Writing my presentations for the upcoming annual conference of the Ohio Genealogical Society has me super-charged.
Program presentations by Eric F. James for the Ohio Genealogical Society Annual Conference 2015
It makes no sense at all though if I show up in front of my audience all hot to trot only to find that my audience needs a warm-up.
I hate losing ten minutes of precious presentation time, or lose content from either of my two talks: “From Bodice Ripper to Jack the Ripper, How To Write a Family History Everyone Wants to Read,” and “How to Publish, Sell, or Give Away a Family History Everyone Wants to Read.” I want my audience jazzed from the moment they walk into the conference room.
Program for talks by Eric F. James at the Ohio Genealogical Society Annual Conference 2015
My solution is to grab their interest with the following video that will arrest their attention the moment they walk in the door.
As the audience takes their seats, this video already is at work relaxing the house and setting the tone for my talk. If everything goes as expected, the video is building anticipation, excitement, and readiness for my moment to appear. In fact, I can play the same video after my talk, and have them dancing out the door.
Next, I just have to find a way of keeping the attention of anyone who takes a potty break.
Viewers of this video may recognize some of its images. They were used first in banners appearing on the Facebook page for my book Jesse James Soul Liberty, Vol. I. My own book cover appeared in the box “My Book Here.”
Since I change Facebook banners often, I had plenty of banners from which to choose. The ones I selected for use in this video chiefly reflect upon the content contained in my talks.
Years later, yours truly still is quoted on my challenge to chopper celebrity Jesse Gregory James, aka Jesse James. I’m still waiting for his DNA profile. … See MoreSee Less
THE FIRST IMMIGRANT TO AMERICA OF OUR JAMES FAMILY . . .
Stray Leaves, our website below, now reaches back into the 17th century to bring you the story of our first immigrant, John James, in narrative form.
John’s story comes to us through original documents and seasoned source citations, which are also provided.
What John James Tells Us • He arrived at Jamestown. • He transported 10 indentured people. • He was rewarded with a land patent. • The location of his land can be visited today. • He and his neighbors comprised the important founding families of Virginia. • The location of origination of the James in the Old World, as Jesse James family historians say is Pembrokeshire, Wales is disputed and unproven. • The name identity of John’s wife as formerly stated by traditional genealogists is disproved. • John James arrived as an oligarch and royalist with no pretensions to democracy or self-rule. • Early James family wealth was accrued in the tobacco culture and by land speculation. • John and his family were followers of the Church of England. • His children and grandchildren remained savvy and street-wise, relating well with common people. • Generations beyond the grandchildren of John James produced significant diversity in America’s people and culture.
The first foothold of the James family in the New World was secured by John James, the Immigrant. John was born about 1623. Sometime before 1690, he died.