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If you are an OGS member logged into this site, a link to each existing OGS SIG can be found under the "SIGs" menu. If you aren't an OGS member and decide to join, go to the Membership page. Anyone who joins and pays their dues online will be given immediate access to this site.
Make this year the year to attend a SIG meeting or two! This is a great venue to get to know more about genealogy software, DNA, how to write your story or ethnic research. Another benefit is getting to know fellow OGS members in a small group setting. SIGs are a benefit of membership so make sure your membership status is updated to access this wonderful benefit.
As we have been doing the last couple of years, most of the groups will be meeting virtually. Our standard meeting platform is Google Meet which functions much like Zoom. You’ll find similar buttons that Zoom has. The gain for us changing from Zoom to Google Meet is that the SIG facilitator will be the one sending out invites and creating the meeting links. The links still will be found on the corresponding SIG pages. If you would like to be on a SIG list, please send an email to the facilitator to be included on their list of members. You’ll find their email address on the SIG page.
| SIG | Facilitator | Meeting Information | Location |
| Ancestry.com | Greg Nordlund | 4th Saturday 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Explore the Ancestry.com website. Share research and usage tips, solve problems, and go over changes and new features. Bring your questions or learn from others! | Google Meet |
| DNA | Nancy Cordell | 2nd Wednesday 6:30 - 8:00 pm All OGS members are welcome, regardless of your experience level. In this SIG we learn by doing - you select the DNA question you want to work on and we work together to provide next steps. | Google Meet |
| Family History Writing | Laura Carroll | 1st Monday 7:00 - 8:30 pm Discussion of research and writing challenges and accomplishments. Encouragement to write our family stories. | Google Meet |
| Family Tree Maker (FTM) | David Abernathy | 1st Tuesday 6:00 - 8:00 pm Explore features of FTM, the world's favorite genealogy software, as we discuss ideas and research issues associated with your family history work. | Zoom |
| FamilySearch.org | Carolyn Gibbons | 4th Wednesday 6:00 – 8:00 pm General discussion about using the FamilySearch.org website with emphasis on the Wiki and the new Experiments. | Google Meet |
| Genealogy Chat | Peggy Cooley | 3rd Wednesday 1:00 - 2:30 pm Chat about breakthroughs and brick walls, successes, organizing your research, webinars, books, and all things genealogy. | In Person at Peggy's house |
Our Special Interest Groups are open to all OGS members. Feel free to contact the facilitator to learn more about the group.
If you are logged in to this site, click on the SIGs submenu on the top of the page to obtain the meeting link 10 minutes before the meeting is scheduled to start.
Best Practices for getting the most out of a remote meeting: have a camera on your computer so others can see you (although not mandatory), a microphone that allows us to hear you, and speakers or a headset so you can hear us! Some members use a headset with a boom mic on it. You'll be able to start accessing the meeting 10 minutes prior to the meeting start time.
OGS is always interested in starting new SIGs. If you have a subject that you feel would be of benefit to other members, please contact Kerry McHugh Upton to share your idea. We'll send out a notice to the membership to see if there are other members interested in a SIG group on that topic. These groups can be a cultural group, other genealogical database groups, etc. Every SIG needs a coordinator, so please let Kerry know if you are willing to be a SIG coordinator.