Registration is now open for the 37th Annual IAJGS International
Conference on Jewish Genealogy, July 23-28, 2017, at the Swan Resort
on the grounds of Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Save money with
early registration and guarantee a room by visiting the conference Web
site now at http://www.iajgs2017.org.

The schedule includes more than 200 presentations on just about all
areas of Jewish genealogy by the best-known lecturers in their fields.
A major emphasis of these presentations will be to teach the strategies
that the attendees -- both advanced and beginner -- will need to take
their family history research to the next level. Space has been set
aside for the presenters to coach attendees outside the lecture hall,
and a resource room will include free access to numerous fee-based
genealogy databases.

More than 50 affinity groups including Special Interest Groups, Birds
of a Feather, and Facebook groups are planning lecture series,
workshops, breakfasts, lunches and meetings.

Beginners especially are invited to this conference where they will be
initiated into all the joys of getting started in Jewish genealogy with
a track of their own.

DNA testing is the cutting edge of Jewish genealogical research, but it
remains a puzzling mystery to many. This conference will include a
weeklong series of talks on every relevant aspect of this valuable
research tool.

Given that this is the first IAJGS conference ever held in the southern
United States, special attention will be given to the history of the
Jews of the South and the Caribbean basin. Experts on Florida,
Martinique, Curacao, Cuba, Panama, Mexico and other places that were
destinations for Jews and conversos fleeing the inquisition will make
presentations at the conference, and a special track will be devoted to
helping individuals with converso family history explore whether classic
genealogical resources and tools can help them link themselves >from the
present day back to the Spain's Golden Age.

Harvard Professor Henry Louis (Skip) Gates, host of the popular PBS
television show "Finding Your Roots", will address the Thursday evening
annual awards banquet with a talk on "Genealogy and Genetics in America."
On Sunday evening, Professor Robert Watson will talk about our Nevis-born
U.S. founding father entitled "Alexander Hamilton, the Jews, and the
American Revolution." On Tuesday evening, Professor Hasia Diner will
deliver the Pamela Weisberg Memorial Lecture commemorating the centennial
of America’s entry into WWI in her talk entitled "1917: A Turning Point
in American Jewish History".

All week long, the acclaimed IAJGS Film Festival will return with a full
schedule of offerings on Jewish cultural and historical topics.

The conference is co-sponsored by the International Association of
Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) and the Jewish Genealogy Society
of Greater Orlando.

Discounted hotel rooms are available >from July 17 through August 1 so
bring your family and come early and/or stay late and enjoy Orlando's
extensive outlet shopping and theme parks.

For further information about the conference, visit the conference
website at http://www.iajgs2017.org and contact the conference
organizers at info@iajgs2017.org

Adam Brown