Mark Your Calendars - UVTAGG Meeting!

The next meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on 21 Feb 2015, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo.  This meeting was postponed from their usual second Saturday of the month due to the large RootsTech 2015 Conference ( http://rootstech.org )  in the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City last week.  Information about the Group, meeting location, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website  http://uvtagg.org   and the press releases are at  http://blog.uvtagg.org  .  On the blog you can subscribe to receive the press releases via email when they are posted a week before the meetings.

The main presentation this month at UVTAGG is by Todd Powell on FAMILYSEARCH MOBILE APPLICATIONS.  This presentation will demonstrate current and future features of the FamilySearch Mobile suite of applications.  More and more people are using smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, so FamilySearch engineers are working on applications (apps) to work with it.  But even if you don't own a mobile device, you can learn how this ties in with the computers you are using.  His presentation will also show us a road map of things they are working on and will share some unique mobile user stories.  He will have a Q&A session during the class period following his main presentation.  Todd Powell is the current senior product owner of mobile applications at FamilySearch.org.  He has worked in the technology industry for 24 years.  Last week at the large RootsTech 2015 conference in the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City he discussed some of this in his class RT1287.   The notes for that class are still online at   https://rootstech.org/bc/content/pdfs/Class-Syllabus/RootsTech/RT1287_FSMobileApp_Powell.pdf?lang=eng .  Several months ago he wrote an article for the FamilySrearch Blog on two new mobile apps -- see https://familysearch.org/blog/en/familysearch-introduces-moble-apps/ .

After the main presentation the following classes are scheduled; check the meetings page at  http://uvtagg.org/   for last minute changes or additions.   

1. Q&A:  FamilySearch Mobile Apps, by Todd Powell
2. Q&A:  FamilySearch Partner Access for LDS, by Sue Maxwell
3. Ask An Expert (Personal Help), by Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen
4. Video of last month's main presentation: FamilySearch Insider Tips and Tricks, by Ben Baker
5. [Note:  There will be no Ancestral Quest class this month.]
6. Legacy: Sourcing Information from Online Pedigrees, by Marilyn Thomsen
7. RootsMagic, by Renee Zamora

As you can see, there is something for everyone no matter what their level of family history expertise.  This includes youth, those just getting interested in genealogy, long-time genealogists, and Ward FH Consultants.  All meetings of UVTAGG are open to the public, whether members of the Group or not.  The Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually about 100 attending the monthly meetings, most of whom are Family History Consultants. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Don Engstrom and Rayanne Melick, Membership and Finances; Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen, DVD Library; and Chris Stevenson, Webmaster.  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 and sell to members of the Group DVDs of past presentations and classes.  Many members don't live close enough to participate in the monthly meetings, but pay the $10 per year online dues to belong so they can receive the monthly newsletter via email and purchase the inexpensive DVDs of the presentations and classes.  Gift memberships make great presents for family history-minded relatives, friends, and Family History Consultants, and membership is on a calendar year basis, so it is time for members to renew.  See more information about the presentations, classes, class notes, 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  laurie@everythingisrelative.net , or 2nd VP Don Snow at  snowd@math.byu.edu .