ROOTS & BRANCHES

One of the most time-honored genealogy activities is a group trip to a repository.

And one of the best practitioners of such an activity is the guy we call “Mr. Genealogy Tip of the Day” after the blog posts he makes under that name.

He’s Michael John Neill, and I might as well get my conflict-of-interest disclaimer out of the way: I’ve known Neill for well-nigh 20 years now, first passingly while we were on the old Federation of Genealogical Societies board together and for the last four years as one of the “regulars” on Shamele Jordon’s biweekly “Genealogy Quick Start” TV program.

Neill has run group trips to the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City and the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for years, and last year added the Library of Virginia to his itinerary.

His “secret sauce” to doing these trips is actually pretty simple: Neill is explicit that “this is not a ‘part of the herd’ trip where everyone does everything together every day.” Basically, his template is to offer registrants help beforehand; have a few optional social and orientation opportunities during the trip; and be available in the library for questions that come up.

I know of trips where the hosts smother people with too many activities, while others completely disappear and leave people to fend for themselves—so let’s consider Neill’s version the “Goldilocks approach” of “just right” as far as interactions.

Neill also keeps his group relatively small, usually between a dozen and two dozen people. “The trips appeal to people going to a particular repository for the first time, as well as individuals who like a built-in social group when they travel,” he said.

His registrants have come from across the country and some have become “regulars.” Travel to the repository is the responsibility of the registrant but Neill negotiates a hotel rate and gets a courtesy block at the hotel most convenient to the repository.

Neill’s first trip of the year is the Library of Virginia in Richmond from March 31 to April 5, with a deadline of Wednesday for the fee of $350. The fee includes pre-trip Zoom orientation sessions and a group email list for questions, access to Neill every day during the trip, and evening group Zoom meetings during the trip when the library is closed.

The trip is scheduled with four days of library time during its hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and includes an orientation from library staff the first day. Optional group dinners are available each evening, too.

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Neill’s Fort Wayne trip will be in May and his Salt Lake trip is scheduled for August.

For details on all of the group trips and any of his books, webinars, and assorted merchandise, go to the URL, https://genealogytipoftheday.com/