Virtual Education and More

 

Greetings, Genies,

As I have said before this is a wonderful time to access virtual genealogy education.  There are a lot of free sessions. Three conferences are RootsTech, Genealogical Forum of Oregon 75^th Anniversary and Family Tree Webinars 24 hours around the world.  This is an ideal time to try some paid conferences with no payments for airlines or hotel rooms.

I’ll start off with my Ancestry subscription experience followed by a message from Frank and Margie.  Then all the free and paid education that I mentioned at the Genies meeting on Monday.

My Ancestry subscription was on the verge of expiring and on top of that I needed to upgrade to a World subscription for my German records.  I waited and waited until I got this bargain from Thomas MacEntee.  It says “new and returning”.  I always thought that meant new and lapsed.  I tried anyway and it automatically gave me a refund for my remaining subscription and 50% off on the new one.  Try if you need to add or change your Ancestry subscription.  Better hurry.  I didn’t see an ending date.

There are so many free classes available from societies and libraries across the country.  Frank and Margie sent this along:

The Polish genealogy class today at the New York Public Library was very informative. Thanks for telling us about the site. Attached are some upcoming classes.
Thanks again.
Frank & Margie

 

 

 

Three Free Opportunities:1. RootsTech  https://www.rootstech.org/?lang=eng.  Free for a year.  Over 2000 videos on every imaginable topic.  Sessions and Expo Hall are still available.

2. Genealogical Forum of Oregon celebrates its 75th anniversary with a virtual free Open House March 27 - April 3.  There are 2-3 sessions each day; a number are special interest groups that might be possibilities for future attendance. Each class requires a separate registration.  https://gfo.org/learn/open-house.html

3. The 2nd Annual 24-Hour Genealogy Webinar Marathon April 8-9 hosted by FamilyTreeWebinars.com and MyHeritage. The marathon will begin on Thursday, April 8 at 5pm eastern U.S. time (Friday, April 9 at 7am Sydney time) and end on Friday, April 9 at 7pm eastern U.S. time (Saturday, April 10 at 9am Sydney time).

https://news.legacyfamilytree.com/legacy_news/2021/03/announcing-the-2nd-annual-24-hour-genealogy-webinar-marathon-april-8-9-2021-registration-now-open-an.htmlwhere you will find a nice schedule.  The classes are recorded and will be free for a week.

 

Paid Conferences

 I have had my eye on this Jamboree for a few years but never went to San Diego for it. 

First, Early Bird Date is April 26.  I’ll give you the non-member prices but sometimes becoming a member is a better deal.  You do the math. 

The Jamboree is $155 for non-member early bird including 6 live and your choice of 20 recorded sessions.  The Plus level includes all 56 lectures.

The Genetic Genealogy is $150 for 6 live and 10 recorded plus $20 if you are not registering for the Jamboree.  The Plus Level includes all 26 lectures.

All the details at https://genealogyjamboree.com/

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Linda L suggests if you are just starting with the National Genealogical Society (NGS) to stick your toe in with the least expensive option.  The main event for individuals runs from Wednesday and Thursday, 19‒20 May. The NGS premier two-day virtual conference event―NGS 2021 Live! ―features award-winning authors Dani Shapiro and Ric Murphy; an opening session by esteemed genealogist and Virginia expert Barbara Vines Little; and presentations by nationally recognized speakers.  Live and on-demand choices. 

 

German Conferences

Note:  I have not attended any of these conferences or webinars.  Caution:  Where the time zone is not specified, you need to check the websites. 

 

There are two prominent German Conferences and one Czechoslovak.

1.To get a feel for what the IGGC is like there is a guest post on Family Locket about the 2019 conference.  Of course, it was live and this one is virtual so there will be differences.  There are 8 live talks of which 3 are in German on two Saturdays. I don’t know what the translation arrangements are.  It is offered every two years.  Early Bird pricing through March 31.

