Some of us in the northeast portion of the USA are stuck indoors this weekend – or, at least, relegated to our neighborhood. If you’re reading this, you still have an Internet connection. Why not use this wondrous (!) free time to stop procrastinating, warm to some hot cocoa and complete early registration for the 2016 IAJGS conference in Seattle? Here’s how [click on the images, below, to see them larger format].

Before you do anything, be prepared with your credit card and DNA haplogroups. Also double check that your surname and town listings on JewishGen’s FamilyFinder are up to date. Or, if you’ve not posted your family and town names on JewishGen, do it now. Quite frankly, listing surnames and towns one is researching on JewishGen is one of the most long-term productive things one can do for one’s research. Go to JewishGen’s homepage: http://www.jewishgen.org and select FamilyFinder.

Then, select the appropriate box – depending on whether you want to see what you already have listed, or plan to update or modify your list in Family Finder. Once you’ve checked/completed your FamilyFinder entries, you should be ready to register for the conference.

Start at the IAJGS2016 website homepage: http://www.iajgs2016.org

You may wish to read about registration before starting the process. Click on the link shown by the blue arrow, above. Or, go directly to registration via the link shown by the red arrow or via the pull-down menu (green arrow, above). Select New Registration.This will take you to the first page of Registration. Note the area I’ve circled in red: if you have to abort the process for some reason, that’s fine, but know that none of the information you’ve entered will be saved until you’ve actually completed the process. So, if you stop in the middle, you will have to start from scratch next time.

Because I’ve attended the conference before (and my email address has not changed), I entered my last name and email address [blocked out with a gray line here]. If you have not attended an IAJGS conference before or can’t recall your old email address, select the button for “No previous attendance.”

If your name appears in the next window and you can select it by clicking on the round button to its immediate left, you’re cruising: your information will be pre-filled in the forms that follow. If you cannot select your name, it is likely you are already registered [congratulations!]. If you wish to make any changes in your name or information, you may have to contact IAJGS via the provided registration email address.

If all is well, click Start or New Registration (whichever is appropriate). If you are registering based on information provided for previous conferences, your information should be filled in [I have blocked out my information]. You will, minimally, have to re-enter your email address. After that, click Continue.

If you wish to register for the whole conference (I know you wouldn’t want to miss anything!), click the button next to that choice.

Some questions about your level of experience, genealogy affiliations, etc., will appear. Answer them, please. Continue.

Fees for the various registration options will appear. Click n your selections. Note: there are one-time (or time-sensitive) discounts available for registration, LIVE! and Audio & Slides.

Conference attendees will receive a flash drive with syllabus, handouts and a daily planner when they arrive at the conference. One will also be able to access this information via the conference application on one’s mobile devise. Those in attendance will also receive a tote bag. If you prefer a printed version of the syllabus, additional tote bags or extra flash drives, you may order them on the next registration page. If you won’t need these extras, just click continue – and move on!

One cannot yet register for special events such as SIG luncheons or computer labs since they have not yet been scheduled. The conference team will announce when one may register and pay for for these additional events. At this point, click Continue.

Read the instructions on the next section carefully.  If one has a discount code provided by the conference, use it on this page. Speakers whose presentations are accepted by the Programming Committee will receive discount codes after they have been notified of proposal acceptance (so potential speakers should not register yet). If you wish to add your significant other to your registration, you may do so here, or return (at a later date) to do so  after you have completed the registration process.

The next page requires your credit card information. After you enter that and confirm your email address, make sure to review and agree to the Terms and Conditions at the bottom of the page.

Almost done!

The confirmation page, shown below, includes links for reserving a room at the conference hotel and adding your Family Finder  and Y-DNA and mitochondrial-DNA haplogroups information. For Family Finder, all your names/places may be listed in the IAJGS Online Family Finder. Your name badge at the conference can only handle your top five. So select those for the conference.Check your email inbox. You will have received a receipt.

Keep this in a safe place on your computer and have that copy handy when you check in for the conference in Seattle. Look forward to seeing you then!

In the meantime, stay warm and dry.