Archive for June 30, 2008

Genetic Testing In California

June 30, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

Blaine Bettinger has got an excellent piece on the California genetic testing controversy over at The Genetic Genealogist. I’m glad he’s weighed in on this matter.

Last week, I issued a challenge to the industry and the state to come together in a neutral forum to discuss the issues. Next week, I plan to make a formal, concrete proposal to the parties. In the meantime, I’m doing some legal work to prepare for a potential resolution of the issue through the California administrative rulemaking process. I’ll be describing that sometime after next week. As I said last week, I’m not entirely sure that the way the state reads the law actually would exclude testing for only “genealogical purposes,” whatever that means. See the post about Dick Eastman’s speech at the Southern California Jamboree and the upcoming post about genealogists collecting family medical data.

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Jamboree: Was It Worth It?

June 30, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

This is a fair question. I look at it from a cost/benefits point of view. The cost of the program itself for me was about $215, to which I have to add hotel costs for two nights (I was actually there for three nights, but I assign one night’s cost to another mission), food, and airfare. So for me, living out of the area, the cost was fairly significant. On the benefits side, I must say that in terms of raw knowledge, I probably didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know to some degree or another. But what I did get were important insights into many issues. And as well, I met people, good people, smart people, people who were both good and smart! I think the opportunity to meet in one place all the folks I did meet is a significant benefit. In my calculus, I think the benefits outweighed the costs. It was worth it!

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Dick Eastman is Highlight Speaker at Jamboree

June 30, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

Dick Eastman was the featured speaker at the SCGS Jamboree’s Saturday Evening Social and Dinner in Burbank last week. Dick described the difference between a “name-gatherer” and a family historian and urged the crowd to be the latter, not the former.

In a speech entitled, “Putting the Genes in Genealogy,” Eastman pointed out the great strides made in genetics and its applications to genealogy–a theme underscored by the number and popularity of the DNA sessions at the conference. But Eastman said that in the not-so-far-off future, the use of DNA for medical predictions and preventive health management will transform genealogists into people who can help save the lives of family members. He sees this as a positive development for the health care system as well as for genealogy.

If you haven’t heard Dick Eastman speak, try to catch him if he’s anywhere near your area. He travels quite a bit. He’s a man of many interests and is a speaker of great talent. It occurred to me during his speech that he is not just an historian, but a futurist as well. I mentioned that to him when I saw him in the hotel lobby on Sunday morning. In his sometimes self-deprecating style, Eastman said, “I sometimes think that’s just a fancy word for someone who dreams a lot.” He thought for a minute, then said, “Maybe there’s no difference.”

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Saturday at the Jamboree

June 30, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

After the Bloggers Summit, everybody headed for lunch. And here is one of the nits I have to pick about the conference. The lunch lines were unreasonably long and there were far too few tables at which to sit. That led a number of people to head “off-campus” for lunch. Those without transportation (moi) went to the hotel restaurant which apparently was also crowded or to their rooms for room service (of course, that was as overwhelmed as the restaurant). I had some meds I had to take with food. So I waited to eat. As a result, I missed the 1:30 session I wanted to attend.

I did go to Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak’s presentation on “Tracing Your Roots With DNA” which was a useful adjunct to the other DNA presentations. It helped me understand more about the various DNA testing companies, what they do, and how to choose one. By the way, it was a standing-room-only crowd!

Then I went to a session called “Genealogy Across the Color Line.” I wasn’t sure what this was going to be. Unfortunately, there was a substitute presenter, who did an admirable job at filling in, but left me with the feeling that there was more left out. Basically, it came down to a sociological discussion of black people who consciously pass for white and why they do it. I’ve written a bit about this phenomenon before.

The most intriguing of what I couldn’t get to on Saturday:

  • Collen Fitzpatrick, “Forensic Genealogy Connections”
  • John T. Humphrey, “Developing the Skills to Become a Genealogist”
  • Bill Dollarhide, “The Best Genealogy Portals on the Internet”
  • Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, “Beyond Y-DNA: Your Genetic Genealogy Options” (this followed the session that I did get to, but I’m really sorry I missed this one!).

