Come to the Mother of All Family Reunions.

As featured in the New York Times and NPR

You are officially invited to..

THE GLOBAL FAMILY REUNION

When: Saturday, June 6, 2015

What: The Global Family Reunion is a free event conceived by bestselling author A.J. Jacobs. It will be a family reunion meets a TED conference meets Burning Man (without the nudity or drugs). There will be presentations by celebrities and famous scientists. There will be music, comedy, games, interactive exhibits and food.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock is making a feature-length documentary about the event.

Even if you can’t come in person, sign up for the live-stream and be a part of history.

Who: The event is open to the public. Every one of my seven billion relatives on planet earth is encouraged to join us. We are all cousins, if you go back far enough. Those cousins who have a proven relationship to A.J. (see below) will get a bracelet and take part in the record-breaking Largest Family Photo.

Where: The amazing New York Hall of Science in Queens, New York, the site of the 1961 World’s Fair. The interior holds 5,000 people and the 11-acres outside hold many more. There are cool science exhibits, a mini-golf course, a science-themed playground and much more. Very kid-friendly. http://nysci.org/

The Cause: Curing Alzheimer’s Disease. The MegaReunion has teamed with the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund (a 501c3 organization with the top rating on Charity Navigator) to help conquer this devastating genetic disease that afflicts 60 million members of the human family. http://curealz.org/

The Hope: Once we realize we’re all related, perhaps we’ll treat each other with more kindness. Only together can we solve the big problems, including Alzheimer’s.

What You Can Do:

  1. The minimum: Simply send an email to aj@ajjacobs.com to get on the mailing list. If possible, include your name and the names of your four grandparents and  I will try to track down our relationship using Geni.com and MyHeritage. Also, if you have a semi-famous ancestor or living relative, please let me know about that. That can sometimes help make the connection.
  2. If you want a fascinating experience, you can join Geni.com and/or MyHeritage.com
    These websites are helping to build the World Family Tree which will eventually connect almost all seven billion humans on earth. Just enter your name and a few of your family’s, and you will eventually connect to the World Family Tree. Then send me an email so we can figure out how we’re related. You could also try Wikitree.com, which is also building a collaborative tree. They have a project devoted to finding my relatives at http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Global_Family_Reunion
  3. If you’re interested in genetics, go to 23andme.com and click “Order kit.” It’s $99. They send you a tube, you spit in it, then send it back to California. A few weeks later, when you get the results, send me an email and we’ll compare to see if we’re cousins. (Note: 23andMe’s health service is on hold, but the ancestry part is alive and well).
    Another genetics service I’m working with is FamilyTree DNA. When you get your results, send me an email at aj@ajjacobs.com

And remember: Everyone is related – even Gwyneth Paltrow and Albert Einstein (click the thumbnails below to see how I’m related to both of them).

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