 

2021 Virtual IGGP Conference

“Researching Together Worldwide / Weltweit Gemeinsam Forschen”

17 July to 24 July 2021

 

The International German Genealogy Partnership is thrilled to announce that the 2021 International German Genealogy Conference, previously canceled as an in-person event due to the COVID-19 pandemic will now be held virtually from 17 July to 24 July 2021 with the theme of “Researching Together Worldwide / Weltweit Gemeinsam Forschen”. This new format will allow both passionate genealogists and expert speakers from around the world – including many from our partner organizations in Germany – to attend and participate. Will you be one of them?

 

https://iggpartner.org

 

 

2. The FEEFHS Conference covers a wide range of locations, including tracks for Germany, Poland, Russia, Jewish, and Austro-Hungarian.  Three days live and 64 recorded sessions on demand for a limited time.

Federation of East European Family History 2021 Conference Going Virtual

Aug 11 – 13, 2021, website https://feefhs.org/  )

 

3. 2021 Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International  Conference

Oct 12 – 16^th  Presentations throughout the conference will explore the history, culture, and traditions of the people who lived in present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia.     

https://cgsi.org/news-events/2021-cgsi-conference

 

 

Genies Monday and More

The monthly Genies zoom meeting is coming up next Monday, August 17 at 1:00.  I will send the zoom invitation on Monday morning.  Can’t wait!

The only time-sensitive offers in this post are MyHeritage photo enhancer/colorizer and the FGS Conference early bird pricing deadline this Saturday.

 It’s a good time to update Zoom.  They have advanced from release  5.1 to 5.2.  This signifies a major update.  The way I update is to open my Zoom app on Windows 10.  I click on my picture in the upper right and then in the dropdown, click on “Check for Updates”.  It’s quick and easy.  It may differ depending on your device. 

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There’s always kerfuffle going on with genealogists.  Kerfuffle, a good word my grandmother used to use.  Not a Croatian word, but a combination from Scots, English, and Irish.  It means commotion or fuss.   There’s plenty of fuss around in the genealogy world recently.

I’m also reminded of an old Commander I used to work for in the Navy.  I’d run into his office with my hair on fire about one thing or another.  He’d always pause, lean back in his chair, and say, “I can’t get too excited about that”.  I learned that it is best to listen to the bloggers and let the dust settle before I pass news on to you.  The current fuss is about Ancestry’s sale to an investment firm.

Linda B says this about the recent purchase of 75% of Ancestry.com by Blackstone.  “Cyndi Ingle just banned any discussions about the Blackstone purchase on the Genealogy Squad Facebook page she helps moderate.

“Her reasoning is that there are already a lot of opinion articles circulating that are not based in fact.  She directed readers to this blog post: 

https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2020/08/07/business-as-usual/

“In her blog post (linked above), Judy Russell reminds us that three private investment firms sold their interest in Ancestry to another one.  Concern about your privacy and data is legitimate, but Ancestry has been in the hands of private equity firms for years.

“I know you often share news from the genealogy world with Genies, which I appreciate!  I thought you might be interested in this perspective.  It doesn’t change the fact that we need to be thoughtful about our data and privacy issues.  It does call into question the sudden panic over this sale, when the sellers were also investment firms.”

From Roberta Estes: “An article this week in Vice quotes both an Ancestry and a Blackstone spokesperson on the topic who say that Blackstone will not have access to user data nor will it be shared with Blackstone’s portfolio companies.”

My take on this:  The people with their hair on fire are saying you should move your data away from  Ancestry.  Personally, I am not changing anything.  The new owners would be ill-advised to anger and aggravate their existing customers.   They might upset us, but what else is new. 

Free Education

With every genealogy business and society heading online, there is no end to the wonderful online resources. 

Judy S passes on:  “check out on Facebook--Family History Library ?  They put on Live Videos.”

And, https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Family_History_Library_Classes_and_Webinars is a robust list of Upcoming Webinars followed by Past Webinars and Handouts.

New England Historic Genealogical Society: I have a guest membership to this 185-year old society in Boston and I receive their email newsletter.  In these COVID times, they have numerous webinars and author events which appear to be free.  Also, they have fee-based online courses.  Check it out here:  https://www.americanancestors.org/education/online-classes

 DNAPainter has a new monthly email newsletter.  There has been one from Genetic Affairs for a while.

