Dick Eastman

This post was co-authored by MyHeritage US genealogy adviser, Schelly Talalay Dardashti and MyHeritage business development manager and genealogist, Mark Olsen.

One of the most recognized names in the genealogy world, Dick Eastman is synonymous with geneablogging and using technology to improve your family history experience.

At the recent National Genealogical Society conference in Cincinnati, the MyHeritage team saw a chance to spend some personal time with Dick - and tour his recreational vehicle (RV) - we jumped at the opportunity.

For the past year or so, Dick has left his Massachusetts home for several months at a time while he roams the country - geneahopping from one genealogy event to another, not only in the US, but globally. Since the end of 2011, he’s been home for no more than three days at a time, but is looking forward to being home again in a few weeks.

While attending NGS, Dick parked his RV and drove his towed Mini Cooper into town each morning.

Dick's Mini Cooper

Being in demand at so many conferences takes detailed planning by Dick. This now includes road travel, RV campground arrangements and - most importantly – arranging for Internet connections so he can log on and write the Eastman Online Genealogy Newsletter (www.eogn.com).

A group of us got together at a Brazilian steakhouse. In addition to the MyHeritage team (Daniel Horowitz, Mark Olsen, and Schelly Talalay Dardashti), the group included Dick, Pamela Weisberger (Los Angeles), Elise Friedman and Alex Yi (FamilyTreeDNA.com), and our friend Chris Mueller (Albuqerque). Since Schelly’s birthday was a few days later, we shared a candle-topped dessert and sang Happy Birthday.

Genealogy conferences are always happy events as we enjoy relaxing with our friends after a busy day at our booth in the exhibit hall.

We needed an Internet connection at dinner, and Dick pulled out three hotspots from three providers. It is nice to travel with a techie!

After dinner, Daniel, Mark, Schelly and Chris followed Dick back to his home-on-wheels for an exclusive visit. It was an interesting experience seeing Dick's working environment on the road.

His RV was parked at a campground about 20 miles away. It was late when we got there and other park visitors had campfires going under the tall trees, while others had pitched tents on grassy spots.

Dick's RV

Dick was in the process of rewiring the RV so he could connect more easily. He has a satellite dish and other Wi-Fi devices to help!

From the comfort of his compact, practical RV - and in a beautiful area - Dick posts to his newsletter several times a day, three on average.

He tells us that he spends a lot of times at the RV kitchen table, as seen in the photograph, as well as many hours sitting in the open air outside the RV at the picnic tables that are always nearby in the RV parks he frequents.

He spends many hours each day reading all the latest news in the world of genealogy, as well as reviewing technology announcements that often impacts modern family history technology. Such technology now includes DNA genetic genealogy, facial recognition – which adds to photo sharing and creating family history – and other aspects.

We thank Dick for the personal tour of his RV and glimpse into his life, and also for the 30+ years he has spent in family history. He has helped shaped the current scene, now increasingly focused on preserving family history. We all saw this clearly on April 2, as millions of people from around the world searched for their ancestors in the 1940 census on MyHeritage.com, WorldVitalRecords.com, as well as other sites.

Thank you for your efforts, Dick. We look forward to seeing you at another conference very soon.

From Left: Schelly Talalay Dardashti, Mark Olsen, Daniel Horowitz and Dick Eastman

On Wednesday, the team was busy at the booth answering questions and providing more information to attendees who had heard about MyHeritage from speakers who spoke about our very social family trees, WorldVitalRecords.com data, facial recognition technology and much more.

In the evening, Daniel Horowitz and Mark Olsen joined hundreds of conference-goers at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center for a moving experience as they learned about the lives of thousands of freedom seekers and “conductors” (those of all races and backgrounds who assisted the enslaved to reach the Ohio River and beyond – freedom – at their own and their families' risk). Although not an actual railroad, nor underground, it was the secret route used to transfer the slaves from one location to another – from one farm or home to the next – until he or she reached freedom.

Portrayal of a man hiding behind a tree in his quest for freedom - National Underground Railroad Museum Cincinnati, Ohio

Many moving scenes are portrayed. If you visit Cincinnati, the museum should be on your must-see list.

