The Southern California Genealogical Society is proud to announce the 45th Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree. The popular conference will be held at the home of Jamboree, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, 2500 Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA, from Friday through Sunday, June 6 to 8, 2014.

Jamboree combines speakers, exhibitors, class sessions, and special events to create an exceptional event. Reservations are now open at the Marriott. Jamboree will again offer a mobile app to help you manage the event. Details will be announced as we draw closer to June.

Theme: The theme of the 2014 Jamboree is Golden Memories: Discovering Your Family History. Our heritage focus will be on European ancestors. Class sessions are scheduled for German, Irish, English / UK, Scotland, Eastern Europe, Italian, Mennonite, Swedish, and Russian, as well as African American and Jewish classes.

JamboFREE: Friday morning, JamboFREE makes genealogy available at no cost to genealogists at all experience levels. Beginner classes; Genealogy World small-group discussions; and orientation for new SCGS members and first-time Jamboree attendees are just three of the free sessions. 2014 will also feature a professional-level Librarians' Genealogy Boot Camp and Workshop for Genealogical Societies.

Sessions: Fully half of the 150 sessions at Jamboree will directly address the use of technology in family history research. Other sessions will focus on methodology, organization; record types. Sessions for all experience levels will be available. Sunday's schedule includes several family history writing classes.

Friday's banquet presentation spotlights John P. Colletta, one of genealogy's most popular and entertaining speakers. In his presentation "The Keepers of the Records and I: Tales of Accessing Historical Sources," John said, "I have had to develop skills of diplomacy, negotiation, good humor, melodrama, stealth, groveling and bribery" as he's searched for family document treasures over four decades. Come hear his experiences as only John can tell them.

Syllabus: One note: in 2014, in an effort to manage costs, Jamboree's printed syllabus will be available for purchase only. Most syllabus articles will be available for download prior to Jamboree, dependent on permission of the speaker and independent of the app.

Every attendee will receive a CD that includes all three syllabi (DNA Day, JamboFREE, and the 450+ page Jamboree syllabus.) DNA day and JamboFREE attendees will receive a free printed syllabus specific to their events.

Following on the heels of last year's very successful inaugural DNA conference, we will again hold Family History and DNA: Genetic Genealogy in 2014. The conference will be produced by the Southern California Genealogical Society and sponsored jointly by SCGS and the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). Family History and DNA will be held Thursday, June 5, at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank.

Keynote speaker Dr. Maurice Gleeson is by profession a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical physician. He is also a professional actor and has appeared on the West End stage in London. Maurice is co-administrator of the Ireland mitochondrial DNA project. He has given talks on genetic genealogy at the ‘Back to Our Past’ exhibition in Dublin (2012 & 2013) and also at the National Library of Ireland (Dublin), The National Archives in Kew (London), and at various regional and local meetings. His presentation will be of interest to Irish researchers in general, as well as those who are DNA users: "How DNA will Change the Face of Irish Genealogy."

The luncheon program will be a panel discussion with representatives of the testing companies participating. The panel will be moderated by Blaine Bettinger, PhD, JD, who has been musing about the future on his popular blog, The Genetic Genealogist. Participants include Bennett Greenspan of Family Tree DNA, Joanna Mountain PhD of 23andme, a representative of AncestryDNA, and Diahan Southard of The Genetic Genealogy Consultant.

Other speakers at Family History and DNA include many of the leaders of the genetic genealogical community: Blaine Bettinger, JD; Judy G. Russell, JD, CG; CeCe Moore; Tim Janzen, MD; Diahan Southard; Alice Fairhurst; Cheri Mello; Katherine Borges; Bonny Cook; and Dr. Kathryn Johnston.

What's New for 2014?

• The registration fee for Family History and DNA has been reduced for SCGS members and non-members.


• We are offering a special discount for those who register for both DNA and Jamboree conferences.

Announcing Live-Streamed Sessions at Jamboree and the Family History and DNA Conference

Live Streaming at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree

Live-Streaming at the
Family History and DNA
Conference

The Southern California Genealogical Society has released the schedule of live-streamed sessions that will be available FREE at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree June 6-8, 2014. A total of 14 free sessions will be streamed over the three days of Jamboree. The sessions are open to the public and can be attended by anyone with a broadband Internet connection. The list of classes and speakers can be found here.

"The sessions span all experience levels and a wide range of topics," explained Leo Myers, Jamboree co-chair. "The speakers are among the most knowledgeable and respected instructors in genealogy today, and we are so grateful that they have agreed to share their knowledge with family historians around the world."

The live streaming is sponsored in part by Jamboree's diamond sponsor, Ancestry.com. Many of the streamed sessions will eventually be accessible to SCGS members in the webinar archive, which holds more than 100 hours of instructional videos that are available on demand to members of the society.

In addition, five live-streamed sessions will be available for viewing from the Family History and DNA: Genetic Genealogy in 2014 conference on Thursday, June 5. Because that event is produced by ISOGG and SCGS and it does not accept financial support, the live-streamed sessions are available on a pay-for-view basis. An All-Day Pass is also offered.

Help us celebrate the Golden Anniversary of the founding of the Southern California Genealogical Society. The Society was formed on January 10, 1964; and the Saturday banquet will top off the year-long celebration.

Celebration of SCGS's 50th Anniversary will culminate at the 2014 Jamboree Saturday Night Banquet. We'll take a look at the decade of the '60s, a seminal time in the history of the United States. Katherine York worked with San Francisco's rock impressario Bill Graham for several years, and she was the founding archivist for the multi-million-dollar Wolfgang's Vault. She will compare the gold miners' search for riches with the hippies' search for freedom.

Sunday will be "Dress like the '60s" day. Whether it's tie dye and granny glasses or a tidy shirtwaist dress and itchy crinoline; whether it's a uniform of the US Military or the IBM uniform of dark suit, white shirt and narrow tie, show us your '60s look. We'll have a dress-up contest in the Pavilion at lunch, and the winner will receive a free registration to the 2015 Jamboree. Were you just a glimmer in someone's eye in the 60s? Never fear ... you can be an honorary Boomer for the day.