The Ohio Genealogical Society 2026 Conference opened today at the Sharonville Convention Center, and I am already grateful I planned ahead. OGS 2026 carries the theme “Finding Genealogy Gems” and runs through Saturday, May 2. This is my only in-person conference of the year. Here is how I prepared, and what I took away from Workshop Day.
How I Prepared for OGS 2026
The minute the conference brochure arrived, I went straight to Airtable.
I logged every session into a tracker, then cross-referenced each one against classes I had recently attended virtually at RootsTech 2026 and against sessions I had taken at past conferences. The goal was simple: avoid duplicates and stretch myself.
That filter narrowed the field quickly. I am working toward more advanced coursework this year, so I was picky about each time block. For sessions where I was torn between two strong options, I noted both in Airtable and made the final call based on speaker, depth, and how new the material was to me.
A few prep details worth sharing:
- What I packed: laptop, iPad, notebook, and pens. Comfy shoes (non-negotiable). Snacks and bottled water for the mini-fridge in my hotel room.
- What I am reading this week: From Spit to Stories: Using AI to Unlock Your DNA Ancestry by Thomas MacEntee. Light reading, conference edition.
- Where I am staying: the conference hotel. Sharonville is only a fifteen-minute drive from my home in Blue Ash, but I booked a room anyway. I call it my mini-vacation from day-to-day life.
- My goal: learn as much as I can from speakers who are new to me.
Workshop One: Thinking Genealogically with Rev. David McDonald
The first workshop on my OGS 2026 schedule set the tone for the entire conference.
Rev. David McDonald’s Thinking Genealogically was less a list of techniques and more a call to slow down. He challenged us to really LOOK at the documents we collect, to think about the information on the page, and to question every discrepancy.
His core message stuck with me: there are so many tools available to genealogists now, but as he said, “we should be using the tools, not being used by them.”
A few of his practical recommendations:
- Read with a pencil in hand. Be ready to jot down notes and questions as they occur to you.
- Write your stories in longhand rather than typing them. The slower pace helps you catch what you missed and commits the material to memory.
- Use your brain. It is the most powerful tool we have. It can imagine, infer, and rationalize data in ways no software can replicate.
A powerful session, and a good reset for someone who spends most of her research time in front of a screen.
Workshop Two: Ancestry Pro Tools with Kelli Jo Bergheimer
The second workshop went deep into something I have been wanting to understand better: how to actually use Ancestry Pro Tools for DNA analysis.
Kelli Jo Bergheimer walked us through how to look hard at our matches and how our matches share DNA with each other. That second part is the key. Once you can see how your matches connect to one another, you can start figuring out how they connect to you.
We then worked through the clustering tool inside Pro Tools and how to use it to identify and separate family lines.
I will definitely be putting this to work on my Sven Svensson and Ellen McAuliffe research questions in the coming weeks. Both projects rely on DNA cousin matches, and a better grasp of clustering is exactly what I needed.
Looking Ahead to Thursday
Day 2 starts bright and early at 8 a.m. with the keynote, Genealogists’ Treasure: Stories That Bring Our Ancestors to Life with Sandra Rumble. I am not thrilled about the early start, but the topic sounds worth it.
After the keynote, the Exhibitor Hall opens (yes, there will be photos tomorrow), and then the choices begin:
- 10:00 a.m.: Successful Sleuthing, Not Stalking for DNA Matches with Kelli Bergheimer or ChatGPT for the Genealogist with Robert Cameron Weir. Leaning toward the DNA class.
- Lunch: with my friend Tina, attending OGS for the first time.
- 1:00 p.m.: Beginning AI for Genealogy. I know most of this material, but I am hoping for a few new ideas.
- 2:20 p.m.: Methodology: Timelines with Kim Harrison.
- 3:40 p.m.: Digital Tools for the Modern Genealogist with Aimee Rose-Haynes or Unearthing Lineage: Navigating Genealogy Through Digital Archives with Amy Urman. Still undecided.
- Evening: maybe the Great Lakes Chapter, APG Annual Meeting. Depends on how peopled-out I am.
Workshop Day, In One Line
Two workshops, one new-to-me speaker, and a renewed reminder to slow down and think. Exactly the kind of start I hoped for from OGS 2026.
More tomorrow.
YOUR TURN!
Are you attending OGS 2026 this week? Drop a comment and let me know which sessions caught your eye, or follow along here as I share Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4 recaps.
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