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The Monterey County Genealogy Society now has a seat at the Facebook table! New postings here (including this one) will magically appear in our Facebook page. The purpose of this media hookup is to connect to folks who only use Facebook and don’t use email much.
Anyone with a Facebook account can see our page by searching for “Monterey County Genealogy Society” or “mocogenso”.
If you see us now in Facebook, great. You should not ignore this website though. We have static pages here that contain valuable information (links, meeting handouts and schedule, hints, etc) that never appear in the posts.
Thanks to Jackie Allison for all her work in setting up the Facebook system. And thanks to Theresa Henderson for volunteering to support the site in the future. I prefer to stay grounded here in the blog-o-sphere.
Now you know why the previous post appeared twice, it was a test! 🙂
“The future’s already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” – William Gibson
RootsTech 2020
RootsTech 2020 is ready to start!
The conference will start Wednesday, running Feb. 26 to Feb. 29 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and promises to be bigger and better than ever!
RootsTech organizers have posted information on how to view some sessions free (called live streaming) at www.rootstech.org/salt-lake/live-stream-schedule for those of us unable to attend. (Remember that times shown are Mountain Time Zone.)
They will also record some classes, for viewing later. But those 30 classes are pay-for-view this year.
There will be something for everyone!
”If you save a tree in the forest, but don’t send out a press release about it, did you save it at all?” – Hadley Freeman
New Basic Genealogy Support Group Starting Up
Come join us, and learn to be a better family genealogist. Bring your questions or problems about your family tree, specific software or websites. We will solve it together.
Some people have very specific reasons for tracing their family tree. Others jump into family history research without giving it much thought, some want to include their family & children in the process. Knowing why people research their ancestors can be a source of inspiration and support for genealogists. This can be particularly important when the inevitable roadblocks and brick walls become a factor. What motivates the broader genealogy community is also helpful in understanding the future direction of ancestral research.
“Success is where preparation met opportunity.” – Neil Armstrong
Ancestry.com lays off 6% of its workforce
Ancestry, the largest seller of at-home DNA tests for health and genealogy reports, is laying off about 100 people, approximately 6% of its total workforce. The cuts hit employees across the board, rather than focusing on a specific department, and included workers at all levels. The layoffs affected both its Utah and California offices.
Ancestry confirmed the layoffs and shared a copy of a blog post written by CEO and President Margo Georgiadis that will publish on Wednesday.
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We just discussed 23andMe laying of 100 employees (14%) of it’s employees at our DNA discussion group today. Then this appears in my news feed. It is like “catching”, I guess.
Interesting Stats:
23andMe, 100 = 14% of 714 employees, leaving 614.
Ancestry, 100 = 6% of 1,666 employees, leaving 1,566.
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Who is next?
“Genealogist’s motto: they can hide, but they can’t run.”
DNA Discusssions – Feb 5, 2020
23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki (pronounced “Woh-JIS-key”) announced last week that the company is laying off 14% of its staff amid an industry-wide decline in sales of consumer DNA tests that has driven several companies in the industry toward other endeavors.
23andMe, like FTDNA, do not charge an annual “maintenance” fee. Ancestry and MyHeritage do charge big annuals fees. Given that the Pentagon has come out against at-home DNA testing (could it be that people in high places have something to hide?) and given that ethnicity reports haven’t been all that accurate, what does the future hold for those of us who have already tested? Tune in next week for the rest of the story. 🙂
Meanwhile, our very own DNA Discussion group had already decided to concentrate on 23andMe during the next session. Join us Wednesday, February 5th as Terry Jackson shares some of his experiences at 23andMe.
If you have tested with 23andMe or are considering it, we meet at 12 noon at the FHC in the Library. We would like to hear from you, too.
” The Internet is making smart people smarter and dumb people dumber.” – Kevin Drum
