[UPDATE: After . . . → Read More: This Is The Face of Genealogy]]> The LAWeekly website recently posted a brief article about the upcoming Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree being held in Burbank, California from June 10-12, 2011. As part of the article, they posted a photo that was an offensive way to advertise this very successful annual genealogy event and the field of genealogy itself.

[UPDATE: After many complaints from the genealogy community to LAWeekly, they have taken down the offensive photo and replaced it with an appropriate Jamboree photo.]

To the LAWeekly, its readers, and my readers…

These are some of the faces of MY genealogy:

Jacob & Anna Eisner
New York City c. 1909

Abraham Palevsky

Mystery Men
Do you recognize them?

Who are the faces of YOUR genealogy?

For more Faces of Genealogy, please visit:

The Face of Genealogy on GeneaBloggers
The Face of Genealogy on Facebook

Relative Roots is pleased to announce our May webinar schedule!

Tuesday, May 3 Two sessions: 1pm Eastern (5pm GMT) and 8pm Eastern (12am GMT) Genetic Genealogy for Beginners: DNA is the “Gene” in Genealogy FREE! What is Genetic Genealogy? What tests are available and which one should I order? How much does a . . . → Read More: Registration Open for May Webinars!]]>

Relative Roots is pleased to announce our May webinar schedule!

Tuesday, May 3
Two sessions: 1pm Eastern (5pm GMT) and 8pm Eastern (12am GMT)
Genetic Genealogy for Beginners: DNA is the “Gene” in Genealogy
FREE!
What is Genetic Genealogy? What tests are available and which one should I order? How much does a Genetic Genealogy test cost? Do I need to be a geneticist to understand my results?

If you’re a complete beginner to Genetic Genealogy and want the answers to these questions and more, then this webinar is for you! Attendees will learn about the history of genetic genealogy, be introduced to DNA basics and inheritance paths, learn about the different types of DNA tests available for genealogy, and learn about resources that will help you make the most of your Genetic Genealogy experience.

Tuesday, May 17
1pm Eastern (5pm GMT)
Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and Understanding Your Family Tree DNA Results
Part 1: Y-DNA
You’ve taken the plunge and ordered a genetic genealogy DNA test from Family Tree DNA, but now that you have your results, you don’t understand them? Join us for an information-packed webinar focusing on how to read and understand your Y-DNA results.

Thursday, May 19
1pm Eastern (5pm GMT)
Starting and Managing a Family Tree DNA Project
Family Tree DNA has over 6,000 surname, geographical, heritage and haplogroup projects. All of these projects are run by volunteers who have a passion for genetic genealogy. Join us to learn about starting and managing a Family Tree DNA Project. We’ll go over the Group Administrator Page (GAP), tools that are available for project administrators, and issues such as member recruitment.

Tuesday, May 24
1pm Eastern (5pm GMT)
Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and Understanding Your Family Tree DNA Results
Part 2: mtDNA
You’ve taken the plunge and ordered a genetic genealogy DNA test from Family Tree DNA, but now that you have your results, you don’t understand them? Join us for an information-packed webinar focusing on how to read and understand your mtDNA results.

Tuesday, May 31
1pm Eastern (5pm GMT)
Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and Understanding Your Family Tree DNA Results
Part 3: Family Finder
You’ve taken the plunge and ordered a genetic genealogy DNA test from Family Tree DNA, but now that you have your results, you don’t understand them? Join us for an information-packed webinar focusing on how to read and understand your Family Finder results.

ON-DEMAND NOW AVAILABLE!
Starting this month, recordings of Relative Roots webinars will now be available for viewing on-demand. Recordings will be availble within 24 hours after each live webinar. There are two ways to access a recording: 1) sign up for the live webinar, then within 24 hours after the webinar ends, you will receive an email containing the link to the recording; or 2) visit the Relative Roots website the day after the live webinar and you’ll be able to sign up for the recording there.

REGISTRATION
For further details about any of these webinars and to register, please visit our Webinars page: http://www.relativeroots.net/webinars/.

COST
Genetic Genealogy for Beginners – FREE
All others – $10 each

DISCOUNTS!
Relative Roots is offering two specials for this month’s webinars:

• All 3 “Genetic Genealogy Demystified” webinars for only $25 (normally $30) when purchased in the same shopping cart by Tuesday, May 17. Price will automatically be adjusted once all 3 webinars are in the shopping cart.

• $5 off the purchase of any three (3) May webinars with coupon code RRW5GGD3MAY when purchased in the same shopping cart by Tuesday, May 17. This coupon may be used in conjunction with the above discount.

SPECIAL OFFER FROM FAMILY TREE DNA
Attendees of Relative Roots’ genetic genealogy webinars will receive an exclusive 10% discount on select tests from Family Tree DNA! Details are provided at the end of each live webinar.