Free access to MyHeritage Photo Enhancer and colorizing until September 10.  A full month.  I have had mixed results with the Enhancer.  Sometimes I can’t tell the difference but in one fuzzy picture where I am two years old, it pulled out my face into perfect focus.  Amazing.  https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/08/free-access-to-myheritage-photo.html   Lisa Louise Cooke has a free video with a handout on these new features here: https://lisalouisecooke.com/free-webinar-photo-discoveries/

 

Genealogy Conferences

All the regular conferences are going virtual.  Prices seem to be similar to their onsite registration but not paying for airfare, hotels, or meals makes them real deals.  Some have “right-sized” packages to choose from depending on how many lectures you will have access to and special features.  Many are have Expo rooms.

In order of appearance:

Federation of Genealogical Societies:   Online Live Day on September 2 with top speakers.  Many on-demand recorded lectures available after September 15.  Plus virtual Exhibit Hall also starting September 15.  The Lite version is $130 early bird price before this Saturday, August 15.  Prices go up from there.  https://fgs.org/annual-conference/

Virtual Genealogical Association:  November 13-15  $59 USD for VGA members, $79 USD for non-members.  Annual dues are $20 for one year from the date you register.  Might as well get a membership and break even.  All sessions are recorded and available for six months.  Check it out here. https://virtualgenealogy.org/annual-conference/   Note:  Linda B and I are members

RootsTech:  Mark your calendars for February 2-6, 2021.  They have provided top-class virtual options for years.  Recently I received a survey asking how they could take the most loved features of RootsTech online.  They are really working on a great experience as usual.  Details coming in the fall.

 

 

Ancestry subscriptions are 50% off through Tuesday only. Legacy Family Tree Webinars are on fire. FTDNA regular prices drop steeply.

Ancestry subscriptions are 50% off through Tuesday only.  Legacy Family Tree Webinars are on fire.  FTDNA regular prices drop steeply.

#1.  From Thomas MacEntee:  For anyone who is waiting for a better price on Ancestry.  Offer for new and returning subscribers.  Not for renewals.  This is the best you will get.

Full details here.

#2.  Legacy Family Tree Webinars was purchased by MyHeritage a few years ago and is constantly adding new features.  

Still, in my humble opinion, the best genealogy education value ever and it keeps getting better.  Many people select from the 2020 schedule and will register now for classes they want.  When the time comes around, you will receive an email reminder.  Classes are free during the first week after broadcast.  Over 1100 are archived for members. Members also have accessed to handouts for each webinar.

Amazing new Technology Zone for members. Just what we needed! 41 are already waiting for you.

Thomas almost always has a 15% discount for these Webinars.  $46.42 for a year.

Details about the discount and other new features are here: 

https://mailchi.mp/abundantgenealogy/lftwebinars-2020?e=cb7c45b1c4

#3.  Family Tree DNA has drastically reduced their regular prices for Y and mitochondrial DNA tests.  They have also reduced the number of ways to order these tests so your decisions aren't as complicated.  If you are interested and are ordering for the first time, ask for help.

That's all.  

Using ThruLines Part 1 by Sylvia

USING THRU LINES – A CASE STUDY PT 1

My purpose in using Thru Lines is to try to determine who is on my unknown father’s side of the tree and separate the known paternal ancestry and DNA matches from the unknown paternal ones if possible. Also, to continue building my mother’s side and verifying known or guessed at ancestors by checking the DNA matches given for a particular ancestor and by researching their trees. Then I correct my or their misinformation.

My Thru Lines would not start at first. I had to unlink what I thought was a linked tree and re-link after rebooting the computer. (Thank you, Cheryl, for your help!!!). Then it gave me only my unknown father and no other information at all. Then it disappeared again altogether???? I finally got my Thru Lines to work by removing the link, removing and reconstructing the family tree, then recreating and linking the reconstructed tree! If you ever lose your link, that might be what works. I only put my mother’s side of the tree up and almost immediately got heaps of connections to dna cousins and family trees! Whoo-hoo! I’m on a roll! So I decided to add a prospective paternal line to my linked tree, to see if any dna cousins come up attached to any names in that potential tree. This could get really interesting! I’m hoping it can help me determine which side of the family the cousin matches are on at least.

