Webinars: What topics would you like to see?

[efgen]

Hi all,

Wondering what future webinar topics you would like to see? If you have any suggestions/requests, please post them here.

If you're not familiar with the webinars that we've already done, be sure to check out the list of archived recordings on our Webinars page:

http://www.familytreedna.com/learn/ftdna/webinars/

Thanks!
Elise

[thetick]

I would like to see:

DNA testing in 5 years. What FTDNA is thinking will be available and the ball park prices. What tools will we have for analysis with the massive amounts of DNA? How will this massive amount of data be stored?

I suspect FTDNA would NOT want to provide this information, but hey you asked what I wanted not what FTDNA wants to share.

[John]

What topics would you like to see?

More intermediate to advanced subjects. Integration of Big Y into existing surname projects. What has Big Y revealed so far? What is FTDNA working on for future release?

[lindab]

autosomal DNA

At this point, I'm more interested in autosomal DNA than YDNA. I've already had a cousin tested for YDNA that has shown my dead end ancestor b. ca 1774-1782 connects to the immigrant ancestor 1674 to MD.

I'm admin of a Family Finder project of more than 50 confirmed or probable (more probable than confirmed by paper) of this same immigrant. Many have also done the YDNA testing, but that in itself is not filling in the blanks.

There is not much available to me as admin of a Family Finder Project to assist those who have joined. Would like to see something addressing that need.

Linda

[Luculente]

Posting previous webinars

A bit off-topic but, when will the latest webinar, Project Administration: Advising Members on Y-DNA SNP Testing, be posted to the learning center?

[LynCra]

I would like to see a webinar aimed at convincing the group admins of surname projects that there are benefits to be gained by opening the project to autosomal results from people who have that ancestral name in their pedigree but do not have the surname.

[BJZ]

Possible webinars: connecting traditional genealogy to DNA

I wonder if you could do a webinar--perhaps a whole series of them--on how to connect traditional pedigrees to DNA results? Possibly different ones for YDNA (surname) and autosomal--mtDNA probably follows one of those two.

I come to genetealogy from traditional genealogy, and the charts my surname projects point me to as "traditional" are bewildering to me--I guess because they are severely truncated.

Perhaps it would help both with interpreting such charts and standardizing notation, as well as educating new users, to show how to represent and interpret DNA lineage charts in comparison with pedigrees. With concrete examples!

Barbara

[gerlyons]

Possible Webinar Topic

Elise,

How about a series on how the lab processes samples for the different types of tests. How the batch system, the pending results time frame and the quality control process for the different tests works.

It would be great information for all.

Gerald

[LynCra]

Good suggestion Gerald. That would help to reduce the number of threads on the forum making guesses at the process.

[efgen]

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far -- please keep them coming!

thetick - Bennett gave a presentation on the future of genetic genealogy at Jamboree last month. I will ask if he'll consider giving it again as one of our webinars.

John - I'm trying to work on more advanced webinars. It'll be a little while, but stay tuned!

lindab - I think your request is two-fold. 1) How to work with Family Finder results in a project. 2) Project admins need more tools for Family Finder analysis. The first one, I'll look into working on a webinar related to this. The second one, I'll pass along to management and IT.

Luculente - I realized a few days ago that I forgot to publish the updated page... sorry about that! It's online now.

LynCra - Well, the surname projects were originally designed as Y-DNA projects, so many surname project admins are still focused on just Y-DNA and really have their hands full with that. However, some are starting to work with Family Finder as well. Perhaps what we need are some examples of surname projects that are successfully using Family Finder in addition to Y-DNA, and we can offer a webinar demonstrating how these projects are making use of the autosomal results. I'll definitely add this to my list.

BJZ - That probably goes along with LynCra's request, at least for the autosomal test. For Y-DNA, I did a success stories webinar a while back that may provide some of what you are looking for, but I'll think about what else I can do.

gerlyons - Definitely. I had actually emailed our lab director about this last week, before you posted. It'll take some time, but definitely working on it.

Elise

[LynCra]

Among the surname projects which have been prepared to accept me when I have a distant line are Hall, Murray, Watson and Webb. The admins of these projects have all been helpful in discussing whether there are FF matches.

[Nite Owl]

Methodical Investigation

I am an Admin for two small Y-DNA projects. I have also opted for Big-Y and Family Finder. These are not all on one project, but I am familiar with the results and standard tools.

I need more tools and a process with options. I know that many of our project members are not willing to keep spending money without a return.

I think, at some point, we may want to apply T. Bowes "Origenes" technique. We can keep working on the paper trail and somewhere down the road we may find that common ancestor. I may be pushing daisies by that time.

I feel like there must be a process of analysis that we can use to make progress.

Example: I know that STR mutations are random, but is there a way to analyze and compare members. I don't need a 90% confidence interval. A 50% CI is adequate if it gives clues to drive paper research.

Example: Is there a way to analyze generic haplotypes to learn about possible origins. Is there one place to find them?

In short give us more genetic genealogy tools and methods. More DNA testing can be part of it, but we can only sell it if we think we can make progress.

[Nite Owl]

Re: Methodical Process

My thoughts on this may have been too utopian.

There are probably too many different situations that make a "process" difficult to develop.

It could be a checklist with links to papers or examples of techniques. It would be up to the Admins and customers to learn about them.

I hope this simplifies what I was trying to convey. More emphasis on tools and techniques and less on process.