The #GenealogyForAll debate has turned to genealogical conferences and the fact that there are barriers to accessing most of these. Although the primary obstacle is deemed to be financial, this is not the only issue. Let us look first at cost. I have been instrumental in organising many family history events, both day conferences and residential conferences. I have also been heavily involved in the provision of online events. None of the events that I have helped to put on have intended to make a profit, merely to break even. Having been in circumstances where my ability to fund my family history research was severely limited, I have always been an advocate of keeping costs to participants as low as possible.

So what costs money? Let’s look at a weekend face-to-face conference. Accommodation is the biggest outlay. Cost is impacted on by the geographical convenience of the location and the facilities provided. A reasonable standard of food and accommodation is expected and the conference facilities need to be suitable, with good AV and wifi connections. A more recent consideration might be the ability to live stream the proceedings. All this is extremely costly and these charges are set to increase as inflation seems to be rapidly spiralling ever upwards at the moment. It would certainly not be unusual to be charged a four-figure daily sum for the hire of conference facilities in a central location and food and accommodation would be on top of that. More minor items on the conference organisers’ budget might include the printing of conference programmes, advertising and perhaps the provision of conference give-aways. Even the cost of conference badges has to be considered. If the conference is a commercial undertaking, which is rare in the genealogical world, there a profit margin will be added.

You may notice that the major omission in the previous paragraph is the cost of speakers. I declare an interest here. I am a speaker. When I first started teaching family history in the 1980s, when money was extremely limited in my household, I planned that what I earned would pay for the cost of my own research. I speak because I enjoy it and because I want to share my expertise but it is also a major part of the way in which I support myself. I consider that I give a professional service and that I and others like me, should receive financial recompense for this. It is a job. The fact that I happen to enjoy my job and that it overlaps with my hobby is irrelevant. For more than forty years I have done and continue to do, a great deal for the genealogical community on a voluntary basis but if I am asked to give a talk I would normally and justifiably, expect to be paid. I do occasionally speak for free for charities that I support, or for causes that I believe in and of course any talks I give for societies of which I am a trustee have to be delivered without payment.

I once organised a residential conference and a potential attendee asked if they could attend for free if they didn’t stay and didn’t want any meals; all they wanted was to listen to the talks. I gently explained that meals and accommodation were not the only costs and that speakers’ fees and travelling expenses were a significant part of the conference fee that we were charging. On that occasion, we were offering anyone who volunteered to help chair or steward a session, free attendance at that particular lecture and this is what I offered. I absolutely believe that speakers should be properly paid and not just because I am one. Like many aspects of the creative industries, working for ‘the exposure’ is not something that should be expected or tolerated. I cannot pay my bills with exposures. Some speakers, myself included, will occasionally offer to be paid in kind, giving a talk in exchange for free attendance at the remaining lectures that form the event but this should not be expected nor regarded as the norm.

Sometimes, people look at a speaker’s charges and the reaction is, ‘that’s a lot for an hour’s work’.  Giving a talk of an hour’s duration is absolutely not an hour’s work. The talk has to be researched and the presentation put together, which could easily take several days. A good speaker will always run through a talk beforehand, every time that they give it. Handouts have to be checked to ensure that information is current and links are not broken. There is also the time taken to travel to a conference to be taken into consideration.

Most genealogy speakers are in fact quite poorly paid compared to speakers in other fields. I was once invited to join a list of public speakers who covered a full range of topics. I was told that I was charging far too little, I wouldn’t be taken seriously if that was all I asked for and that I needed to make my fee at least twice as much. I explained that I knew my market and the sum suggested would be prohibitive for my potential audience. I was put on that list (now discontinued) at my requested rate and only ever got one speaker request as a result.

Online conferences can often be staged with fewer overheads. Here an element of the cost is the platform through which the conference is delivered. This can be achieved via something like Zoom, relatively cheaply but if you require anything more sophisticated, such as you might expect at major events, then the web-development charges are significant. Even at a simple online event, there are still speaker fees to be paid, although you save on travel costs.

I know that the costs of conference attendance are prohibitive for many. By the time you add on travel to a venue, the cost of a weekend face-to-face conference is approaching that of a week’s package holiday to a foreign destination for a UK resident. One way to help to make these events more affordable, is to offer a day delegate rate. This is an option that I often go for, staying in a touring caravan to reduce the expense. It does mean that I miss out on some of the social experience but at least I can attend. I am fortunate, this is affordable for me but it won’t be for others. The ‘going’ day attendee rate at genealogy conferences seems to be about £75. Yes, this includes lunch but it is still far more than many can justify.

Of course, we should accept that having a hobby costs money and that little in life is free but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take steps to mitigate matters for those whose participation is limited by the cost of events.

So what is the solution? I am not sure that I know. Some organisations have the wherewithal to provide free virtual conferences, of which RootsTech in March is a prime example and incidentally well worth registering for. Anyone who has ever complained that conferences are too expensive should take the opportunity to attend this one. You have access to the presentations long after the duration of the event. In general though, this is not a viable economic model. Although many genealogical societies are charities, it does not mean that they can afford to stage major events at no charge to participants. What most societies do do, is offer a comprehensive programme of lectures to members, many of which are now presented online. A year’s membership fee of £20 or less might be much less prohibitive than a conference fee and of course society membership offers far more benefits than just the lecture programme. Some societies allow non-members to attend their lectures without charge. It is definitely worth looking at the societies that cover your areas of interest to see if this is the case.

Perhaps an option might be sponsorship, although sponsorship is harder to come by than it used to be and securing it is a time-consuming and thankless task. This could be sponsorship of a whole conference, a lecture, or perhaps sponsorship of an attendee. Maybe local societies could offer a number of free places at an otherwise paid for event, to those who find cost a barrier. How those free places were allocated would be up to the event organiser.

Cost is not the only impediment. Geographical access to face-to-face events is an issue. Caring responsibilities also prevent people from attending, as does disability access. On balance, it seems that there are fewer barriers to participating in an online event but for some the availability of adequate wifi, or the lack of a device will prevent them joining in. Another barrier, which is a whole topic in itself, is how welcoming these events are. There are those who find attending such events a social challenge, for a variety of reasons. We need to make potential attendees feel comfortable about being part of an event.

It will never be perfect. Nothing can ever be fully accessible to all in every respect. There will always be events that are inaccessible. Nonetheless, we can and should do what we can to be more inclusive, to offer a variety, so that there may be something that suits and to open up the opportunity to attend genealogy events to as many people as possible.