural heritage institutions to evaluate, implement and use technology. His areas of specialization include open source software systems, user training and digitization. Tom has over 25 years experience in the information technology field and holds a masters degree in library and information science from Drexel University.

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