Thursday was another fabulous day full of hundreds of great interactions with customers at the booth and conference goers looking to soak in as much information as they could through classes and interactions with other genealogists and vendors.

On Friday NGS organizers announced that the official NGS attendance was 2,155, resulting in packed session rooms. Many sessions reached capacity, and fire codes are very strict. There were reports of some attendees who could not get a seat in the session they wanted to attend. Technology and census sessions seem to be drawing the largest crowds.

Friday continued to be a great day at NGS.  Mark was able to attend several very informative sessions.  The most informative being a great discussion on properly using the US Census for research by Jill Crandell of the Brigham Young University Center for Family History and Genealogy.  The center sends interns around the globe to gather immigrant records and other data to document the path from old world to new and help provide clues allowing many to ‘bridge the gap’. Jill discussed the many hidden pieces of information that can be found in the census when using the appropriate search strategies.

Friday was consistently very busy in the exhibit hall.  There were many times that people were lined up to ask questions and learn more about MyHeritage and its products and services.

The Ancestry Insider along with others at the blogger dinner hosted by FamilySearch who wish to remain unnamed

Saturday was another great day at the conference with classrooms continuing to be nearly full or beyond.  The conference wrapped up as it started with over 2,100 in attendance in full classroom and between classes wandering the rows of exhibits looking for a great deal, answers to genealogy or technical issues and a continued excitement about the ever growing world of genealogy and all its possibilities.

Overall NGS was an excellent conference.  We have much more information and photos to share including a one of a kind visit with a well-known genealogy blogger.  Over the next few weeks we will dive in and post more about NGS and all that occurred during the fabulous week in Cincinnati, Ohio – Gateway to the Western Frontier.

Genealogist and Blogger Lisa Alzo visits with Schelly Talalay Dardashti and MyHeritage Chief Content Officer Russ Wilding

This post is also published on the WorldVitalRecords blog (part of the MyHeritage family).

This annual event was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993. It’s a day for reflecting on the importance of family and for raising awareness of issues affecting families across the globe.

The theme of this year's International Day of Families is "Ensuring work family balance."

Maintaining a healthy work/life balance is one of the major challenges of modern life. We may work longer or shorter hours than our ancestors, but we live further away from family who are traditionally our key support network.

We constantly strive to succeed in our careers, but with the world becoming smaller and more digital, we are always online and always connected so that we can stay on top of our ever-increasing workloads.

According to AOL’s 4^th annual ‘Email Addiction’ survey, 62% of people check work email on weekends.

How can we ensure that we reach a healthy balance of personal life and work?

In this article from Forbes, the author suggests prioritizing and focusing on what’s personally important. People talk about the idea of a personal audit, how we each spend our time.

It’s about asking ourselves the hard-hitting questions, such as, whether we do focus on what's important in our lives. Are you ensuring you’re doing everything you can to make the people in your life happy? Do you spend enough time with your family? If you were to die tomorrow, would you be happy with how you lived today?

In his message for International Day of Families UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon states:

We need to respond to the ever-changing complexities of work and family life.  I welcome the establishment of family-friendly workplaces through parental leave provisions, flexible working arrangements and better childcare.

Such policies and programs are critical to enhancing the work-family balance.  These actions can also lead to better working conditions, greater employee health and productivity, and a more concerted focus on gender equality.

In the modern world, it’s vital for our well-being to take stock, and ensure we're not forgetting to live our lives. Take a minute today to focus on what’s important to you, and how you can make your work/life balance better. This will not only make you happier, but will probably make you a more productive employee.

If Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg can leave work every day at 5.30pm to have dinner with her children, maybe you can, too.

How are you trying to achieve a balance between your professional life and your family life?

Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter. We'd love to hear your ideas and suggestions.

I love my family because..... How would you finish this sentence?

Following the success of our competition "I love genealogy because" last August, we're giving you another chance to win a free one-year PremiumPlus subscription to www.MyHeritage.com!

There are many reasons why we love family, but we want to know yours. Complete the sentence - "I love my family because..." in the comments below or on our Facebook Page between now and May 20 and our favorite comment will win the subscription . The winner will be notified on May 21.

