IAJGS Conference - Bloggers dinner

First, a note of apology for the lack of posts. If you're family (or good at noticing details) you will note that my last blog post coincides with the birth of my new grandson, Jack. He's not really the entire reason for my temporary abandonment, but I figure everyone understands how all-consuming newborns are. (To be completely honest, I've only been with Jack 4 of the last 11 weeks, but he's "with me" 24/7 in spirit.)

But now I'm back. Hopefully. I've just come from an inspiring dinner meeting with a group of bloggers. The meeting was set up by Emily Garber of (going) The Extra Yad. There were maybe 10-12 people, of varying blogging experience. I'm not going to list them  now because I can't remember them all and I don't want to offend anyone by forgetting them!

Speaking of offending brings me to the most interesting discussion of the evening (at least to me.) I'm relatively new to the blogging experience and a new co-editor of the newsletter for JGSCT (Jewish Genealogy Society of Connecticut.) I have mortal fear of offending people. I can't bear it if I feel I have upset someone, or even worse, someone is upset with me. I don't like to do the wrong thing. (Actually, I'm okay doing the wrong thing - I just don't like to be called on it.) The discussion of copyright has set me spinning. Yikes, I may have used pictures on my blog without proper citation! Worse, I may have not used the proper procedure to credit images from other websites! It never occurred to me that someone may take a photo I have posted and use it for some other purpose. Imagine one day finding my Great-grandmother Sophie's face on a bag of flour or a box of cleanser!! As the short discussion continued, I began to panic a bit. I will need to be more mindful of how I credit and cite my sources. I may need to get prior permission to use a certain image. I will have to plan ahead. This is sounds like work.

That is why I am sitting on my hotel bed right now, writing this post. I fear if I don't get right back to posting, I will allow myself to become paralyzed. So, in the spirit of supporting a "newbie" blogger, I am asking my readers (all 13 of you) to point out any copyright transgressions I have made, or may make in the future.

I will also subscribe to the same philosophy that served me so well during my 38+ years as a special education teacher: Do what you want and apologize later.

I have been in Salt Lake City attending the 34th IAJGS Conference since yesterday. I hope to post more about my experience here in the coming days.