Two weeks ago on April 11, Toronto Branch OGS hosted an in-person series of presentations on genetic genealogy entitled “Eureka Moments.” The format was eleven (yes, 11!) presentations of 5-10 minutes each, where speakers revealed an exciting discovery in their own genetic genealogy research.
It was also a Eureka Moment for me. Turns out that it is possible to fill a room with people who want to see a genealogy presentation! Toronto Branch hit the ball out of the park with this event. It was well worth the three-hour drive to attend.
The promotion for the event stated “This will not be a session about genetic theory or the basics of DNA testing. Instead, you’ll hear from real researchers with real problems…”
- It was dynamic:
- Every presentation was between five and ten minutes long.
- Even though there were eleven presentations in a warm auditorium after lunch, there was no chance of napping.
- Although some presenters were more dynamic than others, they had clearly had rehearsed together, and each speaker maintained the momentum.
- It was consistent and professional from concept, through strategy and planning, to execution and follow-up:
- They delivered on the advertised message.
- Their research was of consistently high quality.
- The slides were all in the same format.
- Each presenter introduced the next.
- After the session, attendees were sent a single document containing a one-page summary of each of the eleven presentations.
- There was a range of topics:
- Different presentations addressed Autosomal, Mitochondrial, and Y-DNA.
- Some outlined general approaches and others detailed statistical analyses.
- Some were personal stories and others focused on tools or web services.
- Some addressed low-complexity issues, and others tackled quite advanced challenges.
Another personal “Aha Moment:” OGS Toronto Branch has two (yes, 2!) special interest groups (SIGS) devoted to genetic genealogy — one basic and one advanced.
How was Toronto Branch was able to pull this off? Is it just because they have 600 members? I personally doubt this, since with 2% of Toronto’s population, Kingston branch’s membership is 33% of Toronto’s. Could Kingston Branch replicate this degree of dynamism, perhaps later on next year?
For me, I joined Toronto Branch and will be deciding which of their genetic genealogy SIGs I should also join.
To contact the OGS Toronto Branch, click here.
