Mindie Kaplan has been involved in Jewish genealogy for more than 20 years. Her family tree currently consists 3,000 individuals. When printed (including stories and biographies) it is 173 pages for the Splaver side and 99 pages for the Entes side.

She has years of experience reaching out to distant family members to learn their stories, discover old photographs, and obtain DNA samples with the goal of putting together the story of her family.

Mindie has attended nearly every IAJGS conference since 2003 in Washington, DC. and is involved with the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington.

“Get Them to Say Yes: Reluctant Relatives, Cold Calls, & DNA Testing” (Thurs-108), 1:30-2:45 P.M.

This presentation provides techniques for reaching out to relatives, including those who are reluctant to meet with a stranger, and provides examples that will expand your research.

Relatives:

• What can living relatives add to my research?
• How to contact “uninterested” relatives, starting a conversation that will get them to open up?

Covered issues: family gatherings, preparation, audio/video recording, photos/scanning, documentation, and ethics.

Cold Calls:

• How do you find people?
• How do you reach out to a stranger and convince them to talk?
• How do phone techniques differ from e-mails or social sites such as Facebook?
• What if they think you’re a con-artist?
• How to build a relationship that will turn into a number of conversations, leading to more relatives?

DNA Testing:

• How do you ask someone to take a DNA test?
• Who pays?
• What are some examples that will get them interested in participating?

Category: Beginning genealogists 

Topics: DNA research and genetics, Ethical considerations in genealogy