Other state organizations operate on a less-formal basis. At the national level, a number of organizations seek to serve individual genealogists or societies. The oldest society is the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1995. Appendix E is a list of some major state and national societies and their addresses. Most societies undertake valuable indexing and preservation activities and produce newsletters, journals, and other publications that benefit the genealogical community.
Societies also provide educational opportunities for members and nonmembers in their areas.
In 1996, institutes began in Salt Lake City, Utah, and in Rosslyn, Virginia. In 1996 also a summer camp was conducted in Philadelphia, and the Disney Institute added genealogy to its program selections for guests at Walt Disney World resorts in Orlando. For details on these and other institutes, see the current Winter issue of Forum, the magazine of the Federation of Genealogical Societies. National conferences are held annually in different parts of the United States. Members of the National Genealogical Society met in Nashville, Tennessee in 1996 and San Diego, California, in 1995.