Wherever I went during RootsTech 2017 (and even the few days prior), I made sure I had my autograph book with me. Putting it simply you just never know who you’ll meet, where. And that proved very true. I tried to make the most of my opportunities.

I had such fun meeting people and asking if they’d like to sign my book. And surprisingly not a single person refused. All up I had 95 people from 11 different countries sign my book (Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, England, Ireland, Israel, Norway, France, Germany and Poland) which is awesome.

And there’s so many beautiful comments that people have written, I wanted to share a few of them with you. Note for privacy reasons I have chosen not to include the names of those who wrote them.

Thankyou for your wonderful friendship.

Hope you are enjoying America and Utah. have fun hunting for your ancestors.

Thrilled to have a visitor from so far.

Thanks for making our day brighter.

I always enjoy spending time with you, so this is a bonus. Have a wonderful RootsTech.

Do you know the difference between inlaws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted!

We live as long as long as we are remembered – keep on remembering those ancestors!

We’ll have to stop meeting like this – people will talk!

Alona, so great to meet you. Looking forward to many more fun adventures here @ RootsTech 2017.

To my genimate, Alona. So thrilled to be sharing the RootsTech experience with you once more. Happy ancestor hunting.

I wish you the very best in your genealogy work – you’re quite the beautiful, energetic, friendly & vivacious personality.

It’s so great that RootsTech brings us together from all over the world.

I’m sooooooo thrilled we’re finally able to meet in person – this was a long time coming!

To Alona, one of my favourite people, from one of my favourite countries.

To Alona, so great to see you again! Face time is wonderful but it’s nice to see people in real time.

Alona, Always a ray of sunshine!

Here’s to the Aussie’s taking over RootsTech 2017!

Thanks for all you do for genealogy.

It was great to meet you in person! Safe travels & wishes for making more discoveries.

So great to meet a fellow blogger!

To the most vibrant Aussie I know!

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou to everyone who wrote in my book. I have a whole book of lovely messages like those above. This is such a book of memories, and one that can’t be replaced, so it’s a true treasure for me.

So whenever I get back to RootsTech again (whenever that may be), I guarantee that I’ll be bringing my autograph book again.

RootsTech came, and RootsTech went. And that’s it for another year.

It kind of reminds me of Christmas. There is so much excitement and buildup to it, then the crazyness of it all while it’s on, and suddenly it’s all over, and everyone heads on home, back to their own part of the world. And then the post-RootsTech blues set in.

So while I can’t convey the whole vibe that RootsTech has, I’ll do my best by sharing a few pictures with you of my experience there.

I’ll be honest I can’t give you any report on the keynote sessions, or even a single talk as I didn’t get to any. My RootsTech experience was in the Expo Hall. Since I went as an exhibitor, that’s where I hung out.

Everything about RootsTech is BIG. Actually it would be more technically correct to GIANT. The venue (the Salt Palace Convention Centre) itself is massive. The banners were massive, the room the keynote talks were in is big enough to hold 10,000 people. The Expo Hall is the size of several football fields, with hundreds of exhibitors. It’s a massive event, unlike any other genealogy event in the world … and I know I’ve said it before, but if you EVER get the opportunity to go, DO IT!

This quote did the rounds on Twitter, and it most certainly is true.

“RootsTech is Disneyland for Genealogists!”

The Expo hall not only had hundreds of exhibitors, big and small, there were also places to get one-on-one research, the comfy lounge chair area for the demo theatre, numerous mini-theatres within stands to learn more about something specific. You could get heirlooms valued, tell a family story in the ‘story booth’, get photos or old books scanned, get charts printed out, use the ‘Cyber Cafe’ area to not recharge your devices, but also use their computers to check info on FamilySearch or elsewhere. The list goes on and on … and it’s not hard to spend three whole days just in the Expo hall.

Now for some pics …

THE UNLOCK THE PAST STAND
We exhibited as Unlock the Past again, our third time, and we were promoting our Unlock the Past Guide books, which we weren’t selling, but Maia’s Books (nearby in the hall) was. We also advertised our Alaskan genealogy cruise and the Israel tour to the US folk.  

THE AUSTRALIANS
It seems to have become a tradition (at least the three times that we’ve been there exhibiting), to have an “Australians at RootsTech” group photo.  We did pretty well this year, with only three  or four known missing. But 15 of us turned up for it, and here’s the proof.

While the number is tiny in comparison to the 30,000 or so that attended RootsTech, it’s impressive that that number of Aussies are willing to travel the 14,000km (approx 8500 miles) just to get there.

THE GIANT BOOK
I was fascinated by the “giant” book at the Pictures and Stories stand, it was certainly an attention getter. Owners, Tom and Alison Taylor help people create videos or coffee-table style books of their history. I loved their stand, loved meeting them, and REALLY loved their giant book!

GIANT CHARTS
There was no way you could miss Genealogy Wall Charts stand. After all it is the  worlds largest genealogy chart measuring 30ft x 100ft (9m x 30m) and contains over 200,000 names. The front is 50ft, with the back another 50ft. The rest of their stand was impressive, with a large array of laptops that you could use to upload your gedcom, then create your chart, so they could print it out on the spot using their large plotter printers that they brought along. Impressive in every sense of the word.

GREEN TELEPHONE BOXES
I’m pretty sure the telephone boxes were part of the FamilySearch Discovery display.  But I’ll be honest I only saw them in passing and didn’t stay to check them out myself. But I understand that you could go in one, tell a family story and have it recorded. It obviously worked for some, and it made an interesting addition to their display.

