“The Chief Genealogy Office: Supporting Family Search and the Community”
Ed Donakey
1/14/17
Categories: LDS, O
Talk Abstract:
This talk is about the FamilySearch Chief Genealogy Office
representing FamilySearch to the genealogy community while at the same
time, representing the genealogy community to FamilySearch. (Yep! This
is a mouthful, but it is one of the many aspects of the CGO – keep
reading and learn more.) The CGO works with individuals, societies,
and archives to deliver solutions that can be used for personal or
organizational support. Lest anyone think that they rest, they also
work with public and private for-profit and non-profit orgs that can
or should support the genealogy community. He will share insights
into some of their activities and demonstrate one of the recent
solutions that the CGO developed – the Mobile Device App Scan. The
MDAS includes a stand that can hold a tablet or smartphone to take
digital pictures, a mini-LED light, and a Bluetooth remote to ensure
stability. An off-the-shelf solution, it addresses an immediate need
that allows users to capture images inexpensively, quickly, and
uniformly.
Speaker Bio:
At FamilySearch Mr. Donakey also identifies technical and partnership
solutions to acquire critical genealogical data. Additionally, he
provides business and technology support to genealogical societies and
the associated community. As Vice President of Development for the
Federation of Genealogical Societies, Ed is responsible for the FGS
fundraising efforts and partnerships and directly supports the FGS
annual conferences. The past-chairman of the Board for Kids on The
Move, Ed recently stepped down as an advisory board member for the
Utah IT Symposium and also sits or has sat on executive advisory
boards at Dell, HP, Oracle, Altiris, and other tech organizations. He
has been active in BSA for almost thirty years and is a guest lecturer
at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University. Prior to
coming to FamilySearch, he was the founding CEO of Golder Melick
Insurance Reserve, an SVP at Agilix Labs, and a “C” level officer at
Caldera Systems, and The Bison Group. Earlier in his career he
directed global operations, domestic and international marketing,
legal, business development, and mergers and acquisitions efforts or
departments. A happily married father of eight children, Ed was
elected six straight years to the v|Spring v100, recognizing the top
100 entrepreneurs in Utah. Ed’s undergraduate and graduate studies
were in philosophy and political philosophy, respectively, at BYU.
Meeting Agenda
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NOTICE:
This presentation is part of a set of over 400 presentations on genealogy and family history produced by "UVTAGG: The Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group".
For full details and to join, see the website https://uvtagg.org.