WHO live

A year ago I endured the scariest plane ride I've ever had to get to London for the Who Do You Think You Are Live show. It may sound a bit corny, but it changed my life. I met Nick Barratt, went back to NYC, quit my job and turned my life upside down. It was a good move.

A year later I was back, working the other side of the tables. For those of us in the genealogy world, this show is like the mothership. And as a freelance researcher and writer, I work independently and this was a chance to see people I know, meet others and just spend some time chatting and sharing ideas. I spent three days at the stand for Your Family History, the magazine I contribute to, and two days I did some one to one "Ask the Expert" advise sessions. I had resisted volunteering for these - I was intimidated by the "expert" label, and last year had actually signed up for one as the person who needed advise - which is how I met my friend Matt. But some persistent encouragement from friends made me cave. It went really well and I sent several people away with ideas to follow up.

I finally got to meet several other genealogists I knew by name and their work - shared several laughs and a bit of gossip with William Bortrick, went for a drink with Sara Khan (she researches the UK WDYTYA show), and finally had the chance to get to know our editor Laura Berry quite well over the three days. They're all really cool. We talked ideas and future plans for the magazine and websites, and even managed to find time to sell a whole pile of back issues and sign up a bunch of new readers.

So the show marked a milestone for me, and I guess this past twelve months has been about launching my career in genealogy and research. This is the beginning of phase two. Whatever that turns out to be.

Just arrived home from my first ever trade show. I spent the weekend at the Listed Property Owners Club show. The punters come to peruse the various craftsman, architects, surveyors that offer their services to owners of historic properties, along with various oganisations that promote conservation. I was there with my boss Nick Barratt to promote the house history research that we offer.

I was quite shy at first, but after I'd listened to Nick talk to some people I jumped in and had a go. Like the familysearch booth at Woking last November, once I got going I actually really enjoyed myself. The first day was relatively slow, but today we exceeded our target for book sales (feels great to make a sale - again a first for me!) and we had one couple commission a project on the spot. I'll be doing the research so that's work for me as well.

Saturday night we went to a reception for the Heritage Together group hosted by Project Book. I got to meet other people who do what I do, which is so rare. I work in isolation most of the time, at home or travelling. Last week I bumped into someone I knew at the National Archives and it was so nice to see a familiar and friendly face. So this was a great chance to get to know other researchers and people interested in history and historic buildings. A terrific evening.

I've just been watching an episode of Britain's Best Buildings on Hardwick Hall. That's the house we visited with Jonathan aged 5; he popped out of the car and noticed scaffolding on the west wing, pointed to it and said "Look, an extention". As the programme ended I commented that I wouldn't mind doing the research for a programme like that. And as the credits rolled I spotted that the Archive Researcher credited was Nick Barratt - my boss! So there's a possibility that I will work on a programme like that.