Tuesday, March 29, 2011

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on Saturday 9 Apr 2011

29 Mar 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 9 Apr 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Marilyn Thomsen on EATING AN ELEPHANT ONE BITE AT A TIME: IDEAS TO ORGANIZE YOUR FAMILY HISTORY TIME.  If you feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start on your family history, this presentation will help you set a goal, get organized, and show you how to use a personal coach to help you eat your genealogical elephant.  Marilyn Thomsen graduated with a B.A. in family history from Brigham Young University. Her internship was at the National Archive Branch in Atlanta, Georgia.  Twice she won BYU's award for her family histories.  Recently she served as a US & Canada consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and is currently the Director of the Utah Orem Sunset Heights Tri-Stake Family History Center (located across from Krispy Kremes.)  Her husband, Richard, shares a passion for digging up dead relatives and sharing it with living.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows:  (1)  Comparing Ancestral Quest, Legacy, and RootsMagic, by Debbie Gurtler;  (2)  MAC:  Recent DNA experiences--and Reunion Q&A, by Ron Hatch;  (3)  Personalized Help, by Finn Hansen & Don Engstrom;  (4)  Getting Genealogy Clutter Under Control, by Marilyn Thomsen;  (5)  Video of last month's main presentation:  Back-Door Research Breaks Through Brick Walls, by Stephen Ehat;  (6)  Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg;  (7)  Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay;  (8)  Legacy, by Dean Bennett; and  (9)  RootsMagic, by Sue Maxwell.

All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library.  Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group.  Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above.  For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            801-225-6106      end_of_the_skype_highlighting) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group--

Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

[UVPAFUG] Press release for meeting on Saturday 12 Mar 2011

2 Mar 2011
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY PAF USERS GROUP MEETING
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley PAF (Personal Ancestral File) Users Group will be on Saturday, 12 Mar 2011, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Users Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on the Group's website http://uvpafug.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvpafug.org/ .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Stephen Kent Ehat on BACK-DOOR RESEARCH BREAKS THROUGH BRICK WALLS. Steve will be showing what to do when you hit a brick wall in your family history research. What do you do then? Perform research on others, such as neighbors and those named in records in reasonably close proximity to the names of your relatives. This type of research helps you break through brick walls. Learn how to do it and be amazed at the results. Stephen Ehat is member of the State Bar of California. He recently served as the Director of a six-stake Family History Center in Lindon, Utah where he lives. A convert to the LDS Church at age 10, he has been doing family history research since 1967. He and his wife, Jeanine, have five sons and eleven grandchildren (with two on the way, but who's counting?).

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) MAC: Reunion Tips,Tricks, Q/A, and using Skype, by Ron Snowden; (2) Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com, by Sue Maxwell; (3) Personalized Help, by Finn Hansen & Rudy Johansen; (4) Q&A and Back-door Research Examples, by Stephen Ehat; (5) Video of last month's main presentation: The Future of New Family Seaerch, by Ron Tanner; (6) Family Insight, by Andrea Schnakenburg; (7) Ancestral Quest, (TBA); (8) Legacy, by Joel Graham; and (9) RootsMagic, by Diana Olsen.

All meetings of the Users Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Users Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, PAFology Editor; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to help with membership, answer questions, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter PAFology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Users Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvpafug.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley PAF Users Group

--
Dr. Donald R. Snow, Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah - snowd@math.byu.edu