George G. Morgan is not currently accepting speaking engagements.
George G. Morgan is president of Aha! Seminars, Inc. He was a key training manager for Sears, Roebuck & Company in the 1980s. He spearheaded the development of the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) implementation program for Montgomery Ward Inc. and then for Sears. He also managed the development of an award-winning PC-based EDI software package while with Sears Technology Services, Inc., coordinated the construction of two state-of-the-art training facilities, and developed the training program to support a roll-out of the software to over 600 of Sears' smaller suppliers. George worked for Advantis, a subsidiary of IBM, coordinating the development and production of over 60 training sessions for its annual customer conferences, attended by between 1500 to 2000 of IBM's and Advantis' largest customers. These sessions spanned a broad spectrum of mainframe, mid-range, and microcomputer applications, including the Internet and email, network communication technologies such as dial, leased line, ATM, ISDN, DOV, and LAN gateway, and customers' applications using the IBM network, its products, and services. He was a key member of IBM's Marketing Communications Department in Tampa, Florida, from 1993 to 1996. He incorporated Aha! Seminars, Inc., in February 1996.
In addition to his extensive responsibilities with Aha! Seminars, Inc., George is an avid genealogist. His interest began at age nine when his paternal grandmother and aunt divulged family historical facts extending back before the American Revolution and shared a wealth of original documents. Since that time, George's genealogical research has expanded to include all the branches of his family tree and he has investigated leads in materials in all sorts of places. Libraries, archives, courthouses, and cemeteries are among his favorite haunts, but he will leave no stone unturned, even to the point of tracking down the original 1914 newspapers containing his great-grandparents' obituaries in a records retention facility owned by a county board of education. He is a master in working with and understanding all types of genealogical record types in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. With the advent of electronic research materials, he has become a recognized expert in using software programs, databases, Internet resources, online databases, Internet genealogical mailing lists and message boards, search engines, directories, subscription databases, social media, and all the major online genealogical services around the world. He is also an active genetic genealogical researcher.
George is the author of fourteen landmark genealogy books. These include The Genealogy Forum on America Online: The Official User's Guide and the award-winning Your Family Reunion: How to Plan It, Organize It, and Enjoy It, both published by Ancestry Publishing. His award-winning book, How to Do Everything: Genealogy, published by McGraw-Hill, has been a part of its highly successful "How to Do Everything" series and has been one of the best-selling genealogy "how-to" books published in the last 20 years. He also has written the first and second editions of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com. His Genealogical Research in the Major Repositories of London, published through Lulu.com (http://www.lulu.com), a print-on-demand publisher, has sold hundreds of copies. The fourth edition of How to Do Everything: Genealogy was published in 2015 by McGraw-Hill Education. He and Drew Smith co-authored another book, Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, which was published by McGraw-Hill Education in September 2013. George contributed the chapter "Genealogy Journalism" for the book Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards, published by Genealogical Publishing Company in 2018.
George is a prolific writer in other areas as well. He was an award-winning writer and poet in the late 1960s and 1970s, and editor-in-chief of the Scimitar, the literary magazine for his military school, Staunton Military Academy, and a journalistic columnist and editorial staff member at three newspapers.
He began writing genealogical articles in 1996 by writing an award-winning weekly online genealogy column, "Along Those Lines ...", that appeared first in the Genealogy Forum on America Online and then exclusively at the Ancestry.com website from January 2000 to March 2006, along with additional columns for Ancestry Daily News. His work has also appeared in the Plus Edition of Eastman's Online Weekly Newsletter, at the bi-monthly electronic genealogy magazine, Digital Genealogist, in the Ancestry Weekly Journal at Ancestry.com, and at other online venues. He has written literally hundreds of articles for genealogy print magazines: Ancestry Magazine, the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly, Discovering Family History, Everton's Genealogical Helper, Family Chronicle Magazine, Family Tree Magazine, the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM, Genealogical Computing, Heritage Quest Magazine, Internet Genealogy, the NGS News Magazine, Southern Queries Magazine, and Your Genealogy Today. His other online venues over the last decade have included Sony Communications' Emazing.com "Genealogy Tip of the Day" and a stint writing feature online articles for ChineseRoots.com.
George is a highly popular speaker at national and international genealogical conferences. He has presented all across the United States at national, state, and local conferences. He also has presented in Canada, in the UK, and on several international genealogical cruises. His range of genealogical interests and speaking topics is among the most diverse among the genealogical speaking community. He is available to travel anywhere and will customize presentation topics to the audience. His genealogical presentation topics can be found in the current catalogs of Genealogy Seminars and Library Seminars at this website.
George has won a number of prestigious awards:
- "Excellence in Writing Award" (2001) ~ International Society of Family History Writers and Editors
- Florida State Genealogical Society "President's Citation" (2003)
- Federation of Genealogical Societies "Award of Merit" (2003)
- Florida State Genealogical Society "Genealogy Outstanding Achievement Award" (2006)
- Society of Mayflower Descendants "Certificate of Appreciation" (2007)
- Florida State Genealogical Society "Distinguished Service Award" (2008)
- Florida State Genealogical Society "Certificate of Appreciation" (2009)
- Federation of Genealogical Societies "Certificate of Appreciation" (2009)
- Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) "Volunteer of the Year 2011" (2012)
- Association of Professional Genealogists - Excellence in the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly Award (2013)
- "Excellence in Writing Award" (2015) ~ International Society of Family History Writers and Editors
He is co-host with partner Drew Smith of The Genealogy Guys Podcast at http://genealogyguys.com, the longest-running genealogy podcast, enjoyed by thousands of listeners around the world. His company also produces the Genealogy Connection podcast, hosted by Drew Smith, which presents interviews with genealogy speakers, authors, and other genealogy professionals. Its episodes alternate weeks with episodes of The Genealogy Guys Podcast. George is the primary author of The Genealogy Guys Blog.
The company hosts and produces Genealogy Guys Learn, a subscription website containing written lessons and videos, with new content being added each month, The site also offers Amzon links to every book referencd in each lesson and video, recommended products and services, and a variety of useful web links related to the content of the site.
George is a past president of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, a former director of the Florida State Genealogical Society, a former director of the Genealogical Speakers Guild, and a former director of the Florida Genealogical Society of Tampa, and is the past Public Relations Chair and Publicity Director of the Florida State Genealogical Society. He was appointed to the position of Vice President of Membership Services for the Federation of Genealogical Societies in 2008, was elected to fill a two-year term from January 2009-December 2011, and was re-elected to serve another term from January 2012-December 2013. He was program chair for the highly successful Federation of Genealogical Societies 2003 Conference held in Orlando, Florida, and was a member of the Conference Committee for the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2010 Conference held in Knoxville, Tennessee, on 18-21 August 2010. He belongs to a number of genealogical societies in the U.S. and the Society of Genealogists and other societies in the UK.
Please contact George for more information about Aha! Seminars, Inc., presentation topics, consulting services, and presenting for your genealogical society. He can present virtual seminars via our copy of Zoom (and other platforms you may operate). He can be reached at aha@ahaseminars.com, at (813) 220-6274, and through the Web Contact Form on the Contact Us page.