We're running this in advance of International Day of Families which takes place tomorrow, May 15.

We look forward to your comments!

We wish all of you celebrating it today, a Happy Mother's Day! May those mothers enjoy a day filled with fun, surrounded by family.

We asked you to share with us via our blog, Facebook page or Twitter, what makes your Mom special. We received some very moving responses from all over the world and selected our favorite ones for publication:

Stephanie:

Perseverance is what makes my mom special, and the phrase "crying doesn’t solve anything" has taught me to always look for a solution, rather than complain about it.

Nancy:

My mother, Carolyn Steindel Smith, will be 92 in June. At the age of 7 my brother Paul was diagnosed with polio and the Doctors said he would die. He will be 70 tomorrow. My mother lost her other son at the age of 21 and my father at 69. My mom has been a worker, companion, caregiver, mother, wife and grandmother. She is unselfish and has always been an incredible support system. Unfortunately, the tables have turned and my husband and I both assist in caring for my mother and brother as we all reside in the same home. Happy Mother's Day!!! She needs some applause!

Marcos:

My mother's main priority and concern is her children's happiness. No matter how busy she is, she always makes time for us. We celebrate our birthdays together and whenever the family gets together, she cries tears of joy. She's very loving and charitable with people in need, always offering her hand to those asking for help. She's a woman of faith, Christian, and very close to her traditions and people. She's a fearless fighter. This is how I see my mother, and I wanted to share it with love for her.

Martha:

What can I say about my mother? She was the most wonderful gift God gave my family. Unfortunately she’s no longer physically here but she’ll always be in my heart. Spiritually, she was my mother, sister and friend and I still can’t believe she's not here...

For those of you fortunate enough to have your mother around, enjoy her and try to spend lots of time together. When that star has no more light to shine, the darkness is immense... I see her in my dreams and when I do, I don't want to wake up. Mom, I still love you no matter where you are and I can’t wait for the moment we can meet again. God bless all the good mothers and children.

How do you celebrate Mother's Day?  How many generations of mothers in your family are celebrating together?  Let us know in the comments below.

Family Tree Builder 6.0 (click to enlarge)

Following the success of How to find your relatives in the 1940 US Census, we invite you to register for our next webinar: "Family Tree Builder: Tips and tricks to make family history research easier." The webinar will take place on Thursday, May 17 at 2pm EDT*.

Want to learn the tricks of the trade from our MyHeritage experts? In this session, we’ll discuss:

• Building or importing a family tree

• Tips to help you improve your research

• Sharing information with other family members

MyHeritage's free software - Family Tree Builder - is perfect for creating family trees, adding photos and optionally publishing to the Web for sharing with family members with full privacy control including preventing online publishing of specific people, specific notes, specific facts or certain facts for all people.

Family Tree Builder (FTB) uses the latest technologies to help extend your family tree with additional ancestors and family members, reunite long lost family relatives and improve genealogy research. With full support in more than 38 languages, FTB is a popular, free software for genealogy.

Download FTB now and get ready for this great session

* Time Zones: London, UK 7pm; New York, 2pm; Chicago, 1pm; Salt Lake City, 12 noon; Los Angeles, 11am.

Have questions you'd like answered? Add them to the comments below, and we'll address them during the webinar.

Feel free to click "like" on this post. Share it with your friends so they can also join in - the webinar is open to everyone.

We look forward to seeing you online.

NGS 2012 began today with a huge line to enter the exhibit hall.

NGS 2012 Kicks Off

Exhibit hall traffic was heavy throughout the day as thousands came to get a good deal on products and services and find answers to their genealogy questions.

This year several babies joined the fun.  Family Roots Publishing’s baby already has six conferences under his belt – and he’s only a few months old. Looks like selling books with Mom, Dad and Grandpa Leland are a near certainty for the hungry little guy.

Leland Meitzler and grandson

Family Tree Magazine is based in Cincinnati so Diane Haddad had a visit from her family and brought her little man to the MyHeritage booth where he spent some time hanging out with genealogist Schelly Talalay Dardashti.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti (L) with Diane Haddad's son, and others

We also had visits from hundreds of happy MyHeritage users and were happy to provide them with our special show prices.

