I think you would be an excellant administrator. :) And, IF I can get my male Bowles cousin to take the test, then I want to do this. My Jeremiah Bowles line has been stuck in Franklin County, VA for too long. :) Maybe this will help some. I would also like to link to your Family Tree DNA project website, when it is set up from my site at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ggracie/bindex.html Thank you for your willingness to take on this project. Gracie *List Administrator for Bowles, Stover, and Raleigh County, WV* Charles Hartley wrote: > I contacted Bennett Greenspan, President of Family Tree DNA, about the > procedures for setting up a Bowles Surname DNA Project. Here is his > reply. > > ----- > > Here are the general ideas behind surname projects for you to know. > > Below are full details of our surname projects. Currently we have > slightly over 1300 projects underway at Family Tree DNA -- about 85% > of all projects to date world wide. We receive over 100,000 visitors a > month to our web site, which means and increased chance for > individuals to become aware of the existence of a project with your > Surname and variants, and join it. > > We have no project set up fee, we offer free analysis of the results > and provide comparative tools for calculating genetic distance. Family > Tree DNA is backed by the Molecular Lab for Science and Evolution at > the University of Arizona, one of the 5 leading Y-Chromosome > universities in the world. We are the only Genetic Genealogy company > supported by one of these major Y chromosome labs. > > We also provide one free Phylogenetic Tree of your family (a graphic > pictorial of how members of the group fit together). We suggest that > you ask us to produce the tree after most of the results are back.as > they make a great keepsake for group members. > > We also preserve the DNA for 25 years because we know this technology > is at its infancy and if you don't preserve the DNA you can't refine a > sample when someone passes on...and frankly our clients are typically > not spring chickens. > > We also provide, exclusively, a prediction of the Haplogroup of each > person...which locates them on the 'phylogenic' tree of Homo > Sapiens...If you ever see The Journey of Man by Spencer Wells -- he's > tracing man's deeper ancestral world wide migrations through the > 'phylogenic' tree. It's something that you will become familiar with > because it's incorporated into our system. > > After you have had a chance to digest the info, drop me a line to > discuss your project and I'll set you up. > > It's important to have some phone contact with us because there are > always aspects of the project that seem to work best when explained on > the phone...especially if it's some basic genetic and anthropological > theory, but more mundane items like a web page to promote your > project, or recruitment strategies and important when you are building > a project. > > When you are ready to talk about your project just email me with a > phone # & time to contact you and I'll arrange this!. > > Starting a Surname Project > > Below are some tips and techniques for the Group Administrator to > start a surname project, as well as the pricing available for Surname > Projects. > > 1. Establish the Project objectives > > The Y chromosome is passed from father to son unchanged, except for a > mutation about every 500 generations. Testing the Y chromosome will > provide you with a genetic finger print consisting of 12,25 or 37 > numbers. By comparing this finger print to others with your surname, > you can determine if they are related. > > The objectives of Surname Projects vary. Here are a few: > > Identify others who are related Prove or disprove theories regarding > ancestors Solve brick walls in your research Determine a location for > further research Validate existing research > > Often a Surname Project has multiple objectives, and the objectives > may even change over the life of the project. > > Most Surname Projects start with the objective to identify others who > are related, and through out the project the other objectives are > achieved simply as a result of the project. > > 2. Select 12, 25 or 37 markers > > Molecular Biologists and population geneticists at the University of > Arizona have developed our panels of markers focusing on what we, > genealogists, need to obtain out of the test. It is not just throwing > any quantity of markers into a panel. Each marker is chosen for its > volatility or stability (mutation rate) along with Anthropological > information that can be obtained from the markers. That is why our > 37-marker test is the highest resolution test available; we are not > dealing strictly with quantity, rather with quality. > > The next step for your Surname Project is to decide whether you test > 12, 25 or 37 markers. Family Tree DNA recommends establishing the > Project with the 12-marker Y chromosome test. 12 markers are > sufficient to determine whether or not two people are genetically > related. In addition, the 12-marker Project price of $99 is more > affordable for participants, enabling you to recruit more participants. > > The value of the 25 or 37 marker test occurs when two participants are > related based on the 12-marker test. When participants match with the > 12-marker test, the test can be upgraded to 25 markers for an > additional fee of $90 and then to 37 for $59. The objective of the > upgrade to the 25 or 37 marker test is to further reduce the time > frame of the common ancestor between the matching participants. The > common ancestor also referred to as the Most Recent Common Ancestor, > or MRCA. > > Typically, participants are very interested in upgrading their 12 > marker test to 25 markers when a match occurs. Two individuals