A week or more on, I have only links that are distant (5^th – 8^th) cousin trees and a couple of DNA matches for 3x great grandparents one branch of the tree. No other names or connections come up. On my mother’s side, however, where I have a first cousin and second cousin match and lists of 4^th – 6^th cousins, there are loads of links to known ancestors and I am having a great time verifying and adding to my mother’s side of the tree!

The way it seems to work is that you get the male/female head shot of each level of your ancestor lines – parents – grandparents, great grandparents, etc. Underneath it might only have their birth/death dates or it might have a “potential ancestor” link. Either way, when you click on the picture you can see where the ancestor is on your tree. If there is a dna match it will show up in the ancestry line that this ancestor belongs to, as will other member tree links, whether or not you share dna with them. If there is a dna link, you should click on the dna symbol and you’ll see both your trees all the way back to your “suggested” (always remember Ancestry uses your and other trees only) common ancestor. Ancestry is helpfully doing the work we all painstakingly did ourselves to find a common link! And best of all they are linking not only other trees but dna matches as well Yippee!!!

So to find more family or verify what you have, you should open up and research both the dna links and the member tree links because they can help you fill in the blanks or give you more information. I like to open up the tree of a dna match or member tree match and look at a particular ancestor profile. In their tree, they may have posted some additional information for that profile – a document you don’t have, a note such as, “They were married at St. Mary’s church” which you don’t have. So scour their trees for information you might be missing. A missing census for a particular decade, for example, can be a mine of information that verifies the ancestor’s scant profile in your own family tree!

Anyway, today – discouraged by the total lack of any information closer than a one-line distant cousin regarding my prospective/possible/suspect father line tree, I decided I’d try to trick Thru Lines! (Remember too, if you are on a similar search, that the further back you go, the more surnames you have to deal with and the more likely you will find common names on both sides of your tree!). In my case, the only ancestor line common to me and the matches I found on this side of the tree were surnames and locations that were on my mother’s side. I haven’t looked for a link between their ancestors and my mother’s ancestors yet, but expect to do so.

I decided to remove the potential paternal tree and replace it with my known father’s first name only and then add a third cousin’s ancestral tree. I have not found a single name in her tree that can be linked with ancestors on my mother’s side, and so I believe she is related to me on my father’s side. There are a number of 4^th – 6^th cousin matches to names in her tree, so I thought I would start with that generation of ancestors. From my father’s generation through his grandmother I used the placeholder “unknown” for last names. Then I began adding the names of my 3^rd cousin tree. My hope is that Ancestry will find me some good dna and family tree links to the names of the great grandparents and beyond, and help me to find out which common ancestor my 3^rd cousin and I share. Although it is a “hybrid” tree – with a mix of her and my ancestors…I am hoping Ancestry will do what it has done on my mother’s side to help me find a common ancestor I can trace forward to find my father’s name (or to verify the prospective ancestor I had found).

Good luck with your own searches and do make use of Thru Lines as it is a fantastic tool for all of the above reasons.

As to my own sleuthing, stay tuned – same Bat time, same Bat channel!!!

Sylvia Willis

Pot Pourri: a little of everything

First a word from our sponsor (just kidding).  24 HOURS ONLY!  Thomas MacEntee is promoting a 50% discount on MyHeritage with a 14-day trial for new subscribers here https://mailchi.mp/hidefgen.com/myheritage-freetrial-apr2019?e=cb7c45b1c4.  It’s only for 24 hours but if you are too late this time, he also gives a great explanation of why you might want to use MyHeritage, especially if you have European ancestors.

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At every Genies meeting there is a reason to warn everyone not to use other people’s trees as the gospel, just hints.  When I first started researching, I thought if ten trees showed a certain ancestor that must be the right one.  Then I figured out that they were just copying from each other and they didn’t have any sources.  That’s just one reason my tree is such a mess to this day. 

This warning is especially timely because of the proliferation of newbies at Ancestry.  I heard they have sold between 12 and 20 million DNA kits, mostly to folks who don’t know how to build an accurate tree.  After they finish with ethnicity estimates (which was the reason they tested in the first place), they might wander into their DNA matches.  Whoa, Nellie! 

