Gold Coast Casio, Las Vegas, NV
February 2 (Sunday check-in) to February 8 (Thursday Checkout), 2024
Conference Dates: February 5 through February 7, 2024
Conference flyer, registration form and local restaurants
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8kqq67lv4ffe971/AABPFQHrFqmaDui7tOVjmt3sa?dl=0
For more information: henry.tom@cox.net
This is a 3-day workshop, with presentations in the morning, and Round-Table discussions between attendees & experts, and a Tutorial on Documenting Genealogy Research Wednesday afternoon.
American Born Chinese (ABCs) seniors have been doing the research, but, as this generation is becoming older, there is a realistic need to document this research as part of their family history for their family & descendants. The tutorial, “Documenting Your Family History Made Easy”, covers the development of generic templates where specific content modules can be inserted and shared across Word and PowerPoint software.
Here are some of things you will learn at the roundtables:
- Finding your ancestral village
- Brief Chinese to English translations
- OCR processing & conversion of PDF versions of your Chinese genealogy books into searchable PDF documents by computer – which is a tremendous aid in searching the massive genealogy lineages and finding & tracing / linking consecutive generations of your ancestors, Dr. Mel Thatcher & Henry Tom will be available to assist in converting your PDFs of your genealogy books into searchable PDFs. Another valuable aspect of this OCR processing is allowing you to highlight narrative texts about your individual ancestors found in your genealogy book, and to cut & paste these Chinese annotations & narratives into any of a number of online Chinese to English translators.
Session speakers and topics will be updated as we get closer to the conference.
If you want to enjoy the Chinese New Year celebrations in Las Vegas – consider coming 1 or 2 days before the workshop, just do so by selecting the arrival & departure dates when you book your room.
The 4-day hotel workshop package by itself is $331 and is separate from the workshop registration fee of $375.
I am American Born Chinese, and I have been living in New Zealand for 40-50 years. My family members have been involved in research for years. I have recently retired and am interested in undertaking more research on my family. Your Las Vegas conference appears to offer me a starting pathway towards this goal. Are there still places available? As I would be traveling from New Zealand.
Here is the email I sent to Sandra … less the China Journal of my trip to China to find my roots, which can be found here …. https://bacgg.org/index.php/chan-surname-sig/
Hi Sandra Yes, I believe you still can register for the three day Chinese Genealogy Workshop in Las Vegas. I am copying Henry Tom, the organizer of the event so you may get information first hand. Coming from New Zealand, you will be breaking I am sure, the person coming the furthest away, so welcome!
I have had the honor of speaking at the workshop the last ten or so sessions, so suggest the following to optimize your time:
1. If you need any type of Chinese translation, there are experts in the round tables that can read traditional, simplified and even classical Chinese. Scan your documents and these resources will not translate word for word in the short time you have, but can at least give you an idea what you have.
Henry Tom can assist where if you have a PDF of your documents, to convert it to a OCR readable document so you can do active searches. Henry is also an excellent chartagrapher. If you are trying to find your villages in China, between him and his network of resources, you have a good chance of locating your roots.
2. Henry, in 2025 is planning a “roots tour” to go into southern China to historical sites of immigration, which ends with you going to your own village with a private car and translator. The local university does the research prior to you even getting on the plane to help you find relatives, and your jiapu. I took the liberty of attaching my 2018 journal of my return to the village.
3. If you have immigrant roots going through Angel Island, the National Archives in San Bruno, which is nearby San Francisco, I recommend you go there to scan immigration records. More here: https://www.archives.gov/san-francisco on how to plan for such a trip.
4. If you need help finding your villages, DNA questions, or have genealogical roadblocks, the folks who run the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City offers free 20 min consultations every week. https://www.familysearch.org/en/library/online-consultations
Usually, the staff that runs this service comes to Henry’s workshops. Each workshop day there are a couple hours of roundtable sessions with subject matter experts to do 1:1 meetings.
5. If you layover in San Francisco, although there are thousands of Family Search Centers around the world, the Oakland library has over a dozen free online database access, but an even greater asset is the docents will sit with you to help you do your online searches. You should start with your local Mormon Temple FamilySearch Center. Oakland is considered a “hub” center, so is very well staffed and fully equipped with scanning resources.
6. My value add to the sessions is teaching how to document your family history. My teaching technique is to show you a personal project, then I show how to do it yourself. My first 45 min session is a video I created interviewing my grandparents and mother using AI. Then I do a three hour lecture (with Q&A) on documentation techniques like scanning, storytelling, photo restoration, creating documents, backup strategies, using AI to fill genealogical voids, and sharing documents I’ve created. In this session there are two dozen tips I share so you may replicate my work.
Hope to see you in Las Vegas. Let me know if you have any other questions. Safe travels and happy holidays!
Hi Ron,
I would like to enquire on how to get myself on the newsletter or email list for the 2025 “roots tour”. My family is from Fujian Province, Nan’An city (within Quanzhou city).
Hi Douglas
There are three ways I know of you can go on a “China roots tour”. I suggest you contact each organization below to find out what works best for you, and if they have tours scheduled for 2025. Tell them Ron sent you\-)
If there are any suggestions regarding genealogy tours, please post your experiences, so it may help others find their legacy.
1. Henry Tom. Tomclan@Gmail.com
I went on Henry’s “China Roots Tour” and you can read about my personal Chan heritage journey here ….
https://bacgg.org/index.php/chan-surname-sig/
Henry is planning a 2025 tour. Here is some info he sent me … “Interested in learning more about your Chinese ancestry?
For many overseas Chinese, the ultimate connection to their family heritage and China is their Chinese genealogy. Overseas Chinese, whose parents and/or ancestors have emigrated from China, often find it difficult to make connections to their roots because their families shared little or had no discussions about their past family history. The journey of Chinese genealogy, starting with archival research and culminating with a visit to one’s ancestral village in China, can provide the knowledge and understanding of how the experiences of their parents and ancestors influenced their identity.”
Check in with him for preliminary tour information. Henry has two days at the back end to help research, coordinate and drive you with a translator to your village.
2. My China Roots
https://www.mychinaroots.com/blog/news/roots-reimagined-how-to-discover-your-chinese-family-history-in-2024/
“Return to your ancestral village in China. Traveling on a “roots trip” back to your ancestral homeland continues to be one of the most transformative pathways to connect deeply with your roots.
Research-wise, you may find family tree books (zupu or jiapu), graves, temples, homes your family lived in, and oral histories about your family’s legacy.
Experientially, it’s an opportunity to go beyond a museum visit and fully immerse yourself in the history of you. Walking where your ancestors walked, eating what they ate – you get to relive their journey and forge your own connection with your homeland. You may even reunite with distant relatives who warmly welcome you back to your ancestral home.”
3. Friends of Roots
https://www.friendsofroots.org/roots-plus-program
Roots Plus program is for individuals over 30 years of age, couples, family groups, friendship groups or customized private groups (with minimum of 10 people). Roots Plus groups normally travel to China in late October to early November. Custom arrangements can be made for private groups with ten or more people. Roots Plus groups typically meet two to three times before each journey to China. All participants are encouraged to document their journey with journals, photographs, and video, but are not required to conduct a public presentation. Depending on size and mix of each group, we will be together over a period of 11-13 days.
Throughout the program, we will assist, advise, facilitate, guide, translate, etc. to try and make this a meaningful, enduring and enjoyable experience.
Hope this helps you directionally in what you are searching for.
Be well
\ron