CFP: 2009 Cleveland Conference (Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International)
Conference: October 14-17, 2009
CFP Deadline: April 1, 2008
URL: http://www.cgsi.org/news.asp?intNewsID=133
The Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International will hold its 12th Genealogical/Cultural Conference at the Holiday Inn Cleveland South – Independence. The dates are Wednesday October 14 through Saturday October 17. Ethnic area and research tours will be offered on Wednesday and Thursday. The next step in conference planning is seeking speaker candidates.
Beginning Genealogy and possibly a few “local interest” sessions will be offered on Thursday afternoon October 15th along with use of the Traveling Library and Vendor area. A total of 32 proposals will be chosen by our Selection Team for Friday and Saturday, with 4 simultaneous sessions offered over 4 time slots each day. The goal of the team will be to provide a balanced program based upon ethnicity and genre. All sessions will be 75 minutes in length.
The Cleveland area has one of the highest concentrations of persons of Slovak, Czech and Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry in the country. They still have a large number of ethnic organizations, including the Slovak Institute, First Slovak Catholic Union (Jednota), Cleveland-Bratislava Sister Cities, Sokol Greater Cleveland, Czech Catholic’s Karlin Hall, Carpatho-Rusyn Society – Cleveland Chapter, as well as Czech and Slovak radio programs. The city has definitely done a very good job maintaining its rich ethnic heritage.
Topics appropriate to this conference are numerous. Shown below is a list of potential subject matter:
-Computers in Genealogy (family tree programs, family web sites, etc.)
-Genealogy (ethnic specific, US, European, traditional, on-line)
-History of ethnic settlements, religious groups, churches, fraternal organizations
-Immigration history, Emigration history (push-pull factors), Military history
-Austro-Hungarian Empire history, 20th century history, prehistoric history
-Language (conversational, meanings / origins of surnames and place names, transcription)
-Folk art, Folk music, Folklore, Folk dance
-Modes of Transportation (in homeland, passenger ships, trains, steam boats, etc.)
-Ethnic press, newspapers, periodicals, newsletters
-Research institutions, Collections, museums
-Geography
-DNA studies
-Traditions (holidays, life-cycle, etc.)
-Cooking / baking
-Other
The information we require from speaker candidates includes: a title and one page summary for each presentation, and a speaker bio of no more than one page. We encourage speaker candidates located outside of the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area to submit more than one paper, because of the costs of travel and lodging to bring in speakers.
Speakers selected for the conference will receive a complimentary admission, that includes the Friday and Saturday lunches, and a free vendor table. A travel allowance and lodging will be provided to out of area speakers based on their individual situation.
If you require a speaking honorarium, please clearly state your requirements. Honorarium requests could lessen an applicant’s chance of being selected. The CGSI puts on a very high quality program, while attempting to maintain a reasonable registration rate for the public.
If you have an interest in speaking or know someone who would be an appropriate speaker in Cleveland, please forward this information to them or contact Paul Makousky, Conference Chair at: PaulMCzech@comcast.net or by US mail at 8582 Timberwood Road, Woodbury, MN 55125-7620.
Papers are due by April 1, 2008 and shall be mailed to Paul Makousky at the address above.
