What to Know Before You Go: Info to Help You Enjoy the NGS 2026 Family History Conference

 

Thank you to everyone who is registered for the NGS 2026 Family History Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the virtual conference. We look forward to being together, spending time with friends, meeting new people who share our interest in family history, attending outstanding presentations, and enjoying all the terrific networking opportunities.

Please take the time to read through all of the information below as part of your preparation for the conference.

Location for the In-Person Conference

The conference takes place at the Grand Wayne Convention Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Floor plans are available on the Whova app at the bottom of the Home page by clicking "Floormap." There are several workshops and events taking place at the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) on Tuesday and Wednesday, in addition to the tours of the Genealogy Center taking place there throughout the conference. The ACPL is one block away from the Convention Center on the corner of W. Washington Blvd. and Webster Street.

Whova App

Please download the Whova app for the latest conference program. You can download the Whova mobile app or access the web platform on a computer.

Use the Whova app to check each session's speaker, topic, title, time, and room. The app also includes floor plans, exhibitor information, giveaways and discounts, the names of conference attendees, and numerous ways to connect with attendees in Fort Wayne and online.

Download the Whova App

We encourage you to sign in to Whova, update your profile, upload your photo, and start connecting with other attendees. Please visit the Registration Desk if you need assistance with Whova on-site.

Speaker Handouts and Compendium

You can access speaker handouts in two ways:

1. NGS has shared a link to the Compendium with conference registrants. You'll be able to download the PDF to your computer. You may print one copy for your personal use.
2. Each session listing in the Whova app or web portal will have the speaker's handout available for download in the coming weeks. You can open the handout right on your laptop or mobile device. The speaker often references websites and resources in the handout, which requires less note-taking.

Please note that capturing, transmitting, or redistributing materials from either the Compendium or the individual handouts in the app, or taking photos, videos, or screenshots of the presentations in a lecture, infringes on the intellectual property rights of the speakers. Review the NGS Social Media Policy in the Compendium.

NEW: RSVP and Add to my Agenda for Sessions

The interactive sessions with an "RSVP" button in Whova have limited seating and are NOT being recorded. RSVP for those now if you are sure you want to attend. If you change your mind and decide not to attend, please un-RSVP so someone else can have your spot.

All other sessions with an "Add to My Agenda" button are open seating until the room is full. Those sessions ARE being recorded and you will find the recordings in the Whova app within 24-48 hours of the live session.

Session Recordings

Conference session recordings will be available in Whova 48-72 hours after a session concludes to complete post-production processing. Recordings are available to watch through 11:59 p.m. ET on 15 July 2026.

PDF Schedule

If you prefer to view the main conference schedule as a PDF or print a copy, you can find it in Whova under Resources > Documents. Please print the PDF before you leave if you need a printed copy. We will post any last-minute speaker cancellations or changes to the Whova app.

Badge Pickup and On-Site Registration

On-site registration and badge pickup are located at the registration desk in the lobby of the Grand Wayne Convention Center near Convention Hall A on the Ground Floor. Materials will be released only to the person named on the registration and upon presentation of a valid ID consistent with the name of the person who pre-registered.

Registration Hours:

• Tuesday, 26 May | 3:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, 27 May | 7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
• Thursday, 28 May | 7:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
• Friday, 29 May | 7:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
• Saturday, 30 May | 7:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

Expo Hall

The Expo Hall in Fort Wayne is open to all conference participants with a badge. Exhibitor information is available in the Compendium and the Whova app.

Expo Hall Hours:

• Wednesday, 27 May | 5:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m. Expo Hall Opening Event
• Thursday, 28 May | 9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
• Friday, 29 May | 9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
• Saturday, 30 May | 9:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

Tours

If you registered for a tour, you should meet at the bus loading area 30 minutes before your tour begins. Tour groups will meet in the hallway between Convention Hall A and the Harrison meeting rooms, near the Washington Blvd. entrance. Please be sure you pick up your badge before your tour departure. You need a badge for every session or event. For workshops taking place on Tuesday before registration opens, there will be a registration list at the workshop room entrance, and you will be admitted without a badge.

Buy/Sell/Trade Tickets

All ticketed events are sold out, or registration is closed. You may sell or trade your tickets with other attendees via the BUY/SELL Conference Event Tickets discussion in the Community section in Whova.

Wi-Fi

There is free Wi-Fi throughout the hotels and convention center.