Starting in January 2011, Relative Roots will host genealogy webinars several times a month. We’re starting with a series of webinars on Genetic Genealogy, and we plan to offer additional webinars on other genealogy topics in the coming months. Visit . . . → Read More: Relative Roots Genealogy Webinars!]]>
Relative Roots is excited to announce the launch of our new Webinar series!

Starting in January 2011, Relative Roots will host genealogy webinars several times a month. We’re starting with a series of webinars on Genetic Genealogy, and we plan to offer additional webinars on other genealogy topics in the coming months. Visit our Relative Roots Webinars page to see the webinars that we currently have scheduled.

Our very first webinar will be held on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 8pm EST:

Genetic Genealogy for Beginners: DNA is the “Gene” in Genealogy!
If you don’t know the first thing about Genetic Genealogy, or even if you’ve heard about it, but don’t know which test you should take, this presentation is for you! Attendees will learn about the history of genetic genealogy, be introduced to DNA basics and inheritance paths, learn about the different types of DNA tests available for genealogy (Y-DNA, mtDNA and Autosomal), and learn about resources that will help you make the most of your Genetic Genealogy experience.

This webinar requires FREE pre-registration. If you’d like to attend, please click here to register.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The webinar software allows unlimited registrations, but we’re currently limited to 100 participants per webinar, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Since this is the first webinar that Relative Roots is hosting, we don’t know yet how many people will want to attend. If the webinar fills up, anyone who tries to join after the first 100 people will get a message that the webinar is already full — even if you are registered. We’re working on a better way to handle registrations to avoid this situation for future webinars, but please bear with us until then. Also, we plan to hold the Genetic Genealogy for Beginners webinar once a month, as long as there is demand for it — so if you’re not able to get into this month’s session, please keep an eye on the Relative Roots Webinars Schedule for dates, times and registration details for future webinars.

We look forward to seeing you at our Genetic Genealogy for Beginners webinar this Tuesday, and hopefully at future webinars as well!

Day 2 of the Atlanta Family History Expo started off with some early morning fun. I was scheduled to give my Traditional DNA Testing and Beyond – New Revolutions in Genetic Genealogy presentation for a second time, at 8am. Now, anyone who knows me is aware that I’m not a morning person And to . . . → Read More: Atlanta Family History Expo – Day 2]]>

Day 2 of the Atlanta Family History Expo started off with some early morning fun. I was scheduled to give my Traditional DNA Testing and Beyond – New Revolutions in Genetic Genealogy presentation for a second time, at 8am. Now, anyone who knows me is aware that I’m not a morning person And to top it off, I was staying at my cousin’s house about 30 minutes away from the Gwinnett Center — the facility where the expo was held — instead of a nearby hotel. So this was a very early morning for me!

I arrived around 7:45am, quickly dropped a few things off at the Family Tree DNA booth in the exhibit hall, and headed to Salon 1 for my talk. Several attendees were already seated and waiting for the presentation to begin. I set up my laptop, got the digital projector working, distributed handouts, then tried to test the wireless microphone. I turned on the power, said hello into the mic, but no sound from the speaker. So I adjusted a few things, said hello again and still nothing. Then suddenly a male voice comes through the speaker, “Hello, this is Salon 2. It appears that you have the microphone that goes with my speaker, and I have the microphone that goes with your speaker!” Oops! So I walked next door to Salon 2, where Andy Pomeroy of Limited Edition Publishers was getting ready to start his presentation on Social Networking for Genealogists. We laughed and exchanged our microphones. On my way out, I jokingly suggested that we teach each other’s class from our respective rooms. I asked if he knew anything about DNA — he did not, but he asked if I knew anything about Facebook — well yes, as a matter of fact, I do! But alas, we each taught our own classes

The microphone mix-up was a nice ice-breaker for my presentation, and of course if I hadn’t been fully awake yet, I certainly was now! Once I started my presentation, it went without a hitch. I had a smaller audience than on the first day — probably around 25-30 — but that didn’t surprise me given it was a Saturday 8am presentation.

I spent the rest of the day at the Family Tree DNA booth in the exhibit room again. I had expected Saturday to be busier than Friday, but despite the fact that I didn’t get to eat lunch until late in the afternoon again, it felt less busy. However, now that I think more about it, I probably had a steady stream of visitors on Saturday, with the occasional crowd — as opposed to the constant crowd on Friday. There were times where I had several people at the table wanting to learn about Family Tree DNA’s testing options, so I ended up talking to 2, 3 or 4 people at once — essentially giving short, impromptu classes on genetic genealogy.