I have a CD copy of the syllabus, as all advance registrants got. There’s been a movement to encourage conferences to save trees and luggage space by making these available in electronic formats. But in many sessions, the presenters referred to page numbers or other matter in the paper versions that those of us with the CDs could not easily look at. Having said that, however, I appreciate having the CD instead of the paper. As I understand it, the CD may be for sale by the Southern California Genealogical Society. Check their website (which has had some maintenance problems in the last week or so).

More Jamboree news to come including:

  • Dick Eastman Charts the Future as Saturday Dinner Speaker
  • Was It Worth it?
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SCGS Jamboree: Why Live Blogging Didn’t Work for Me

June 30, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

And the Implications of That!

I had said that I would “liveblog” the Jamboree. As it sadly happened, I could not, but others did. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons, each with certain implications and lessons.

FIRST: I had assumed without checking that the Marriott’s Convention Center would have wireless Internet access for all participants. Apparently, there was a network available, but the key was accessible only to the speakers. So I paid $9.95 a day for wired access in my room. That, of course, made liveblogging impossible. I should have checked the situation beforehand. I hope that at other and future conferences, wireless access can be made available to all (even if we have to pay a reasonable fee for it). Additionally, as Randy Seaver has noted, the conference rooms were small and crowded with little space for computer use by participants other than the presenters. This fact made lugging my laptop around a major inconvenience. Now, looking at the majority of participants, I would guess (yes, I realize that I’m stereotyping here by age), many may not have been that interested in almost cutting edge tech issues and may not have had the hardware or the desire to carry it around for the conference. But there are many, regardless of age, who do have such interests and we need to accommodate them. That’s where the world is heading.

SECOND: I did not have the state of the art hardware. I’m a tech dinosaur, I suppose, stuck back in the ancient days of 2006 or even 2005. I marveled at the fact that Elizabeth O’Neal not only liveblogged, she “moblogged.” How did she post a picture of the Bloggers Summit on her blog while the summit was still going on? She used her cell phone! The cell phone took the picture; the cell phone printed the text; and the cell phone transmitted all of that to Blogger! This is facilitated by Blogger Mobile. Any cell phone with the capability to send email via MMS can work with Blogger Mobile. (And I suppose only a 2005-vintage dinosaur would describe Elizabeth’s mobile device as simply a “cell phone”!). My cell phone is text-enabled and can send email via MMS, but I’ve never bother to do this. I can connect to the Internet with it, but I’ve never bother to do that, either. It can’t take photos, however.

It’s a fact of life that time and technology yield for no one. I need to catch up or be left behind. Reading Family Matters is a good way to to catch up for those who want to come along!

AN OBSERVATION: During the Bloggers Summit Q&A, I sensed that a number of people who may want to be more “tech-savvy” are a bit wary, even afraid, of the technology. This afternoon as I prepared to leave the hotel I talked with a woman who said she still didn’t get the “how-to” part of starting a blog. Perhaps local societies should have a tech “How-to/Hands on Day” to demystify some of this for folks not used to it. We’re at a point in history where technology is more accessible to more people than ever before. It would be too bad to let some smart people succumb to tech-phobia.

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Jamboree Quickee

June 29, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

BURBANK, Calif.–I’m about to head off to the Saturday Social and Dinner, so no more updates today. I did attend an interesting session on DNA (again!) by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, and a session called “Crossing the Color Line.” I’ll have thoughts on both of those tomorrow. Tomorrow is my travel day and though it’s just an hour’s flight to Sacramento, you know how flying is these days. The posts may not be up until the evening.

I’ll have some thoughts about the entire experience here as well as some thoughts that occurred to me during the Bloggers Summit. Additionally, I’ll have some posts about technology here. Finally, I’ll tell you about a visit with a very special person and my sighting of a television celebrity!

