Did you know there's a major 4-day International Local and Family History Conference being held at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham from August 28th-31st? It's being organised by the Halsted Trust (a non-profit making educational charity "to advance the education of the public in the study of and research into family history, genealogy, heraldry and local history "). Its title is "Open The Door & Here Are The People" and it has an exciting programme to attract family, local and social historians, and novices as well as experienced researchers. Details of the speakers and their topics are now available online on the Conference website at www.openthedoor.org.uk/page855.html. George Redmonds, the leading authority on English surnames and their origins is travelling across the county border from Yorkshire to explain why your surname is unique. Controversially, there's also a talk suggesting there's an over reliance on the Man in Green, or why we don't need really need Robin Hood. Of particular interest to those researching in Nottinghamshire and the surrounding counties will be a talk by the Director of the Media Archive for Central England, richly illustrated with selections from the Midlands' own collections. Other celebrity speakers include; Nick Barratt, the popular TV broadcaster, genealogist and writer, who is giving two separate talks; Richard Holmes, the renowned military historian, broadcaster and author; Kate Williams, historian, author and TV presenter of the recent documentary on the Young Victoria; and Sarah Wise, historian and author; together with top speakers from the family history world and from a variety of specialist archive services. The programme of talks and workshops has been arranged to allow you to choose from 4 or 5 options at any one time. You can either 'pick and mix' or concentrate on a particular interest, such as the stream of talks on Irish research provided by Eneclann, Ireland's premier research service. The full conference fee of £369 covers excellent accommodation, lectures, all meals and evening events and, if you divide this over the full 4 day programme, you'll see the cost for each day is much less than other conferences in recent years. And you can save £40 by booking before next Thursday, 30th April at the special rate of £329. Alternatively, you can also attend for part of the Conference, or as a day visitor (which may be especially attractive to you if you live in the vicinity) - see www.openthedoor.org.uk/booking.html for more details. Geoff Riggs