We’re very proud to announce that we will be taking the 1911 Census on tour - first stop is the ‘WhoDoYouThinkYouAre? LIVE’ show in London on the weekend of Friday 27^th February – Sunday 1^st March.

If you’d like to find out more about the census and get tips on how to use it, we’ll be hosting a series of workshops and lectures on all 3 days. Or just come and say hello to the team.

We’ve also got a special ticket offer for you:

BUY 2 FOR 1 TICKETS!

Findmypast.com is giving you the chance to buy two adult tickets for the price of one – that’s just £20*! To claim this special offer, simply call 0844 412 4629 or visit www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk and quote FMP241 today!

Special Q Jump tickets also available for £22* each, including 3 workshops and fast track entry to Ask the Experts!

*£2 transaction fee applies. 2 for 1 offer ends 20^th February 09. On Door standard entry tickets priced at £20 each. Q Jump tickets not available on the door. This is not a BBC event.

Below is some more information on the event itself (from the organisers):

The countdown has begun! With only a few short weeks left until the biggest event in the family history calendar, Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE 2009 looks set to be another fantastic show.  The event boasts celebrities, record holders, expert speakers, family history societies, and a huge range of family history products and services to indulge your interest and aid you in your research. 

This year also sees the show dates changing to the earlier weekend of Friday 27^th February – Sunday 1^st March. With most people exploring their family history in the winter months, the event comes at the perfect time of year to bring family historians together and make incredible discoveries about the past! 

If your interest has been ignited by the release of the 1911 census, then Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE is the perfect place to find out more. Hosted by findmypast.com and in association with The National Archives, this exciting addition to the wealth of family history resources available to researchers will be showcased at the event, and there will be a whole host of experts on hand to help you discover how the census can aid you in your research. 

The show would not be complete without its celebrity time travelers, and this year Ainsley Harriott, Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE and Lesley Garrett CBE will be taking to the stage to recount their fascinating family stories. With slavery, royalty, determination and tragedy littering their ancestors’ colourful lives, Ainsley, Matthew and Lesley’s exclusive live sessions are guaranteed to entertain and inspire. 

With new additions including “Scottish Saturday” to help you research and celebrate your Celtic roots, a DNA Workshop supported by Family Tree DNA and a Regional Workshop supported by the Federation of Family History Societies, as well as old favourites such as the Society of Genealogists’ Family History Show and workshop programme, not to mention some 200 exhibitors, Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE is a one-stop genealogy shop like no other. 

So book your tickets today and don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to fill in the gaps in your family tree and make your connection to events in history.

Today we went to the SoG (Society of Genealogists) headquarters to review the site with a selected group of expert users - a mixture of professional genealogists, academics and historians. The idea was to let them loose on the site to test the improvements we’ve already made since the usability testing but more importantly to gain insight into what professional genealogists need from the site. We were particularly keen to get their feedback on the untested part - the transcripts and original pages from the census.

Normally, the trip to the SoG is a brisk 5 minute walk from the findmypast.com offices - today it was a rain-drenched dash as the heavens opened and London took the full brunt of a day of torrential rain.

Testing with the experts is a completely different experience from testing with general users - because they’re professional genealogists they’re less fussed over the details of how the homepage looks and if the registration is easy. Instead they focus relentlessly on the quality of the search, the search results and the accuracy of the records.

After briefing them on the background and the “known issues” with the website, we took them into the SoG’s excellent library and simply left them to it, making sure that there were plenty of us around to look over shoulders, take notes and answer questions.

A very productive day for everybody, I think. We got some tremendous insights into what the professionals will be looking for (and another long list of features and improvements to add) and the experts got to see the data for the first time. Rather excitingly, lots of them also found some unexpected new twists in their family trees, which is the real pleasure of family history. And they loved the colour images.