The reason this is especially timely is that Ancestry is now using everyone’s tree to offer ThruLines and Possible Ancestors.  Even I am tempted to start adding my ThruLines ancestors to my tree.  But I am sitting on my hands to avoid this temptation.

Here is a recent post from Randy Seavers at GeneaMusings that’s right down this alley.  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/03/dear-randy-newbies-need-to-be-warned.html  Whenever I see the term “newbies” or “beginners”, I say, that’s me too.

Randy says go to your local society, and I do too.  Next Monday, April 8, the speaker’s topic is Beginning Genealogy.  Janet Camarata is a gem and we are bound to learn from her.  Remember Whatcom Genealogical Society at the Elks on Samish Way at 2:00.  Doors open at 1:30.

Randy also adds:

There are quite a few "Beginner" videos online in the FamilySearch Learning Center.  You can search subjects like "beginner" or "sources" or "census" or "England" or "church records," etc.  You might recommend the video  "If I'd Only Known - Beginner Genealogy Mistakes."

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Last night I watched a webinar by Thomas MacEntee called “One Touch Genealogy Research: How to Handle a Record Just Once”.  Good for people who want to be more efficient researchers and you will learn some new tips about the 1940 Census.  It will be free through April 10.  Go to https://familytreewebinars.com/.  First you will see the Upcoming Webinars (all or mostly free) and below that the Webinar Library -New!   “One Touch” is first and the Free webinars are clearly marked.   Also you can use the Webinar Library tab at the top and select View All Free. 

Thomas announces the webinars and almost always has a discount for the annual membership, regular price less than $50.  With a membership you get the syllabi and have access to over 900 archived webinars. 

Thomas MacEntee is also one of the headliner speakers at the NW Genealogy Conference.  He’s a technical guy and he loves to talk to people individually. 

The Northwest Genealogy Conference sent this alert:

Don't miss out on the Northwest Genealogy Conference Early Bird discount. You must register by April 15th to receive the discount. The conference is August 14-17th in Arlington, WA.

There is another big event happening in Arlington at the same time - so you will want to book your hotel rooms ASAP.

See www.nwgc.org to find information on the conference, discounted hotel rooms and to register. You don't want to miss this great event!

Ferndale Genie Noreen passes this along to us from Grays Harbor Gen. Society, saying “Their museum was so well done and the research library was loaded with information and some super helpful volunteers.”

Dear Washington State Grays Harbor County Genealogy researcher of the past.....

On June 9th, 2018, the entire contents of our Grays Harbor County Genealogical Research Library were lost in a catastrophic fire that destroyed most of the Aberdeen Museum of History and its contents where we were housed.  We are devastated by this loss, but starting to rebuild our resources and holdings, including our Surname File which contained hundreds of family histories.  We are just now re-opening our library on scheduled days at the Hoquiam Timberland Library.   You can visit our website at www.graysharborgenealogy.com

Because files of all the genealogical researches done in the last 20 years were lost, we need your help. 

Would you please send us copies of the research results that were sent to you (obituaries, funeral records, cemetery records, etc. including the Summary of Research)? These files will go a long way in restoring our invaluable Surname File.  Copies can be sent electronically or hard copy.  

To send documents electronically:  ghgensoc@gmail.com

To post mail:   GHGS, P. O. Box 916, Aberdeen WA 98520

For more information or questions, please contact me at:   stanjo46@comcast.net.

We will be extremely grateful for your help in rebuilding our collections!

Bonnie Johannes

Research Chair

Grays Harbor Genealogical Society

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Skagit Valley Genealogical Society

Sat, April 13, 1pm – 3pm

Burlington Public Library, 820 E Washington Ave, Burlington, WA 98233, USA (map)

Evernote for Genealogists by Janet O'Connor Camarata
The software tool -- Evernote -- can be a very valuable note keeping, storage, file cabinet for genealogy researchers. Capture those records, files, photos all in one Evernote location and make your life/research easier.  Your research will be revolutionized and your record-keeping easier to access and sort through. Be there!

