What is GeneaSpy?

GeneaSpy is an avid genealogist who attends national, regional, and local genealogical conferences, to learn about genealogy.

Monday, December 11, 2017

i4GG 2017 Conference

 2017 Institute for Genetic Genealogy (i4GG)

 I attended the 2017 Institute for Genetic Genealogy held in my beautiful hometown of San Diego. This was the2nd. time for me to attend the still new institute, this having been their 3rd. conference since 2014. It was founded by CeCe Moore and Dr. Tim Janzen to organize genetic genealogy conferences, funding genealogical and anthropological genetic testing, and considering a credentialing board.



  The two-day event was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Mission Valley on December 9th. & 10th. A few days before the conference I saw a post by CeCe Moore indicating that it was sold out! I heard an un-official count of approximately 273 people registered, not including the instructors and support staff.

 This conference was organized by CeCe and her husband, Lennart Martinson. Lennart runs his own film production company, and he used his expertise to film the whole conference which should be available in early February. Everything went smoothly with very few hiccups. The hundreds of people from throughout the U.S. and elsewhere were quite friendly and joyful. I met several Facebook friends in person for the first time and reconnected with several more.

 I also saw a larger San Diego area crowd than the previous year. This conference is geared to the intermediate to advanced genetic genealogists, but there were many beginners in attendance too. I would say a high percentage of people come to i4GG because they are honing in on their skills for their own business. I am there personally for my own education to help me understand how to break through brick walls in my family research.



Classes I attended on Saturday, December 9th.

·       Opening Keynote – CeCe Moore.
·       The Limitations of Cousin Matching – Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D.
·       What’s New at Gedmatch – 2017 – Kitty Cooper.
·       Creating and Utilizing Genetic Networks In Your Research – CeCe Moore.
·       Power Tools for the Genetic Genealogist – Angie Bush.


  Classes I attended on Sunday, December 10th.

·       Identifying the Man Known as Paul Fronczak through DNA Detective Work – CeCe Moore, Carol Rolnick and Michelle Trostler.
·       DNA Successes In–And Despite Of—Endogamy – Lara Diamond.
·       Using DNAGedcom’s GWorks – Rob Warthen, founder of DNAGedcom.
·       Breaking Down Genealogical Brick Walls with AncestryDNA – CeCe Moore.

·       Visual Phasing How-To – Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D.


  I took a few photos of the two-day event

CeCe Moore during the Keynote


Debby Anderson and Diane Hall - Bloggers and fellow SDGS members.

Two bass players! Myself and Jake Fletcher from Ancestry ProGenealogists

Packed house!


CeCe Moore of the DNA Detectives

Blaine Bettinger and Linda Okazaki


My friend from Arizona and fellow SLIG alumni - Mckell Keeney

Says it all!

Author of Genetic Genealogy in Practice, Blaine Bettinger!

The always entertaining, Kitty Cooper! Check out her blog!


The awesome Angie Bush of Ancestry ProGenealogists

I met my friend Janine Cloud from FTDNA finally! 

Panel with CeCe Moore, Carol Rolnick, and Michelle Trostler.

My friend and fellow SLIG alumni, Lara Diamond!

With the awesome Bonnie Schrack of DNA RootSearch


Blaine let us take photos! 



i4GG 2017 was a success!
Until next time!