Otaki Family History Expo - Debrief & Video

Hello Brenda,

Thank you again for your participation during our Family History Expo in Otaki, which helped to make it a huge success. We wanted to create a warm and welcoming  atmosphere for the event and we believe that this was achieved.

We trust that our pop-up café Generations contributed to the success of the day and helped in the enjoyable ambiance. To hold a one-day event on a Saturday was a good idea and even heavy downpours couldn't stop the visitors from coming. This encourages us to hold a repeat event, perhaps at two-yearly intervals.

Overall there were 120 or more visitors on the day and the hall was buzzing. About 70% of the visitors came from Otaki, the Kapiti Coast and Horowhenua plus many from the Wellington Region. Members from other genealogy groups came from as far away as Napier, Whanganui, Palmerston North and Porirua. Average attendance at the presentations was 22 with Ancestry.com attracting the biggest group of listeners.

To find out what worked and what didn't on the day we had a debrief with our branch members who were involved in the day. Their comments were that on the whole the day seemed to have run well but improvements would be to:

•    De-clutter the entry hall and move the maps (Where do you come from), the raffle  and the regional information desk to just inside the hall. This would allow for a smoother run and defuse the crowds at the welcome desk, and encourage ‘window-shopping’, allowing to pause at points of interest, then move on to the research desks.
•    Desk signs should be bigger to make finding the different research desks easier.
•     Identify the presenters & guests with a special sticker for the catering staff
•    Allow for some longer breaks between the presentations and ensure that presentations finish on time.

We hope you enjoy the short video we have produced about the Family History Expo and also some snapshots taken during the day.

Kind regards
Hanna

Organising Committee

Otaki Branch of NZSG

T 06 3647638