The directors of NGS and GENTECH have voted to merge. NGS will form a GENTECH Division. NGS staff will perform the administrative functions previously performed by GENTECH volunteers, and a GENTECH Division Advisory Council consisting of the current GENTECH Board of Directors, an NGS staff member, and an NGS director. GENTECH conferences will continue to take place as the conference for Technology and Genealogy.

GENTECH's educational capabilities and NGS's standards capabilities imply that the two can do a better job together than alone. One GENTECH director said, "...we have an opportunity here to proudly pass our torch to the next level of involvement. We have all participated in a great and successful initiative..."

GENTECH has been a pioneer organization which has achieved its first mission through a decade of hard work - to promote the use of technology in genealogy, and to urge technology to develop quality products for researchers. Now that technology is a part of most genealogists' work, the next step is to preserve the gains achieved by this small group of dedicated volunteers by moving its activities under a larger umbrella - NGS. All of the current board will continue to support the GENTECH mission as it grows in NGS.

There will be some discussion of this event at the Plenary Session at GENTECH 2002.

I must admit that I read this announcement with mixed feelings. I have attended all nine GENTECH conferences and will attend the tenth anniversary conference in a few days. I have watched this organization grow from a small group of Texas visionaries into a national organization with excellent credentials. Along the way, I spent two years as a member of the GENTECH Board of Directors and had the opportunity to work with some very talented people.

GENTECH’s biggest strength, in my opinion, was the fact that it was always very small. For many years the only "members" were its Board of Directors. This handful of men and women did everything. A small group is often more efficient than a large group, and the small number of GENTECH Directors accomplished a very impressive list of tasks.

However, this small size was perhaps simultaneously GENTECH’s biggest asset and its biggest problem. Once the organization began to branch out into more and more areas, it did run out of resources. This is where a large organization, such as the National Genealogical Society, excels. With thousands of members, the larger organization has many more resources. While the National Genealogical Society may not be able to "turn on a dime" in the manner that GENTECH has, the larger society has capabilities that always eluded GENTECH.

It is interesting to note that the announcement says, "NGS will form a GENTECH Division." Apparently GENTECH will continue to operate under its old name but will now be a part of the NGS "umbrella." I was also pleased to read that the "GENTECH conferences will continue to take place as the conference for Technology and Genealogy."

Overall, I suspect this new "marriage" will benefit both parties. GENTECH now can quickly reach a larger audience, has improved publishing capabilities, and can find more people to shoulder the workload of various GENTECH projects. The National Genealogical Society gets a big boost from a group of computer-savvy individuals with 21^st-century ideas and a loyal following.

I suspect this marriage will have a few rocky moments as the two parties get used to each other. The culture of NGS and GENTECH are quite different from each other. However, both parties should benefit from this new alliance, and I suspect they will eventually settle down into harmonious matrimony.

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