2023 TxSGS Family History Conference Call for Presentations

Submission Deadline: May 15, 2023

The Texas State Genealogical Society announces a Call for Presentations for the 2023 TxSGS Family History Conference. This year’s conference will be held virtually November 10-11.

We are looking for dynamic, enthusiastic presenters! If you feel passionate about your area of expertise and would like to teach and inspire other genealogists, this is the venue for you. Seasoned speakers and speakers new to the genealogical lecturing arena are encouraged to submit presentations and workshops.

Submission Ideas

The areas of interest may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Methodology and Problem-Solving Techniques
• Record Analysis and Skill Building
• Records & Repositories (land, probate, tax, court, and other records)
• Research in Texas and surrounding states
• DNA Research and Technology
• Ethnic Research topics (African American, Hispanic, German, Czech, and others)
• Writing, Storytelling, and Publishing
• Basic genealogical topics (how to or getting started)
• Organizing and Preserving Your Research

Submission Requirements

Presentations should be one hour in length. Those selected for TxSGS Live! should be 50 minutes in length with an additional 5 to 10 minutes allotted for Q&A.

Speakers who wish to submit lecture or workshop proposals may submit proposals electronically. Each submitted proposal requires the following information:

• Speaker’s full name, mailing address, telephone, and email address.
• Presentation title, not to exceed 14 words.
• Lecture summary for program brochure, not to exceed 25 words.
• Brief but comprehensive lecture outline, not to exceed one page.
• Speaker’s biography, not to exceed 50 words.
• Speaker’s recent lecture experience, including a listing of national or regional conferences where the speaker has presented in the last two years.
• Identification of the appropriate audience level: beginner, intermediate, advanced, or all. If more than one level is supported, enter in “other” as “beginner-intermediate,” etc.

Presenters may submit proposals for up to (5) five lectures.

Please do not submit lecture proposals presented at or to be presented at Texas conferences and societies between May 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, or lectures freely available online.

Proposal & Syllabus Timeline

• May 15, 2023: Presentation proposal deadline.
• July 8: Notifications of acceptance sent out to speakers.
• July 14:  Deadline for speakers to accept invitation to speak.
• September 15, 2023: Syllabus materials due.

Additional Requirements for Selected Presenters

Selected presenters will also be required to provide the following information and materials for marketing purposes and for the syllabus:

• Photo
• Brief biography
• Camera-ready handout for each lecture.

Specific guidelines for the above media items will be sent out with your notification of acceptance.

Compensation Package

• Conference speakers will receive an honorarium of $225 for each one-hour lecture.
• Additionally, a $25 bonus per lecture will be awarded for materials received by the syllabus submission deadline. All required dates will be outlined in the acceptance letter sent to the speakers.
• Selected speakers will receive a complementary registration to the 2023 TxSGS Family History Conference.

Proposals should be submitted via the online  SUBMISSION FORM. This is our preferred method of proposal submission.

Submissions may also be emailed to conference@txsgs.org using “2023 Call for Presentations” as the subject line. If emailed, speakers should submit proposals in PDF (preferred) or Microsoft Word format. File names should begin with your last name, then your first name, and then the lecture title. (For example, Davis-Sandra-HidingInPlainSight.pdf.) If you submit a proposal using the online submission form, please do not also email your submission.

Deliverables

Selected speakers should submit a 2- to 4-page handout by October 8, 2023. The handout and speaker biography will be included in the conference syllabus distributed to conference attendees. Syllabus materials should not contain advertisements of individuals or firms other than Texas State Genealogical Society without approval from TxSGS. Speakers should not sell or promote any product or service during the presentation without TxSGS approval.

Lecture Sponsorships

Genealogy organizations or businesses wishing to sponsor a speaker may do so by submitting their contact information in addition to the lecture information outlined above. Sponsored speakers receive complimentary conference registration and a syllabus. Speaker compensation for presenting the lecture and any other associated costs is the responsibility of the sponsoring organization.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact the 2023 TxSGS Family History Conference Chair at conference@txsgs.org.