Many people at the conference had already heard about genetic genealogy before, but there were also many who had not. So it was a good mix. And there were many different reasons why people were interested in DNA testing. Some wanted to find matches to others with the same surname — that’s a perfect application for Y-DNA testing. Several were adoptees and wanted to know more about their ancestry — the Family Finder test is great for that. Others wanted to know about their maternal line, which is where the mtDNA test comes in. A few people asked about Native American ancestry, and I advised that any of Y-DNA, mtDNA or Family Finder could be useful for that, depending on whether the possible Native ancestor was on a direct paternal or maternal line or not. Same with identifying whether someone has Jewish ancestry. Of course, there are a variety of other ways that DNA testing can be useful to a person’s genealogy research; these are just some of the most common questions that I was asked while at the Expo.

Elise

Day 1 of the Atlanta Family History Expo is over and was a great success! With around 1200 registrants, the classes and exhibit hall were bustling with attendees eager to learn from 8am-6pm.

The exhibit hall was scheduled to open at 9am, but the 8am opening session finished early, so by 8:45am, attendees started . . . → Read More: Atlanta Family History Expo – Day 1]]>

Day 1 of the Atlanta Family History Expo is over and was a great success! With around 1200 registrants, the classes and exhibit hall were bustling with attendees eager to learn from 8am-6pm.

The exhibit hall was scheduled to open at 9am, but the 8am opening session finished early, so by 8:45am, attendees started flooding into the exhibit hall. Each attendee had received a list of exhibitors that was to be signed by each exhibitor and then submitted for a drawing. What a great way to ensure that conference attendees visited every exhibitor! The one drawback was that the exhibitor booths were sometimes mobbed with attendees just wanting their slips initialed — especially during that first hour. So as an exhibitor, I found it difficult to talk to every person who stopped by, and didn’t always have the opportunity to ensure that each person knew what Family Tree DNA was all about. On the other hand, probably every person picked up the Family Tree DNA flyer as they were passing through, so they certainly had reading material for later that night!

Elise at the Family Tree DNA booth in the Exhibit Hall
Photo courtesy of Amy Coffin/Family History Expos

Attendees were mostly in the exhibit hall during the 30 minutes between each class. During each 1-hour class session, there were fewer attendees in the exhibit hall and we could catch our breath a bit.

At 11:30am, I gave my presentation “Traditional DNA Testing and Beyond – The Next Revolution in Genealogy” to a standing-room-only audience of approximately 80 people. The room’s projector screen was narrow and tall, rather than a standard wide screen, but the presentation went very well otherwise. A quick survey revealed that about half the audience had already done some form of genetic genealogy testing, the other half had not, and no one had been hearing about genetic genealogy for the first time at this expo (or at least they didn’t want to admit it!) So this certainly shows that genetic genealogy is in the mainstream among genealogists.

The afternoon was just as busy as the morning — I tried getting my lunch out around 2pm, but next thing I knew, it was 3:45pm and I was finally getting a bite of my sandwich During the final class session of the day, I took a few minutes to walk around the exhibit hall and see who else was there. At the Beacon of Bloggers, I met Pat Richley-Erickson of DearMYRTLE’s Genealogy Blog, Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog and Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist. I also visited the Flip-Pal booth and got a demo of their cool mobile scanner.

So all in all, a very good, albeit very busy Day 1 at the Atlanta Family History Expo. Looking forward to Day 2 tomorrow!

On November 12-13, I’ll be attending the Atlanta Family History Expo at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA. I’ve attended annual Jewish genealogy conferences for many years, as well as small local genealogy events, but this will be my first time attending one of Family History Expos’ 2-day events. I’m very much looking forward . . . → Read More: Atlanta Family History Expo]]>

On November 12-13, I’ll be attending the Atlanta Family History Expo at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA. I’ve attended annual Jewish genealogy conferences for many years, as well as small local genealogy events, but this will be my first time attending one of Family History Expos’ 2-day events. I’m very much looking forward to a jam-packed 2 days of genealogy, with over 1000 attendees expected! I’m also looking forward to meeting lots of new people, including many whose names I’m already familiar with through their blogs or Twitter, but I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet.

The vast majority of my time at this expo will be spent at the Family Tree DNA booth in the Exhibit Hall. I’ll be on hand both days to discuss the different types of Genetic Genealogy tests that are available today, and to help attendees determine which test is best for them, based on what they are trying to learn from DNA testing.

I will also be giving a presentation on Genetic Genealogy — twice actually! The first session will be at 11:30am on Friday, and a repeat session will be held at 8am on Saturday.

Traditional DNA Testing and Beyond – The Next Revolution in Genetic Genealogy

This class will focus on genetic genealogy — DNA testing as a tool for genealogy. We’ll review the “traditional” genetic genealogy tests — Y-DNA and mtDNA — which can identify relatives on the direct paternal or direct maternal line. We’ll then discuss Family Finder, our new product which utilizes recent advances in autosomal DNA testing to identify relatives via any ancestral line.