DearMyrtle stopped by along with Dick Eastman, Thomas MacEntee and other genealogy crowd favorites.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti (R) with DearMyrtle

The show so far has been busy and productive.  We're now getting into Day 2. We hope you’ll drop by our booth 430 to say hello and try out our products.

Jared wears his MyHeritage fleece

Family history attracts people of all ages.

Recently, MyHeritage was happy to hear from member Jeff Zeitlin of Connecticut, who sent an email on behalf of his son Jared, 11. He explained that Jared was very interested in genealogy and asked if it was possible to get a MyHeritage souvenir.

Our marketing department wrote to Jeff and discovered that Jared had made remarkable family history discoveries.

We asked the family's permission to share their story and they were happy to do so. Of course, we sent Jared a MyHeritage fleece (see photo left).

Here’s Jared's story:

A fifth-grade student, Jared’s parents are Alyson and Jeffrey Zeitlin and he has an older sister, Mikayla. He also enjoys spending time with his grandparents in Connecticut and Florida.

Growing up in a Jewish family, Jared found great interest in religion and genealogy. These interests spurred his focus in researching his family history, which resulted in building the family tree on MyHeritage.com.

One day a few summers ago, Jared’s father’s first cousins visited them in Connecticut – the first time Jared had met them.

During the day we discussed how we were related. Cousin Arthur mentioned that another distant cousin had created a family tree on another website. That got me interested in looking at my family.

Jared checked that website, read about his family and added family members – some 450 people. Then he stopped for a while.

One day, my Grandpa Matthew provided me with new information to add to the tree. We began discussing family trees again while we were on vacation in Florida in December 2011. I learned about MyHeritage.com through a family tree my Israeli cousins began and they invited me to join. I decided I wanted to start a new family tree from scratch and see how far I could grow it. My parents allowed me to start a new family tree on MyHeritage.com.

As Jared began adding people, he became even more interested. He felt good because this was now his family tree.

With each new person I added, I learned something new. This was very exciting and interesting for me. I began to ask different family members about what they knew of the family and the tree began to grow!

My grandfather Irving’s mother’s family, c.1909. From left: Jean Zeitlin Needle (great-aunt), Naomi Sparber Zeitlin (great-grandmother), Joseph Zeitlin (great-grandfather), Louis Sparber (great-great uncle), Sol Sparber (third cousin), Shaya Sparber (great-great uncle), Nathan Sparber (third cousin), Nisha Kraemer Sparber (great-great aunt), Hyman Sparber (third cousin), Sol Sparber (great-great uncle), Morris Savitzky (great-great uncle), Hinde Sparber Savitzky (great-great aunt) (standing), Bella Savitzky Schuman (third cousin)

Currently, Jared has 1,641 relatives in his family tree, with his earliest ancestor - Yitzhak Osovitzky - born in 1790. The youngest is his first cousin once removed - Roselyn - born in November 2011.

The history of his family only goes to Jared’s great-grandfather, Joseph Zeitlin (1884-1956), from Minsk, Belarus. Although Joseph’s ancestors are still unknown, most of the family is from Russia and Poland.

His maternal great-great-grandfather was Philip Goldberg (1879-1962), from Gorodok, Belarus, who didn’t know who his maternal mother was until he was 27. The child of an arranged marriage that didn’t work out, he always thought his mother was the woman his father was married to as he grew up.

Jared has been a MyHeritage member through his Israeli cousin’s tree since April 2010, and began his own tree in December 2011.

The best part of MyHeritage is being able to share what I find about my family with all these other relatives, many of whom I’ve never met. It’s been great to get e-mails from relatives who looked at my tree. I also get excited when I see relatives contact each other - like a birthday greeting - through MyHeritage. I also now speak to or email family with whom I’ve never communicated before.

Jared received many SmartMatches with the family tree that his Israeli cousins compiled on MyHeritage.

His family is also involved in his family history quest.

My parents let me join MyHeritage and other websites to help me research and build the family tree. I also get a lot of information from my two grandfathers about relatives to help me do my research.

