Schedule of 2022 Events

We schedule meetings usually every 3 weeks from January to June and September-December 2021.

Please note: Meeting times, dates, locations and speakers are subject to change.

Information is regularly updated.

Due to the Corona virus situation, our meetings this year will be conducted on the Zoom until it is safe to meet as a group.

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Time: 1:00 PM check in, chat, and schmooze (Optional)

Official program starts promptly at 1:30

Speaker: Gil Bardige, Experienced Genealogist and Speaker

Topic: “Help! I just got my Autosomal DNA Results and I’m Confused” Part 1

Gil Bardige has been a genealogist for over 40 years, with 14 years of experience in DNA. He has spoken at many JGS as well as at IAJGS. You may have heard him speak locally or assisted you at mentoring sessions. He has tested at all 4 major companies and is a Project Administrator or Co-Admin at FTDNA for 3 projects including Jewish R1b.

Prior to retirement, Gil was Business Development Executive for Trane, traveling nationally for nearly 12 years making presentations to Fortune 250 corporations. Gil is high-energy, humorous, speaks clearly & makes sure that the audience participates.

Topic: Help! I just got my Autosomal DNA Results and I’m Confused”

This presentation will provide specific guidance on how to use DNA/Genetic Genealogy as an effective tool in your genealogy tool belt. Gil will provide examples from the four major DNA testing companies to clarify ethnicity estimates and give a detailed review of what matches mean at each company. He will outline the recommended steps to take for prioritizing and making contact with your DNA matches. The end goal is to have your match help with your family tree and, hopefully, provide information, photographs, documents, stories, etc., that you don’t already have. Gil will review the DNA tests available, what you can expect from the results, and who should test. At the end of the presentation, you will be able to say, “Now I get it…. I know what to do.” This is for beginners and people who tested and are just overwhelmed and frustrated.

Sunday, January 23, 2022 at 1:30 pm

Via Zoom

Speaker: Sydney Cruice Dixon, Professional Genealogist, Writer, and Lecturer

Sydney F. Cruice Dixon is a professional genealogist, writer and national lecturer. She is a faculty member for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research of the Georgia Genealogical Society. She is also the Program Coordinator and a faculty member of the Researching Family in Pennsylvania Institute of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. In addition, she developed the curriculum and teaches the Foundations of Genealogy courses at HSP.

She is the current President of the Association of Professional Genealogists for the Greater Philadelphia Area Chapter, and she serves on the Genealogy Advisory Committee for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Sydney cofounded the Greater Philadelphia Genealogy Consortium in 2017 – an organization that encourages the growth and cooperation between genealogy and historical organizations in the greater Philadelphia area

Topic: Analyzing Evidence and Sources for Genealogical Research –

Forming Sound Genealogical Conclusions and Maximizing Indirect Evidence

In the first part of this program we will discuss the key elements of genealogical sources, information, and evidence. We will break down the necessary methods to properly analyze and interrupt the information contained in your family’s records. We will discuss how the storage of a record can affect the credibility of its contents. In the second part of this program we will look at case studies in order to examine the more sophisticated issues of source evaluation. We will look at the research methods necessary to extract all the information contained in genealogical sources. We will explore how to assemble and combine pieces of information from various sources to form sound genealogical conclusions and maximize indirect evidence.

Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 1:30 pm

Via Zoom

Speaker: Mark Olsen, Family Tree Maker Ambassador

with Stefan Harms – Family Book Creator and Pierre Clouthier – Charting Companion

Mark Olsen is the Family Tree Maker Ambassador to historical and genealogical societies around the world working to support their members as they use Family Tree Maker. Mark is a graduate of Brigham Young University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Family History with a Spanish records emphasis. He has been working in the genealogy industry since 2007 and has been the Family Tree Maker Ambassador since 2016.

Topic: What’s New in Family Tree Maker Q and A Discussion

Join us for a live discussion and Q and A session to answer all your questions about Family Tree Maker, the latest version, updates, features and more. This is an interactive session. We love to see you and discuss all your Family Tree Maker questions.

We will also talk about Family Tree Maker partner products – Charting Companion and Family Book Creator – both are amazing plug-ins that can help you create amazing charts, graphs, and books. We will even show how you can make additional finds with your DNA test results. The creators of these partner products are often able to attend with us and answer your questions directly.

This class is for all levels of genealogists whether you are just getting started or very experienced.

Sunday, March 6, 2022 at 1:30 pm

Via Zoom

Speaker: Serafima Velkovich, Head of Yad Vashem’s Family Roots Research Section

Serafima Velkovich is the Head of the Family Roots Research Section in the Reference and Information Department of the Yad Vashem Archives division. She has been working at Yad Vashem for 17 years. She is also a PhD Candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Serafima was closely involved in the work on names material in Yad Vashem`s databases. At the same time, the main research field is family roots. She lectures on the use of Yad Vashem resources for genealogical and other research to various groups, as well as to visiting genealogists and organizations who make use of genealogical tools for their research. She participates in international conferences and films on Holocaust topics.

Topic: The Central Database of Shoah Victims Names and Other Genealogical Sources at Yad Vashem

Over 4.8 million of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices are commemorated in Yad Vashem’s online Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names. The lecture will highlight new features and materials, as well as “tips” on utilizing the database to the fullest. It will also include guidance on the use of other Yad Vashem sources online that are relevant for genealogists.

Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 1:30 pm

Via Zoom

Speaker: Gil Bardige, Experienced Genealogist and Speaker

Topic: “Help! Part 2 the Next Steps…”

If you have watched and practiced Gil’s processes in the presentation he gave to the Society on January 2, you are no longer a beginner. So you have followed the formulas and prioritized your matches; you have made contact with the matches and added everyone to your tree (probably not) but you are now ready to participate in Part 2. Learn about how to mitigate any confusion you found during your journey in Part 1 as you go through the prioritizing process. See the exceptions you found and how to deal with them. We review things like one single long segment; known relatives that are exceptions to the rules; and the key next steps like building trees for only the key matches if you can’t find one online (are you sure you can’t find them?). We introduce and discuss, Pile-Up Regions, Genetic Clusters, and by example 2 case studies of how I use my own processes to complete my research. A video of the first session and a handout are available to members.