UVTAGG] Press Release for UVTAGG meeting Saturday morning, 14 Jan 2017, Provo

2017-01-07

Journalists and newsletter editors, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. (This is too late for ward newsletters.)  For a shorter version please show the main speaker and topic, give the UVTAGG websites, and say there are classes at all levels of genealogy.  If you need further information, please email me.  Thanks.

Don Snow -- snowd@math.byu.edu

[UVTAGG] Press Release for UVTAGG meeting Saturday morning, 14 Jan 2017, Provo

The next meeting of the UVTAGG (Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group) will be on Saturday, 14 Jan 2017, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. The main presentation at this month's meeting will be by Edgie E. Donakey, VP, Strategic Relations and Deputy Chief Genealogy Officer, FamilySearch International.  The title of his presentation will be THE CHIEF GENEALOGY OFFICE:  SUPPORTING FAMILYSEARCH AND THE COMMUNITY.   Ed will talk about the FamilySearch Chief Genealogy Office representing FamilySearch to the genealogy community while at the same time, representing the genealogy community to FamilySearch. (Yep! This is a mouthful, but it is one of the many aspects of the CGO – keep reading and learn more.)  The CGO works with individuals, societies, and archives to deliver solutions that can be used for personal or organizational support.  Lest anyone think that they rest, they also work with public and private for-profit and non-profit orgs that can or should support the genealogy community.  He will share insights into some of their activities and demonstrate one of the recent solutions that the CGO developed – the Mobile Device App Scan.  The MDAS includes a stand that can hold a tablet or smartphone to take digital pictures, a mini-LED light, and a Bluetooth remote to ensure stability.  An off-the-shelf solution, it addresses an immediate need that allows users to capture images inexpensively, quickly, and uniformly.  At FamilySearch Mr. Donakey also identifies technical and partnership solutions to acquire critical genealogical data.  Additionally, he provides business and technology support to genealogical societies and the associated community.  As Vice President of Development for the Federation of Genealogical Societies, Ed is responsible for the FGS fundraising efforts and partnerships and directly supports the FGS annual conferences.  The past-chairman of the Board for Kids on The Move, Ed recently stepped down as an advisory board member for the Utah IT Symposium and also sits or has sat on executive advisory boards at Dell, HP, Oracle, Altiris, and other tech organizations.  He has been active in BSA for almost thirty years and is a guest lecturer at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University.  Prior to coming to FamilySearch, he was the founding CEO of Golder Melick Insurance Reserve, an SVP at Agilix Labs, and a “C” level officer at Caldera Systems, and The Bison Group.  Earlier in his career he directed global operations, domestic and international marketing, legal, business development, and mergers and acquisitions efforts or departments.  A happily married father of eight children, Ed was elected six straight years to the v|Spring v100, recognizing the top 100 entrepreneurs in Utah.  Ed’s undergraduate and graduate studies were in philosophy and political philosophy, respectively, at BYU. 

The following classes are scheduled after the main presentation this month.  For last minute changes and additions see the UVTAGG website and blog.

(1)  Ed Donakey, Q&A on the FamilySearch Chief Genealogical Officer and FamilySearch

(2)  Don Engstrom & John Blake, Ask An Expert (Personal Help)

(3)  Michael J. Hall, Video of last meeting's main presentation (Nov 2016): What Is The Chief Genealogical Officer of FamilySearch?

(4)  Gaylon Findlay, Ancestral Quest

[Two additional classes are under consideration.]

This is the regular second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting and all meetings of UVTAGG are open to the public, whether members of the Group or not.  The UVTAGG meetings have something for everyone, no matter what their level of family history expertise and this includes youth, those just getting interested in genealogy, long-time genealogists, and family history consultants.  The Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 70-80 people attending the monthly meetings, many of whom are family history consultants.  You can join or renew your membership at this meeting or on the website.  Information about the Group, meeting location, current and past presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website  http://uvtagg.org  and the press release blog  http://blog.uvtagg.org .  On the blog you can also subscribe to receive emails of the press releases when they are posted the week before the meetings.  The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Eileen Phelps, Newsletter Editor; Don Engstrom and Rayanne Melick, Membership and Finances; Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, DVD Library; and Chris Stevenson, Rick Klemetson, Rick Wightman, and Brent Nelson, Webmasters.  Several of these will be at the meeting to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out or sell to members the inexpensive presentation and class DVDs.  Members receive the monthly newsletter TAGGology (and via email, if requested), and access to many genealogy resources through the UVTAGG's membership in the Federation of Genealogical Societies.  The dues for regular membership are $15 per year on a calendar year basis and $10 per year for email-only TAGGologies.  Gift memberships and DVDs make great presents for family history-minded relatives, friends, and family history consultants.  See more information and how to join the group on the websites above.  You can also contact President Gerhard Ruf at  pres@uvtagg.org  (801-225-6106), or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at  gengal@comcast.net , or 2nd VP Don Snow at  snowd@math.byu.edu .

Don Snow, 2nd VP of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG), snowd@math.byu.edu

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