28 March 2013

Federation of Genealogical Societies Partners with German Association

For Immediate Release
March 28, 2013
March 28, 2013 – Austin, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announces a new partnership with Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft genealogischer Verbände e. V. (DAGV), an umbrella organization of genealogical and heraldic associations in Germany, in order to further the exchange of ideas and information between genealogists and family historians across the globe.

Originally announced during the recent RootsTech 2013 conference in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday, March 23, 2013, FGS and DAGV will work to “develop technical solutions to preserve and present records
and to increase the mutual contact” between both societies and their members.

DAGV, founded in Frankfurt am Main in 1949 and based in Stuttgart, represents 63 member associations in Germany with a total of 20,000 individual members among the organizations. Combined with the over 500 member associations and 500,000 individuals represented by FGS, both organizations intend to work closely together within the world umbrella organization of the Confédération Internationale de Généalogie et d'Héraldique (CIGH).

A prevailing goal of this new alliance between FGS and DAGV is for a World Conference to be held in the near future to further the public’s interest in genealogy. Both organizations will focus on strengthening the world organization in order to build bridges for generations to come and setting the world family history research agenda for the 21st century.

Dirk Weissleder, DAGV National Chairman stated “ I personally want to ensure strong co-operation between our two umbrella organizations in the US and Germany. In order to support genealogical research at this level, we must leverage our personal contacts in sharing information and experiences. A key initiative will be to get younger people interested in genealogy through the use of the Internet as well as the structures of our genealogical societies.”

D. Joshua Taylor, FGS President, added: “The challenges and opportunities facing genealogical societies are not limited by geography and it is an an honor and privilege to begin looking at ways our organizations can work together for the future of a global family history community.”

Visit the DAGV website at http://dagv.org for more information about its projects, publications and activities. And follow FGS at http://fgs.org or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/fgsgenealogy.

About the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)
The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS Forum magazine (filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference -- four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more visit http://www.fgs.org.


This is an exciting venture. I am a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and look forward to this evolving partnership.

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