For more info: Margie Wilson 360-757-6224,

Note for Genies:  Evernote is commonly used by genealogists.  Many serious genealogists love Evernote for keeping notes and documents.  The free version is adequate for most.  You can access from desk and mobile devices.  If you are ready for new web-based software, this would be interesting.

In other news…

The most recent blogpost from Linda Q. Lambert is "Limericks, Pangrams & the Dazzling Ascent of Wordsmith.org".  https://lindaqlambert.com/2019/03/14/limericks-pangrams-the-dazzling-ascent-of-wordsmith-com/

Fold3 is offering free access to their Civil War Collection until April 15.  If you have ancestors who fought in the US civil war, you will want to check this record set.

There was one very famous DNA “switched at birth” story in which the birth was in 1922.  I didn’t think it would happen in 1942 too.  Enjoy this one:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Switch-at-birth-revealed-75-years-later-13693463.php

I’m still working on the DNA post I told you was coming.  You should see it by the end of the week.  It promises to have information you don’t know.

Hope to see you at the Whatcom Society meeting next Monday, especially if you have never been there.  I will greet you at the door. 

Genies Meeting Monday with Lots of News

Our regular monthly Genies meeting is back to 3^rd Mondays.  Next Monday, March 18 is our meeting day and am I ever full of things to talk about.

The RootsTech Conference is always filled with company announcements and they make the news.  On Monday Linda Q. and I will bring our syllabus handouts for your perusal and will talk about our favorite classes and tips.  Links to the syllabus and the videos are here:  https://mailchi.mp/abundantgenealogy/rootstech-2019-free?e=cb7c45b1c4syllabus

The biggest news from RootsTech surrounds the DNA tools from Ancestry and MyHeritage that I wrote about in the last blogpost.  If you are really interested, don’t miss two videos made by Blaine Bettinger.  His blogpost with the videos is: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2019/03/12/new-tools-everywhere-exploring-the-new-tools-at-myheritage-and-ancestrydna/

One surprising, but understandable, comment Blaine made is that the Ancestry ThruLines tool is more helpful to people with smaller trees than people who have been researching for years.  This tool hypothesizes possible ancestors through 5^th great-grandparents based on DNA matches and other people’s trees.  If your tree is too small, there won’t be enough to go on and you may not have any ThruLines.

Depending on interest, we will walk through some of these DNA tools in the later part of the meeting.  Even if you are not using MyHeritage yet, you will learn about some differences between Ancestry Tools and MyHeritage tools. 

If there is time, I would like to make the case for keeping our trees in the Family Search collaborative Family Tree.  Some people underestimate the value of one big tree.  I won’t spill everything here but this is worth some discussion.

Elizabeth and I and perhaps others will be at the WGS Seminar on Saturday and surely, we will be talking about Cyndi Ingles and her technical tips on Monday.

In other news…

Thomas MacEntee writes: “I always download [records] to my computer RIGHT AWAY. Ancestry record sets have a limited license and can (and have) expired in the past. See the article Why You Should Download Your Files From Ancestry and Every Other Website”: https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/why-you-should-download-your-files-from-ancestry-and-every-other-website/).

Another favorite of mine is Lisa Louise Cooke.  She publishes about little used records.  Try this: “School Yourself: 10 Ways to Find School Records for Genealogy”  https://lisalouisecooke.com/2016/08/31/school-records-for-genealogy/) and “6 Best School Records for Genealogy” https://lisalouisecooke.com/2018/09/02/school-records-genealogy/.

And my newest BFF’s Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer gave a talk “Getting Organized One Paper at a Time”.  They published a blogpost with links and a podcast RLP34 here:  https://familylocket.com/rlp-34-getting-organized-one-paper-at-a-time/  The 4-page handout is at the Tucson Family History Fair link., I love this mother-daughter team.  This week their podcast RLP35 is about US Church Records with part 2 next week.

I can’t stop talking.  It’s just because there are so many great resources available for genealogists.  Many are online and many are free.

Bring your own suggestions and tips and join us for genealogy conversation this Monday at 1:00.

