Category Archives: Meetings

DNA Discussion Group Meets Wednesday May 3rd

The MoCoGenSo DNA Sig is scheduled to meet: first Wednesday of the month at noon via Zoom. Reserve the time in your calendar!

A DNA Discussion Group (SIG) is a group of individuals who have a shared interest in using DNA testing for genealogy and family history research. DNA SIGs typically provide a forum for members to share information, resources, and expertise related to DNA testing and genealogy. Newcomers, beginners, are always welcome!

Please let us know if you would be able to present or share some of the tools or issues you are interested in. Maybe you have a topic or a speaker that you think others might be interested in. Perhaps you can facilitate a meeting. We can all learn from each other.

Dana Leeds, creator of “the Leeds Method” for Clustering just posted an article about the order of AncestryDNA’s “colored dots”. You can read her post here: https://www.danaleeds.com/the-order-of-ancestrydnas-colored-dots/ . Frankly, I need someone to explain it to me. What color do I associate with which ancestor to get the dots in the right order? I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday and we can discuss this and other puzzling tools.

If there is a particular tool or strategy you would like to share with others, or a genetic genealogy problem you would like the group to advise you on, get enough screenshots prepared in advance so you’ll be able to describe the technique step by step on screen, or show us the DNA-related work you’ve already done on your problem case.

My job is facilitator, or door keeper, if you would. Come join us. If you can’t make it this month, don’t worry. We plan to be here next month, and the next…

Click to Join Meeting: Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 897 1823 5118
Passcode: 738495

DNA Discussion Group Meets Wednesday March 1st

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The MoCoGenSo DNA Sig has resumed operations, with scheduling: First Wednesday of the month at noon via Zoom. Reserve the time in your calendar!

Lots of things have been happening in the genetic genealogy field in recent months. Below is a new option made available at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) called Group Time Tree which shows in some of the group projects. The graph below includes my data! I will show how it works on this Wednesday.

My job is facilitator, or door keeper, if you would. Come join us. If you can’t make it this month, don’t worry. We plan to be here next month, and the next…

Click to Join Meeting: Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 897 1823 5118
Passcode: 738495

DNA Discussion Group meets Wednesday February 1st

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The MoCoGenSo DNA Sig will resume operations, with scheduling like before: First Wednesday of the month at noon via Zoom. Reserve the time in your calendar!

We haven’t met for 6 months. Lots of things have been happening in the genetic genealogy field in that time. Below are some of the new tools that have shown up at the DNA Painter wed site. Hopefully someone can show us how these things work.

Ancestry . com has not been standing still either. There are many new things that I want to learn how to use. Of course, discussing the Sawtooth Slayer Methodology could easily take a whole session. And I hear that FamilyTreeDNA has not been standing still either. Building clusters is my current pet peeve.

My job is facilitator, or door keeper, if you would. Come join us next week. If you can’t make it this month, don’t worry. We plan to be here next month, and the next…

Click to Join Meeting: Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 897 1823 5118
Passcode: 738495

Mocogenso DNA Group is Paused through 2022

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The MoCoGenSo DNA Sig is on hold for the remainder of the year. We will reevaluate its resumption in 2023.

In the meanwhile, there are many great DNA Sigs and Discussion groups throughout the country that are free for the joining. In fact, we have a few right here on the West coast. For example, have you heard of Randy Seaver? He is a long time genealogist who runs a DNA Sig for the Chula Vista Genealogical Society. This link goes to their main page where there is link to the next DNA meeting! Their meetings are via Zoom and are quite interesting. The last one I attended had 32 folks present!

chulavistagenealogysociety.wildapricot.org

For those who want pure genealogy, Randy Seaver runs a blog that is worth checking out.

www.geneamusings.com/p/randys-genealogy.html

And do not forget the Genealogy Society of Santa Cruz County right here in the Monterey Bay area. They also have a DNA Sig that can be found the calendar on their main page at:

https://scgensoc.org/

Find Genealogy Meetings Near our Central California Coast

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GSSCC => Genealogical Society of Santa Cruz County

https://scgensoc.org/ and https://scgensoc.org/event-calendar/

MoCoGenSo => Monterey County Genealogical Society

https://mocogenso.org/

Monterey Public Library

https://monterey.org/services/library/events/index.php

Salinas Public Library

https://salinaspubliclibrary.org/calendar

SVCGG => Silicon Valley Computer Genealogy Group

https://www.svcgg.org/ and https://www.svcgg.org/meetings.html

Monthly Meeting – May 5, 2022 – “Local History and Creativity in Your Research and Story-Telling” by Mary Smathers

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When twenty-something Nicole Sinclair stumbles on DNA reports that document an ancestry far different from her father’s narrative of a white, northern European background, she enlists the help of her great grandmother to investigate their roots. As they search, their true Californio ancestors come to life. They include a Spanish soldier in the Portola expedition to explore Alta California, a captured Ohlone native and a girl whose family walks with the De Anza settlers eighteen hundred miles from Sinaloa to the San Francisco Bay. In This Land of Plenty’s family saga introduces the diverse cast of characters and complex social issues that populate California’s rich history while drawing a direct line to today’s residents.