Most of his living relatives are included in his tree, and when Jared sees them, they know about the family tree and always share information.

I also tell them about their family and new facts that I learned. I email some relatives now with whom I had little or no contact before working on my family tree.

The family came from Poland, Russia and Belarus, and today lives in the United States and Israel. Sometimes Jared wonders if he still has relatives there:

I probably do. One day maybe, I will go to Minsk, Belarus.

He hopes to go to Israel when he is 13 to visit his Israeli cousins.

Jared shared a great story with MyHeritage about his research.

My mom and I spoke to a cousin, Rana, whom I’ve never met, for 90 minutes on the phone. She’s my Grandpa Matthew’s first cousin’s daughter. My mom hadn’t been in contact with her for over 30 years. I found her information while doing Internet research for my family tree.

Rana sent Jared information about her family, including her brother, parents and uncle (Jared’s grandfather’s first cousin), and Jared shared the information with his grandfather. She also emailed photos and birthdates for the tree. Jared gave Rana the link to MyHeritage.com and she shared the information with her own father.

The young genealogist also shared the following research tips:

Start with your parents and the relatives you know. Ask them about other relatives and how everyone is related. There is great information on the Internet, such as census records, that give a lot of information about people’s families, which can be included on the family tree.

Jared also discovered that libraries are good places for information. He visited the Connecticut State Library’s genealogy section and looked up city directories and obituaries on microfiche (see below).

At the Connecticut State Library, Jared checks city records and family obituaries.

At 11, Jared is rather young to compile such a large family tree. He’s proud of his accomplishment – as is MyHeritage!

I’m proud because I’m the first person in my family to make such a large family tree. I’m gathering family history for my family. I get excited when I see that other family members visit my MyHeritage site. Sometimes they ask questions or they just tell me how impressed they are with the information. I’m also excited when I find a new record or find new information. That makes me feel very good.

MyHeritage sent Jared a company fleece in honor of his accomplishments. We hope his story encourages other young people to track their families.

Do you know a young genealogist who would like to share his or her story? MyHeritage wants to encourage the younger generations to get involved in family history, so let us know in the comments below.

From right: Schelly, Mark and Chris (a MyHeritage friend) on the way to NGS!

MyHeritage is at the National Genealogical Society (NGS) conference, taking place this week in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) from May 9-12.

The conference is a fantastic opportunity for genealogists and anyone interested in family history research to get together and share ideas.

NGS was established more than a century ago - in Washington DC, in 1903. It provides education and training for the genealogy community and promotes access to and preservation of genealogical records.

Everyone at NGS is invited to visit MyHeritage (booths 331-430), where we can personally greet you, and offer some exciting activities:

• We’ll be demonstrating our new, improved version of family sites.
• Make family discoveries in the 1940 census.
• Participate in the "MyHeritage Challenge." Bring your family tree on a flashdrive in GEDCOM format for a free “SmartMatch” check. Receive a special gift.
• Already enjoying the MyHeritage app on your iPhone, iPad or Android? Visit the booth, show us the app, tell us why you like it and receive a gift! Don’t have the app yet? Download it for free from App Store or Google Play and start making smart discoveries.

The MyHeritage team includes:

• Chief genealogist Daniel Horowitz
• US genealogy advisor Schelly Talalay Dardashti
• Business development manager and genealogist Mark Olsen

They look forward to greeting you.

As we approach Mother's Day, we focus our thoughts towards our mothers and think of ways to show our appreciation for all they do for us.

Mother’s Day is about reflecting on the special connection we have with our mothers and recalling the happy memories we share.

People say you learn to be parents from your parents. Does your mother share her mother’s characteristics or mannerisms? Do you?

On Sunday, May 13, (Mother's Day in the US), we'll be writing a special post, a tribute to all the mothers out there.

We'd like to hear from you as to what makes your mother special. Tell us in the comments below and we'll share some of your stories on the blog. If your story is published, send your mother the link. It's one of the many ways you could show her how much you care.

This is open to all, so please send us your story even if Mother's Day is celebrated on a different day in your country.

As my mother say's, every day should be Mother's day.