Lost in DNA Weekend Part 1. (my 600th post)
Now the title of this post might have you scratching your head and wondering, 'what is she going on about?' But if you belong to the Society of Australian Genealogists, https://www.sag.org.au/ you will know what I'm talking about.
Twice a year the Society has 'Lost In' weekends, covering a wide range of topics, some are face-to-face and some are webinars. Both are great. This past weekend was held at the Portside Conference Centre, Sydney, on Saturday and Sunday.
Some of the group, early on Saturday morning. The room was filled, both days.
The topic for the weekend was DNA and whilst we aren't NCIS Agents, looking for a killer, we are still trying to find that elusive ancestor, who is just out of our reach. Or so they thought!
Saturday was a warm, humid day in Sydney, just the sort of day you want, when digging for ancestors. The Society had put together a varied program, so that novices and experts were covered. Martyn Killion was our chair and started the day with a short DNA journey on his tree. From there the day flowed and speaker after speaker had us taking notes, jotting reminders of what to check, when we got home.
Louise Coakley, https://www.genie1.com.au/ gave us success stories, where DNA had helped solve mysteries and demolish brick walls, as well as giving more questions to be answered.
Michelle Patient, talked about Ancestry DNA tests. As I haven't tested with them, thought it might not interest me, I was wrong. Tips and hints she mentioned, I can apply to the tests I have done, because the various companies have similar things, but with different names.
Kerry Farmer, talked about Going beyond Ancestry and looked at the other DNA testing companies. As I have tested, with the ones she mentioned, like FamilyTreeDNA, I found this talk very interesting.
Next up was Maurice Gleeson, this was a pre-recorded webinar and Maurice spoke on Irish brick walls. He gave examples of how you might be able to breakdown that stubborn brick wall.
Veronica Williams spoke about GEDmatch and DNAGedcom. While I use GEDmatch and find it very useful, I hadn't heard of DNAGedcom. From this talk, I gained a better understanding of GEDmatch and will now have to spend time 'playing' with it.
Two success stories, from the SAG DNA Research Group were next and gave us all hope that we could do the same and solve our mysteries.
Mel Hulbert was the last speaker for the day and it was a topic I was very interested in. First Contact & No Tree! First contact, gave us an outline of how we can approach matches we find, on the various sites and what to write, that might get them to respond. Very useful.
No Tree! is something I'm finding on FamilyTreeDNA. People post a tree but everyone is private, or there is no tree, for a match. Mel gave us good, solid tips on ways we might be able to get around that and where to look. Now for 30 hours in a day, to do it all!
I also had my own DNA success story, when a lady stopped me and said, 'I know your name, you are my DNA match.' It turns out that her 2xs Great Grandfather and my 2xs Great Grandmother, are brother and sister. We were both thrilled!
Jo, my new cousin.
After an intersting day, Jennie Fairs and I wandered down to our hotel and then we went to dinner with Margaret and Geoff Dougherty.
Dinner was at Georges Mediterranean Bar & Grill, King Street Wharf. The service was a bit slow but the food was delicious and we spent several hours eating and talking.
Jennie and I said our good-byes to Margaret and Geoff, as they caught a taxi to their hotel, and we walked up to the hotel.
A great day ended with great company, good food and wine.
Darling Harbour.
Twice a year the Society has 'Lost In' weekends, covering a wide range of topics, some are face-to-face and some are webinars. Both are great. This past weekend was held at the Portside Conference Centre, Sydney, on Saturday and Sunday.
The topic for the weekend was DNA and whilst we aren't NCIS Agents, looking for a killer, we are still trying to find that elusive ancestor, who is just out of our reach. Or so they thought!
Saturday was a warm, humid day in Sydney, just the sort of day you want, when digging for ancestors. The Society had put together a varied program, so that novices and experts were covered. Martyn Killion was our chair and started the day with a short DNA journey on his tree. From there the day flowed and speaker after speaker had us taking notes, jotting reminders of what to check, when we got home.
Louise Coakley, https://www.genie1.com.au/ gave us success stories, where DNA had helped solve mysteries and demolish brick walls, as well as giving more questions to be answered.
Michelle Patient, talked about Ancestry DNA tests. As I haven't tested with them, thought it might not interest me, I was wrong. Tips and hints she mentioned, I can apply to the tests I have done, because the various companies have similar things, but with different names.
Kerry Farmer, talked about Going beyond Ancestry and looked at the other DNA testing companies. As I have tested, with the ones she mentioned, like FamilyTreeDNA, I found this talk very interesting.
Next up was Maurice Gleeson, this was a pre-recorded webinar and Maurice spoke on Irish brick walls. He gave examples of how you might be able to breakdown that stubborn brick wall.
Veronica Williams spoke about GEDmatch and DNAGedcom. While I use GEDmatch and find it very useful, I hadn't heard of DNAGedcom. From this talk, I gained a better understanding of GEDmatch and will now have to spend time 'playing' with it.
Two success stories, from the SAG DNA Research Group were next and gave us all hope that we could do the same and solve our mysteries.
Mel Hulbert was the last speaker for the day and it was a topic I was very interested in. First Contact & No Tree! First contact, gave us an outline of how we can approach matches we find, on the various sites and what to write, that might get them to respond. Very useful.
No Tree! is something I'm finding on FamilyTreeDNA. People post a tree but everyone is private, or there is no tree, for a match. Mel gave us good, solid tips on ways we might be able to get around that and where to look. Now for 30 hours in a day, to do it all!
I also had my own DNA success story, when a lady stopped me and said, 'I know your name, you are my DNA match.' It turns out that her 2xs Great Grandfather and my 2xs Great Grandmother, are brother and sister. We were both thrilled!
After an intersting day, Jennie Fairs and I wandered down to our hotel and then we went to dinner with Margaret and Geoff Dougherty.
Dinner was at Georges Mediterranean Bar & Grill, King Street Wharf. The service was a bit slow but the food was delicious and we spent several hours eating and talking.
Jennie and I said our good-byes to Margaret and Geoff, as they caught a taxi to their hotel, and we walked up to the hotel.
A great day ended with great company, good food and wine.
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