Last weekend from May 23-26, I was able to attend the National Genealogical Society’s conference “Tales and Trails” in Louisville, Kentucky. This entailed three days of genealogical workshops, seminars, chats, and get togethers that allowed me to pick up some new techniques, learn more about the work being done by others in the genealogical world, and meet other genealogists for the first time in person.
The conference took place in Louisville, Kentucky and it was my first time in this city, though I honestly did not really explore much of the city (except the downtown area). Given the cost of the main hotel where the conference took place, I stayed at a hotel about a 10-15 mins walk away. Therefore, I began and ended my genealogical days with a walk which was a nice way to get excited and later come down from and process all the different activities of the day. It also gave me a reason to walk around and not just stay on the conference’s premises.
Not only were there workshops to attend but there were also genealogical booths set up in the hallway near the conference rooms. Therefore, you could pop over to learn more about a product, buy a book, ask questions to a society/entity, etc., and even sit and explore on the computers for certain companies such as MyHeritage. I stopped by a few, such as the ICAPGEN and the BCG booth since I am interested in getting my accreditation in genealogy at some point.
The conference was sponsored by various companies (pictured below) and most of them had a booth you could visit. I thought the coolest booth was FamilyTreeDNA where I saw an older gentleman taking a DNA test.
Overall, I really enjoyed the conference. It was my first time at an in-person one and I definitely enjoyed attending in person versus attending them online. I think one of the hardest things for me as a Hispanic genealogist is that I have a very specific niche in my research. In fact, I have various specific niches (Puerto Rico, French Caribbean, Spain) and these are not generally covered in chats (either online or in person) by the bigger societies. Therefore, I do not see most of my work reflected in the workshops. Though it is still nice to learn from others about how they go about doing their research, but since it is not common to see my work reflected a lot of the archives, record types, and some methodologies I use do not really pop up in talks. I am excited for a future in which I can see what I do reflected at national conferences such as this one.
I am not sure where the next NGS conference will be held in 2026 but I am excited to find out! I would also love to check out other conferences such as Roots Tech and see what Hispanic conferences there are out there that I can attend and learn more related to the work I do.
Cover Photo: “Join us in Louisville 23-26 May 2025 for Tales & Trails, the NGS Family History Conference,” NGS – National Genealogical Society (https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/ : accessed 29 May 2025)