Our 2026 Fall Conference will be a hybrid program, in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Suite 100, Mendota Heights, MN and virtually via Zoom. Times listed are Central Daylight Time.
This year we are offering presentations by three expert presenters. The morning will start with a presentation by Kathy Meade on ArkivDigital's new machine-transcription feature. After lunch, Janet Johnson will retrace Enoch Mattson's 1892 journey from Sweden to America. And finally, Diana Elder will cover what AI is, how it works and which tools are most useful for genealogy.
Kathy Meade is ArkivDigital's North American representative and has worked in Swedish genealogy for more than twenty years. She serves on the advisory board of the Swedish American Genealogy Research Center at the Swedish American Museum and regularly assists researchers through both the museum and the Arlington Heights Memorial Library.
Janet Johnson has spent more than forty years researching Swedish family history and maintains a fully documented family tree of more than 15,000 individuals. She leads a Swedish genealogy research group in the Washington, D.C., area and has helped countless researchers identify immigrant origins and overcome Swedish research challenges. She has completed advanced genealogy training through Boston University and SLIG and is a frequent presenter on Swedish genealogy and immigration.
Diana Elder, AG®á´¿, AGL™, is an accredited professional genealogist, author, educator, and international speaker. She is the co-author of the bestselling Research Like a Pro series and co-created the popular Research Like a Pro educational platform. She presents regularly at RootsTech, the National Genealogical Society Conference, genealogy institutes, and societies throughout North America and internationally.
The conference will be live-streamed and recorded, so registrants will have access to recordings for thirty days after the event. Conference registrants will be emailed speaker notes and a link to the conference on Zoom three days prior to the event.
Door Prizes
One-year individual membership to SGSM (2)
ArkivDigital three-month subscription
One-year individual membership to MGS
One RootsMagic 11 software package
One Family Tree Maker 2024 software package
Plus: ArkivDigital subscription specials for all registrants
You do not have to register for the door prizes. The winners will be picked at random from the list of registrants and will be announced during the lunch break.
The registration fee is $60 per attendee for members or $70 per attendee for non-members. Registration must be received by October 14 (or October 9 if you order a box lunch).
Please NOTE: Registration does NOT include lunch.
If you prefer to mail your registration with a check, print and mail this Registration Form. It must be received by October 14 (or October 9 if you order a lunch).
Research Assistance by Appointment from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. Take the opportunity to break through one of your Swedish genealogical brick walls by scheduling an appointment with one of our crack volunteer research specialists. Schedule a 30-minute appointment by emailing research@sgsmn.org.
Conference Schedule
Saturday, October 17, 2026, 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. CDT
9:00 a.m. Check-in
9:30 a.m. Welcome and introduction
9:45 a.m. Kathy Meade, From Machine-Transcribed Text to Search
10:45 a.m. Break
11:15 a.m. Janet Johnson, An Immigrant's Story
12:15 p.m. Door prizes (see above)
12:30 p.m. Lunch & Exhibitors
1:15 p.m. Diana Elder, AGá´¿, AGL™, Understanding AI in Genealogy: Foundations & Tools
2:15 p.m. Closing Remarks
2:30 p.m. Research assistance available
Registration details will be posted here shortly.
