I haven't attended a national conference yet and plan to attend NGS in Salt Lake City this coming year. I have been researching nearly 15 years and would consider myself an intermediate researcher. I am better at some records (especially late 19th century & 20th century) than others (before 1850). I am looking forward to hearing from presenters that I have been reading about all these years. Wouldn't it be helpful for beginners to have a special track for them such as on one day? We have done this at model railroading conventions. Lisa Gorrell Martinez, CA <div class="gmail_quote"> On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 12:59 PM, Wanda Samek <<a href="mailto:wanda@sameks.us">wanda@sameks.us</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> <div> <div>>>The people who defend current conference topics are, in fact, defending them for "beginners", a category in which they are NOT placing themselves. <<</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>A very good point, Barbara. </div> <div> </div> <div>It may also strengthen my conclusion that national conferences, as a general rule, should be targeted more toward intermediate and advanced levels of expertise.</div> <div> </div> <div>Wanda Samek</div></div> _______________________________________________ APG Public Mailing List <a href="http://apgen.org/publications/publiclist/" target="_blank">http://apgen.org/publications/publiclist/</a> </blockquote></div>