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Jamboree Fashions

June 28, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

Here’s a view of the T-shirt I’m wearing at the SCGS Jamboree!

From VistaPrint.com

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Pix from Burbank

June 28, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

Above: George G. Morgan, flanked by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, and Stephen Danko, responds to a question during the first-ever Genea-Bloggers Summit on June 28, 2008, during the 39th Annual Southern California Genealogical Jamboree.

The all-star panel finds themselves looking at themselves looking at themselves thanks to Elizabeth O’Neal’s Little Bytes of Life.

Genea-bloggers gather: front row from left–Kathryn Doyle; Dick Eastman; George G. Morgan; Stephen Danko. back row from left–Leland Meitzler; Schelly Talalay Dardashti, Randy Seaver, Craig Manson, Elizabeth O’Neal.

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SCGS Jamboree: Elizabeth Scoops Bloggers at Summit

June 28, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

BURBANK, Calif.–As some of the geneablogosphere’s brightest stars sat on a panel discussing what they do and how they do it, the story was being scooped by genea-blogger Elizabeth O’Neal from her vantage point in the third row. At 10:28 AM PDT, less than half an hour after the session began, she posted the following:


(click to enlarge)

Kathryn Doyle mentioned it to Dick Eastman, who pulled it up onto the screen in the room. The panel soon found themselves looking at themselves looking at themselves looking at themselves . . . .

Way to go, Elizabeth! Go to her site, Little Bytes of Life, to find how to follow her Twitter updates.

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More Jamboree

June 28, 2008 Craig Genealogy

BURBANK, Calif.–The highlight of Friday at the SCGS Jamboree was the banquet with keynote speaker Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak. Megan, who’s know to everybody in the genealogy world, spoke on “Right Annie, Wrong Annie–Annie Moore of Ellis Island,” an absolutely riveting and poignant story of correcting the historical record about the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island in 1892.

The background: When Ellis Island opened in 1892, there was a ceremony to welcome the first immigrant off the S.S. Nevada. That ceremonial immigrant was an Irish girl named Annie Moore from County Cork. She arrived with her two brothers, Philip and Cornelius, to join their parents who were already in America. Upon arriving she was given a $10 gold piece to commemorate the occasion. Then she and her brothers disappeared into the teeming streets and tenements of New York.

As Ellis Island was being renovated in the late 1980′s, interest in Annie Moore was renewed and efforts made to find out what became of her. One elderly lady whose mother had been named Annie Moore came forward with “the rest of the story.” Annie, it seems, had married and moved to Texas. And that was the story the media and two countries accepted. Except Megan.

Working on a PBS documentary at the time, Megan researched the matter and concluded that the “Annie” everybody else was celebrating was the “wrong” Annie. For one thing, she had been born in Illinois, not Ireland! Megan did not know what happened to the “right” Annie, but she was confident that she probably had not moved to Texas!

After several years of grousing about the matter, Megan eventually decided to take action. She offered a prize of $1000 for anyone finding the “real” Annie Moore. What followed was an amazing effort by genealogists and others to solve this historical mystery. Marshaling this evidence, Megan found the descendants of the “right” Annie, some of whom knew, some of whom had no idea, about their ancestor.

Megan’s presentation was enhanced by a multimedia show that was outstanding. This was one not to have missed. Some elements of it are at this link on Roots Television, including the incredible film produced by a class of 11 year-olds in Ireland, called From Cork to New York: The Annie Moore Story.

Megan’s story of the search for Annie Moore may be the single most interesting discussion of solving an historical mystery that one may ever hear.

Light Moment: As such things go, there were some problems with the microphone. Megan tried to solve the issues by moving the lapel mike from one spot to another on her blouse. That seemed to work until she suddenly stopped and announced, “My mike just slid into my pants! . . . Actually, kind of an interesting sensation!”

Learn more about Annie Moore at the Annie Moore Memorial Project.

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