Come listen to Mary as she tells us how to write your own family’s story using her book IN THIS LAND OF PLENTY as an example.

Mary Smathers grew up in Los Altos, California and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Latin American Studies. She earned a Master’s degree in Education and another MA in Educational Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University. From 1983 to 2013, she worked in public schools throughout California as a high school teacher, administrator, teacher trainer, grant writer and educational entrepreneur. Since then, she has focused on writing, publishing a collection of short stories and the award winning In This Land of Plenty, a family saga based on California history. She recently published her first children’s book, the first in a bilingual series featuring jungle and ocean animals. She divides her time between the Monterey Peninsula and Costa Rica.

The Zoom meeting will start at 7:00 pm sharp. Zoom meeting details will be sent by invitation only. If you are not a member and wish to attend, send an email with your email address to our Membership VP, Marilyn Ruccello.

For additional information, call (831) 915-9465.

If you are not familiar with Zoom, click here.

”Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – Albert Einstein

DNA Discussions – zoom at noon on Wednesday – February 2nd

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MoCoGenSo’s DNA Discussion Group will be meeting Wednesday with an open forum. Join us via Zoom. Feel free to drop in for conversation and stay for lunch.

Check out this great page full of information for newcomers to genetic genealogy isogg.org/wiki/Wiki_Welcome_Page

This meeting will start with discussions about our latest finds. Then we will move on to questions and discussions.

Click to Join Meeting: Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 897 1823 5118
Passcode: 738495

Making your own charts

Sometimes it is useful to create a chart of people in your tree to see how they fit together before you actually put them into a permanent tree. Perhaps you are checking centimorgan levels for DNA matches, for example. In the “old days” we would use Visio to create these charts. There are a couple of internet applications that can be used now, one of which I have come to like. It is free to use and does not need to be installed, it runs in your browser. You can find it at DIAGRAMS.NET.

Join us Wednesday at the DNA Discussion Group and I will show how easy it is to use. It can create things like these charts. I will even make blanks of these two available to give you a head start. Join us if you can.

”It goes to show you: you get into a tinkle contest with a skunk, you get tinkle all over you!” – Nancy Pelosi

Monthly Meeting – Feb 3, 2022 – “U.S. Census” by Cathy Andrews

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Since 1790, the U.S. Census has been a resource both for community planning and for genealogists. The wealth of information can help establish or confirm details about an ancestor’s life. We’ll talk about all the things that Census has and doesn’t have for genealogical research including supplementary documents and unexpected notations.

Cathy Andrews is Senior Librarian for Adult Services with the Salinas Public Library, where she teaches the “Genealogy Basics” series and oversees genealogy resources, services and programming. Growing up in a family where stories and details about ancestors were woven into every family gathering, she has a deep appreciation for genealogy’s challenges and rewards.

For additional information, call (831) 915-9465.

If you are not familiar with Zoom, click here.

” The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” – Albert Einstein

DNA Discussions – zoom at noon on Wednesday – December 1st

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MoCoGenSo’s DNA Discussion Group will be meeting Wednesday with an open forum. Join us via Zoom. Feel free to drop in for conversation and stay for lunch.

Check out this great page full of information for newcomers to genetic genealogy isogg.org/wiki/Wiki_Welcome_Page

This meeting will start with discussions about our latest finds. Then we will move on to questions and discussions.

Click to Join Meeting: Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 897 1823 5118
Passcode: 738495

Things to ponder until then:

DNA Geek – Experienced?

DNA Explained – MyHeritage Labels

DNA Explained – Genetic Affairs new AutoKinship tool

Eventually, all genealogists come to their census.

Monthly Meeting – Dec 2, 2021 – “Working on My Waterburys” by Gail Burk

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Thursday, December 2, 2021 7:00 PM

Guest Speaker: Gail Burk

Working on My Waterburys

For more than 40 years, Gail has been trying to find the parents of her second great-grandfather, the elusive James Foster Waterbury. She has finally made a bit of recent progress in cracking this brick wall through the slow amalgamation of clues gleaned from many diverse sources. Gail uses a multi-faceted approach that combines traditional genealogical research with DNA analysis. This presentation outlines some of the strategies she has employed in the process of working on her Waterburys, and will focus on the many tools available at ancestry.com.

Gail Burk is a long-time member of the Genealogical Society of Santa Cruz County, where she has served in a number of Board positions, including President. Gail graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she majored in art, and minored in history. She has been an active genealogist since 1977. For many years, Gail also participated in a weekly writing group and a monthly sketching group. During the pandemic, she has devoted much time and effort in attempting to break down some of her genealogical brick walls. As Gail’s granddaughter says, Gail has become very “sleuthy.”

If you are not familiar with Zoom, click here.

”The task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.” – Arthur Schopenhauer