THE GENEABLOGGERS
The geneabloggers are a wonderful group of people who always make me feel so welcome, it’s a real community. It’s fabulous to meet fellow bloggers from all parts of the world that I know of, but have never met in person, and to catch up with others that I have met before.

Wearing blogger beads makes it easy to identify others who are genealogy bloggers, and get chatting with them. And we did have a group photo, but sadly there were a number who didn’t make it for one reason or another …

THE AUTOGRAPH BOOK
This is my third trip to RootsTech, and the third time I did the autograph book thing, using a new book each time. I seem to have become known for this.

Anyway I did it for the same reason each time – to make myself go and meet people. I admit I’m more of an introvert and shy natured, so it’s not exactly my thing to go and approach people. But I did, and as an added bonus I have this fabulous momento of my trip. I did well this time as I nearly filled up the whole book.

There are so many wonderful messages that people have written. And a message to the 95 people who signed my book this year, here is a heartfelt “THANKYOU”. It really is a very special record of those I met.

THE MUG RUG
I couldn’t do a post about RootsTech without mentioning the “Mug Rug”. Fellow Aussie, and first time RootsTecher, Jennie Fairs gave me one of her very special, handmade mug rugs.

It came with the following message on the tag:

“Your RootsTech 2017 souvenir Mug Rug was handmade by Jennie Fairs from Kirrawee, Australia.

Larger than a coaster but smaller than a placemat, it’s perfect to place on your desk to keep it free from those annoying coffee rings and crumbs – even the odd wine or beer stain.

It can be cold-water washed but please be gently and lay it flat to dry. More importantly, you Mug Rug is unique – no two are alike, and only 14 individual Mug Rugs were made.”

Each has Australian themed fabric, and includes the RootsTech 2017 logo. Thankyou Jennie, I am truly honoured to have received one.

DNA KITS, HOW MANY IS ENOUGH?
DNA was a huge thing at RootsTech, with AncestryDNA, 23andMe, Family Tree DNA, Living DNA and MyHeritage DNA all there – and all having super specials.

THE BLING
The bling is part of the fun of RootsTech. From the blogger beads, to the ribbons, to the badges … it’s all fun!

So if you gathered from my photos that it looks like a whole lot of fun – you guessed right. It really is.

And just one more thankyou before I finish … a huge THANKYOU to FamilySearch for yet another spectacular RootsTech! Such a great time, and so many memories.

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For most who attend RootsTech, they arrive, go to talks, and wander around the Expo Hall, but they may not realise just HOW MUCH effort goes into the event. As I work for a company that does organise genealogy events, I know that months of planning is required to make it happen. I also know that our events are not even comparable in any sense of the word to RootsTech, so I imagine that years of planning is what’s required for even just one of these.

Just setting up the RootsTech Expo Hall is a mammoth task. With hundreds of exhibitors, there were probably over a thousand people who were busy for several days getting set up.

And as an exhibitor (this time with Unlock the Past/Unlock the Past Cruises), this is a sight I’m familiar with, but figured most wouldn’t be, so I thought I’d share a few pics of the set-up.

You’ll see crates, cases and pallets of supplies delivered, as well as forklifts, cherrypickers, and giant ladders everywhere. Not to mention the big team of people from the convention centre itself who have been busy laying carpet and making sure each booth has the right tables and chairs, as well as power. That’s an incredible job in itself!

So for those who attend RootsTech, or even those who see photos of it from afar, you’ll see how lovely they all look (and they really do). Just take a moment to think of the exhausting amount of work that went into the set up, even before the exhibition opened!

Next up three crazy days of RootsTech!

Having arrived in Salt Lake City a few days ago in preparation for RootsTech, my time has so far been spent wandering around the city, catching up with friends (and making new ones), and researching. Not a bad way to spend my time, eh?

Salt Lake City is gorgeous. I’ve say that each time I visit. It’s kind of like my hometown of Adelaide in South Australia in that it’s laid out in nice straight streets, so is very easy to find your way around. And while there was snow at SLC last week, and there’s still plenty on the mountains, so far there’s none here in ‘downtown’. But I did see some of the leftover snow, including piles of muddy snow, which was a new sight for me. Actually it’s been nice weather (cool but sunny) here so far, though rain is coming.

The socialising part is half the reason I come. It’s when you get to meet and actually chat to others and aren’t rushed like you are when the conference is actually on. DearMyrtle’s “Monday’s with Myrt” hangout was broadcast live from the the Family History Library, and I took part in that, as well as meeting up with others I knew there who were there to watch and take part too. Monday night was Jill Ball’s Commonwealth Dinner, and this year 28 people (29 with Louis Kessler making a late appearance), from 4 countries (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and New Zealand) made it which was awesome. It’s an informal thing, and that is what’s so nice about it. And it seems to grow every year. During dinner I caught up with some Canadian friends from last RootsTech, and made new Canadian and UK friends. Great company and great food. You can read more (and see a heap of pics) on Jill Ball’s post here.

Of course the other reason to get to Salt Lake City a few days early was to do some research at the Family History Library. I mean how can anyone come to SLC and NOT research? I will admit that I was nowhere near as organised as I should have been with research preparation, still I have made use of the time and have added some extra names and details to my tree already.

So here’s a few pics for you from the first few days …

So it’s off to research some more today, before we setup our booth on Wednesday. And then on Thursday is REALLY begins!