I don't always get to attend sessions at conferences, usually because I'm either lecturing, preparing to lecture, or in meetings. I'm going to try and make an exception at the upcoming Palatines to America conference in Indianapolis in mid-June.
I've got a few of my own Germanic brick walls that I'd like to tackle at some point in the future--partially because I'd like to know more and also because they'd make great blog posts. Several of Bittner's lectures sound interesting--particularly the ones on immigrants. Even if you don't have German ancestors, consider attending. Methods for tracing immigrants do have some similarities even if the languages they speak are different.
There are details on the conference here.
