Tickets to the Global Family Reunion Now on Sale

You may have heard about the Global Family Reunion. It was created by journalist and author A.J. Jacobs. It is hoped that this event will break the Guinness world record for the largest family reunion, ever. Tickets to the event are now on sale.

The Global Family Reunion will take place on June 6, 2015, from 11:00 in the morning until 8:30 in the evening. It will be in Queens, Corona, New York. The event will take place at the New York Hall of Science, on the grounds of the World’s Fair.

The General Admission Ticket gives you access to all 30-plus talks, music, games, mini-golf, exhibits, crafts, and activities. The online price for the ticket is lower than the price will be if you purchased one at the event on June 6. There is also a VIP ticket and a Group Ticket. Again, the price is lower online than if you bought the ticket at the event itself.

There will be many speakers and performers at the event. Most will be there in person; some may arrive via video. Some notable names that genealogists would find interesting include Henry Louis Gates Jr., who has created fourteen documentary films, including “African American Lives” and “Finding Your Roots”.

Ron Arons, who has given presentations on genealogy and Jewish criminals, and who won a NY State Archives grant in 2005 for his historical criminal research involving Jews in NYC, is another speaker. He published “Mind Maps for Genealogy” and will discuss how to utilize mind maps for brain storming and creative thinking.

Jordan Auslander is a New York based forensic genealogist and real estate historian. He published an index to Jewish records in Slovakia and a genealogical gazetteer of Greater Hungary. He is also a former board member of the Jewish Genealogical Society, NY. Jordan Auslander is a presenter at the event.

Other speakers include: Gilad Japhet, the founder of the popular genealogy website MyHeritage, Eowyn Langholf, the Forest Elf of the WikiTree site and the Chief Cousin Coordinator for the Global Family Reunion, Daniel Rencher, a past-president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Utah Genealogical Association, and A.J. Jacobs himself.

Some fun, genealogy focused, events to take part in include the World’s Biggest Family Photo. There will be a “Meet and Greet Historical Cousins” opportunity. (There will be impersonators of famous people, such as George Washington, who will be ready to chat with their cousins.) You can check out the Biggest Ever Visual Family Tree, and participate in “On-The-Spot Genealogy” (where you can try and figure out how you are related to everybody else who is at the event.)

Image by Darian Library on Flickr.

Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:

* How Many Cousins Do You Really Have?

* How to Tell A First Cousin from a Second Cousin

* I Found My Long Lost Cousin at School