The Ohio Genealogical Society 2026 Conference opened today at the Sharonville Convention Center, and I am already glad I planned ahead. OGS 2026 is my only in-person conference of the year, so I prepared the way any methodical genealogist would: with a spreadsheet, a stack of cross-references, and comfortable shoes. My first day at the conference brought two workshops with new-to-me speakers, both of which delivered exactly what I hoped for. Rev. David McDonald reminded a room full of researchers to slow down and use our brains before reaching for the next shiny tool. Kelli Jo Bergheimer walked us through Ancestry Pro Tools and DNA clustering in a way I will use right away on two active research projects. Here is how I prepared and what Day 1 taught me.