November Potpourri

I’m just back from a cool and foggy trip to Oregon.  Just like here, right?  No special seminars through the holidays but lots of people buying DNA kits and testing their relatives at holiday dinners. Our Genie meetings continue straight through Christmas but some others take a month or two off.

In my last post Cheryl and I offered a DNA work group on Friday, November 9.  I hope I didn’t scare you away.  We still have openings and would like to know if you want to come. 

Whatcom Genealogical Society has a unique topic on Monday, November 12.  Guests

Elizabeth Joffrion from WWU Center for Pacific Northwest Studies and Jannette Gomes from the Washington State Archives will give a presentation on what is available for genealogists at their facilities.  The meeting is at 2:00 at the Elks Lodge at 710 Samish Way.

On Monday, November 19 at our Ferndale Genies meeting we will continue with our conversational format, talking and working on whatever interests you. 

Bargains, bargains, bargains.  The holiday DNA discounted prices have already begun.  Some as much as half price.  Best source continually updated is https://dnabargains.com/dna-day-sales/ and partner site http://www.genealogybargains.com for all things genealogy.  Host Thomas MacEntee keeps updated on published deals and also negotiates special prices only found on his sites.  Also gives away short reports filled with tips.  You can sign up for emails there.

Over at The DNA Geek blog she has a nice summary of current prices and dates of the DNA sales plus a prediction of prices and deals through the holidays based on past experience.  https://thednageek.com/23andme-november-sale/.  Remember: Past performance is not an indicator of future outcomes.

MyHeritage is on fire.  I am not changing my recommendation to start testing with AncestryDNA, but I have to tell you that MyHeritage is on fire.  This weekend they hosted their own conference in Oslo with American and European speakers.  They announced their development plans and they are coming forward as a very innovative player in the DNA field.  They announced a partnership that will enable them to take DNA off old family envelopes and stamps.  We have never heard this before.  Also “theory of family relativity” where they will scan their “big tree” and offer multiple theories about where a match fits into your tree.  In the future they will offer “ancestor DNA reconstruction” which involves building a DNA kit for your ancestor.   A good place to see details about the announcements is on Roberta Estes’ blog https://dna-explained.com/.  She is there on the ground.

Note:  A reminder that transferring your raw DNA to MyHeritage must be done this month if you want to be grandfathered into free access to their current and future DNA tools.  There are some drawbacks like unwanted emails but the future is bright there.  You can get help at the Genies meeting and it must be done before December 1.

Free access to military records on Ancestry.com for Veterans Day.  Go to https://www.ancestry.com/cs/honor.  Don’t be misled where it says “free until Monday”.  At the bottom it says free until November 12.

If you want a good cry, don’t miss Long Lost Family on TLC and here:  https://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/long-lost-family/.  I watched Episode 2 recently.  OMG!  A young male adoptee found his family but then discovered that his mom had been adopted too and they didn’t know about her.  What a reunion that turned out to be!  And the other story with it was just as emotional.

I am really enjoying our talks at the Genies meetings.  I hope to see you there soon.  

More DNA tips

Tip 1:  Cheryl sent this video along “for any of us using DNA”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP8rUlZbmeA&feature=youtu.be

AncestryDNA | Mirror Trees | Ancestry - YouTube

Mirror trees are a tool discussed in many online genetic genealogy groups as a methodology for figuring out how you are related to your AncestryDNA Matches. Join Crista Cowan and Angie Bush...

Two notable DNA experts discussing Mirror Trees in a 23-minute video.  They use mirror trees attached their own trees to identify close relations.  They both participate in Facebook pages where they recommend asking questions.  They are Genetic Genealogy Tips and Techniques (Blaine Bettinger’s page) and AncestryDNA for Dummies (don’t be offended).

Tip 2:  Another fun feature added to AncestryDNA is “Map View”.  Just to the left of the Search Matches button on your match list.  Click on Map View to see your matches located on a map.  I found a 4^th cousin match that lives in Bellingham.  I better write a message.

Another way this could be used is to look for matches who live in a county where you want to research.

Mark your calendar for the next Genies Meeting on Monday, October 15.  For more info on any topics email ferndalegenies at gmail dot com.