Making my FGS Schedule

I love schedules.  Really, I do.  It probably goes hand-in-hand with my office supply habit. Having clear schedules with color coded items and an itinerary really helps me feel better about what I am going to do.  Now, more often than not, I do throw caution to the wind and make on the fly adjustments.  However, without my uber organized pages of stuff, this spontaneity would make me a little crazier than normal. 

For the FGS conference in August I have already started the process on my excel program; which, for a girl who likes tech, is really old school.  But, hey, if it works why fix it?  This means come conference time I will have my color coded, tabbed, notebook, and labeled schedule all ready to go!

Even better, I can plan a basic itinerary through the FGS website.  The only drawback is it only lets me choose one presentation per time slot.  While it is true that you can only be in one place at a time, I still would like to list all presentations of interest in that time frame  Not a big deal, just means I would need to hand write extras on the side.  This would be a good tool to introduce my parents to however.  They could find it helpful for their planning and then we can all have copies of each other’s itineraries.  At times I am more concerned about losing my parents at the conference than my kids.

I am still looking for that perfect app that would make my notebook and papers obsolete. I may end up either 1) using my calendar app or 2) creating a PDF from an excel spread sheet that I can then use on GoodReader to make my iPad my go to gadget.  Even though I know it will work, it all depends on how much I want to do and how often I want my pocket buzzing telling me I have an appointment.  As I figure it out and adjust things I will let you know.

Currently I am looking through all those pages of classes and narrowing down what I want to take and when my conference/exhibit hall/research/free time will be.  You know that is a delicate balance.  I will most likely spend the lunch breaks wandering around the exhibit hall with evenings, Wednesday, and Sunday dedicated to research.  With 200 years of Indiana family lines I REALLY want to research as much as possible.  Who needs sleep…or food?

Looking at the tracks, I really want to attend classes in nearly all of them.  That is a lot of subjects and I need to par the list down a bit. I also need to see if mom or dad would be up for attending a couple of them for me. Yes, they may have other plans, but if they did attend those lectures I would have someone who could fill in the gaps for me later. 

Looking at the class lists, and if a time-turner a la Hermione Granger really did exist, I would choose to attend nearly 30 classes.  As that is not going to happen, I would like to solicit opinions from you.  Anything you think is a “must see” for me?  I am open to suggestions from you! You can see the full listing at the FGS Conference Website.

  

It is my plan that in the evenings of the conference to post here a re-cap of the day, including thoughts on the classes I attended. Of course, my twitter feed will be going all day if you really want to keep up with me.