are > considered related for the 12 marker test if they match 12/12, 11/12, > and sometimes with 10/12. In the first two situations, an upgrade to > the 25 marker test is recommended. > > 3. Jump start your project > > The easiest way to jump start your Surname Project, and to get others > interested in participating, is to find the first two participants. > Participants must be direct male descendents, since the Y chromosome > is passed from father to son. If you are a direct male descendent, > you are 50% of the way to jump starting your Surname Project. You'll > need to find just one other participant. > > Most likely you have had contact with others with your Surname during > the course of your family history research. One course of action is to > select a few of those contacts and write them a letter or email about > your project, and ask them to participate as the genetic > representative for their line or family. > > When you get a second participant from this group - you have achieved > your jump start for your Surname Project, and you are ready to sign up > more participants. If you were unable to get a second participant, > expand your contacts until you do. > > 4. Recruiting Participants > > Now that you have jump started your project, recruiting participants > becomes easier. You might want to revise your letter/email to include > information that testing has begun with genetic representatives from > two families/lines, to determine if they are related. Including a > brief family history of these two families/lines often stimulates > interest. > > Develop a list of potential participants to whom you will send an > email/letter. Start with those who you have had contact with in the > past regarding your family history research. Don't eliminate the > females - they may have a brother or father whom they could ask to > participate. Asking for help finding a genetic representative for > their family is one approach that often works well. > > You can find additional potential participants from searching the net, > and also online telephone books. > > 5. Getting the Word out > > If your surname has an association, be sure to notify the association > regarding the project. Send them a brief explanation of the project > that they could post on a web site or put in a newsletter. Refer them > to your Family Tree DNA project website. > > Post news about your project to any appropriate mailing lists and > other posting sites. > > 6. Stake a Claim with a web site > > A web site is extremely helpful for a successful Surname Project, and > may help potential participants find your project. There are many > sites where you can create a web site for free, and many have tools > which make it quick and easy to create a web site. > > Family Tree DNA has created a cookie cutter web site that we host for > free. The site gives you an internet address for your project and > will help instill confidence in your DNA project. It takes about 10 > minutes to create and you need to absolutely nothing about web site to > create your won surname Project website. > > If you create your own web site start with a simple site, telling > people about the project. Once you start getting results back for the > participants, you can easily add a chart and other information to the > site. > > 7. Extra, Extra - read all about it > > Once you start getting results back for participants, you now have > Genetic Genealogy News for your web site, your project participants, > and others interested in your Surname family history. You might > consider creating a short Newsletter about the project and the results > to date, and mail this to your list of potential participants and any > one with interest in your family history. Be sure to include a > paragraph with a request for participants. > > ------ > > As a registered Surname Project at Family Tree DNA, your project will > receive Project Pricing and a set of tools for the Group Administrator. > > Plus automatic matching notifications, and a Phylogenetic tree. > > The Surname Project Pricing is: > > The Surname Project pricing is: > > 12 marker Y-DNA* test $99 + postage > 12 to 25 Marker Upgrade $90 > 12 to 37 Marker Upgrade $149 > 25 marker Y-DNA* test $169 + postage > 37 marker Y-DNA* test $229 + postage > 25 to 37 Marker Upgrade $59 > > *Archival storage of your DNA for 25 years in included with all of our > tests. > > The Group Administrator tools include access to the Surname Project at > the Family Tree DNA web site, where you can easily order kits, track > participants, and down load results. > > Credit cards are accepted with our Verisign secure on-line order system. > > Thank you for your interest in Family Tree DNA. If we can provide any > additional information or answer any questions, please contact us. > > Best Regards, > > Bennett Greenspan > President Family Tree DNA > http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com > > ---------- > > So there you have it. The ball in now in our court. To begin a > project, we have to have at least two individual males who are > eligible to test for the Bowles surname, and who are prepared to > purchase the test. > > The only thing I would point out about the pricing is that you save > $20 by having the 25 marker test done first, rather than doing the 12 > marker and then later upgrading to 25. If you do decide to upgrade, > you do not need to be re-tested. They just take your sample and test > it further. > > The test is painless, you swab the inside of your cheek with two > different swabs and mail them in to be tested. They provide everything > you need in the kit. > > > So I have two questions: > > 1. Who wants to be tested? > 2. Do you want me to serve as group administrator to get this set up? > > Let me hear from you. > > Charlie > > >