Clothing

Dress in layers and wear comfortable shoes and clothing. You will do a lot of walking and sitting. NGS cannot control the temperatures in the facility, and event rooms may be hot or cold, so prepare for both. Please remember, temperature is subjective. You may be chilly, but others may be warm. If temperatures are highly uncomfortable, please notify a room monitor, who will contact event management.

Food and Beverage

There are water stations throughout the hotel. We encourage you to bring a refillable bottle to use throughout the week.

There will be concessions available in the Exhibit Hall 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Parking

Please visit https://www.visitfortwayne.com/plan/tools/transportation/parking/ for more information on parking in Fort Wayne. Make sure you have license plate information with you for times that may be needed in a parking app.

Have Fun, Be Kind

We want everyone to have the best experience possible in Fort Wayne. NGS does not tolerate inappropriate behavior in any form. Inappropriate behavior includes but is not limited to abuse, discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or sustained disruption. Email us or stop by Registration if you need to discuss a concern or ask for staff assistance.

See You Soon in Fort Wayne and Online

If you have any questions, please email conference@ngsgenealogy.org. Enjoy the NGS 2026 Family History Conference, America at 250!

Chinese American Genealogy is American Genealogy

 

Used with permission of Carly Lane Morgan

Growing up, I always understood that my Chinese American family history was part of California history. We had connections to multiple places in the Bay Area, and being part of celebrations and community organizations was woven into the fabric of our family. It wasn’t until I began seriously researching our family tree that I realized how often Chinese American genealogy is treated as something separate from “mainstream” American genealogy.

In reality, Chinese American genealogy is American genealogy.

One of the women who first taught me this lesson was my grandmother’s grandmother, Quan Yee See. She was born in China and lived at China Camp, a shrimp-fishing village along the Marin County shoreline. At first glance, those facts seemed simple enough, but as I began researching her life, I quickly realized that understanding her story meant understanding the broader history of Chinese immigration, exclusion laws, and community survival in the American West.

Quan Yee See. Used with permission of Carly Lane Morgan

Researching Chinese American families often means learning to work with fragmented records, changing names, and historical systems that were not designed to preserve our stories clearly. In Yee See’s case, even identifying her consistently across records became part of the challenge. Depending on the source, she appeared as Yee See Quan, Quan Yee C., Kwang Ye Si, Mary Quan, or simply “Grandma Quan”. Learning to recognize those variations required understanding Chinese naming customs, transliterational differences, community naming practices, along with the realities of recordkeeping always faced by genealogists.

Too often, genealogy education unintentionally teaches researchers to expect neat paper trails and consistent records. Chinese American genealogy reminds us that family history research is rarely that tidy. Records are affected by language barriers, government policies, and the priorities of the people creating them.

As I researched Quan Yee See’s life, I also had to immerse myself in the history of the places where she lived, so I could place her life within the broader context of Chinese immigration in California. That historical context mattered because Chinese immigrants in the United States faced intense legal and social restrictions almost immediately after arriving. Those restrictions shaped immigration patterns and created barriers to immigration that were sometimes only surmountable through crime, secrecy, or carefully constructed identities.

In my research, I found myself asking difficult but important questions that hadn’t come up for other ancestors. Why would records not exist? What assumptions did Americans at the time make about Chinese women? What risks did women face during immigration? What stories were intentionally hidden, softened, or left untold within families trying to survive in a hostile environment?

Those questions were fundamental in understanding Yee See’s history and understanding this corner of American history, even if I didn’t always love the answers I found.

Over time, I began to realize that Chinese American genealogy encourages a different kind of research mindset. It pushes us to think beyond names and dates alone. It reminds us to ask not only “What records exist?” but also “Why do these records exist?” and “What historical forces shaped them?” Those lessons benefit every genealogist, regardless of background.

Chinese American families have been part of the American story for generations. Our ancestors built businesses, raised families, formed communities, participated in local economies, and navigated systems that often treated them as outsiders, even while they helped build the country itself. This history needs to take up space in our understanding of America.

Used with permission of Carly Lane Morgan

I also believe that when genealogy organizations, educators, and researchers make space for more Chinese American stories, the genealogy community becomes stronger. People are more likely to preserve family history when they see families like their own reflected in educational programs, articles, conferences, and research discussions.

Chinese American genealogy is not a niche interest existing at the outer edge of genealogy. It is one thread within a much larger tapestry of migration, resilience, violence, family, adaptation, and community. Every preserved story helps us better understand not only individual stories like Yee See’s, but the history of the United States itself.

---Carly Lane Morgan