The countdown to RootsTech is most certainly on.

In just a few days I’ll be heading to the wintery (and hopefully a little snowy) Salt Lake City, USA. I will be just one of the many, many thousands who will converge on the city, to attend the RootsTech conference, the biggest genealogy conference in the world.

While most people go to RootsTech for the conference and will visit the exhibition, I will be attending as an exhibitor. For those who don’t know, I do work for Gould Genealogy & History (a retail/webstore company in South Australia), but at RootsTech I will be exhibiting as our sister company, Unlock the Past. So if you’re attending, please stop by, and say hello.

So getting down to the nitty gritty of stuff to do, and what to pack … both Jill at GeniAus, and Pauleen at Family History Across the Seas have great checklists which are totally worth a look.  And while I’ve scanned over them, I did decide to write a little checklist for myself myself …

General stuff …
– Flights booked (obviously)
– Travel insurance done (always a necessity)
– ESTA (visa) done (so they’ll let me into the country)
– Hotel booked (booked ages ago actually, but rechecked to confirm booking)
– trip from airport to hotel sorted
– Bank advised (you really don’t want a stop put on  your account while travelling)
– Got some US dollars (I didn’t have to do this before I left, but decided to)
– Got my watch out ready to take  in case my Fitbit decides not to change to US time
– RootsTech app installed (not sure I’ll even get to look at it though)
– Copied latest version of family tree file on to laptop
– Autograph books packed (I nearly filled 1 last time, so I’m hoping I’ll need 2 this year)
– Aussie souvenirs packed (we like to bring a little of Australia to our US friends)
– Business cards (these are so useful, and I don’t mean just work ones, but personal ones too)
– Ribbons packed (gotta take those, as shown in the pic)
– Notebook (I’m just taking one, but as an exhibitor I don’t expect to get to many talks)
– Lip balm and moisturiser are a MUST
– Boots! (it is winter after all, and snow can get slushy)
– Umbrella (there is some rain and snow forecast)
– Reading material for the plane, and a note pad too (good to note future blog ideas)

The techy stuff …
– Got roaming sorted on my phone
– Packed (and rechecked I packed) chargers for phone and camera as well as spare batteries
– US plug adaptors (obviously a necessity – and a note for others you’ll need a single one when going to the Family History Library, as their plugs don’t have room for doubles)
– my US modem (bought on a previous trip to the US, I’ve found the wifi at the FHL and the hotel is likely to be good, but the Salt Palace Conference Centre is known to not be great)
– Got roaming sorted on my phone
– RootsTech app installed (not sure I’ll even get to look at it though)
– packed a few extra mouses (I have a habit of killing them, particularly when I travel)

Of course there’s 100 more things I could add to this list, and anyone who’s travelling will have their own list anyway. Still I thought it would be useful to do.

Anyway I’m super excited to be going. RootsTech really is a whole heap of fun (and exhaustion), but I’m really looking forward to catching up with friends, and meeting others for the first time. I’m looking forward to checking out many other exhibitors (if I can take a break away from the stand), and enjoying the vibe of the conference.

So between work, packing, travelling, and RootsTech Conference which is now less than a week away, it’s going to be a busy time. But I’ll give you a heads up, I expect that the next few posts will be me reporting on it.

And if you are attending RootsTech, please do look out for me … I’ll be the short, but colourful one … ok, and you’ll most likely find me on the Unlock the Past stand (the one with the big Australian flag).

So let’s do it. RootsTech. Bring it on!

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Well there’s literally only a month to go until the biggest genealogy show on the planet hits Salt Lake City, Utah!

Held yearly, RootsTech has become one of the “must-attend” genealogy events for many around the globe. Each February thousands of genealogists converge on Salt Lake City, to attend this four day event. Organised by FamilySearch, the number of attendees has been around25,000 for the past couple of years, but they are expecting over 30,000 in 2017.

And this year I’ll be one of them.

When: 8-11 February, 2017
Where:  the Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

the Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

I’ve booked my flights, my accommodation, and paid my registration to attend, and can’t wait. This will actually be my third RootsTech, having attended in 2013 and 2015. Both of them were a whole heap of fun mixed with a whole heap of exhaustion. But I’ve made so many new friends from around the world, and had the pleasure of meeting many of the big names in the genealogy industry as well. And I look forward to doing it all again.

So now you have the When and Where, but what about the Why?

So what’s so good about RootsTech?
– Well for a start there are over 200 talks you can choose from, as well as workshop classes you can attend.
– There are celebrities like LeVar Burton, Buddy ‘Cake Boss’ Valastro, and the Scott Brothers who will be there to talk about their stories.
– There’s an absolutely enormous expo hall, filled with hundreds of exhibitors.
– There’s the Innovator Summit and Showdown, which features the latest and greatest in the technology+genealogy field.
– There is a Family Discovery Day, so bring along the whole family!
– You can watch demonstrations of websites and software
– You can bring photos along to get dated, and heirlooms along to be valued, and charts to get printed, get one-on-one help with your research.
– In the past they had a story-booth where you could video record your own story in a sound-proof booth, and they have had scanners to scan photos and documents as well – these may be there again this year, I don’t know.

the Expo Hall

You’re probably getting the idea that it truly is non-stop action between the talks and expo hall. IT IS.  There’s just so much to do, to see, and  to hear. And four days actually isn’t long enough to take it all in.

And then of course there’s the evenings, where you meet up with friends for dinner or drinks, stay up too late, and then do it all again the next day. I guarantee that I shall be coming home to have a rest after it all!

my autograph book

So now I have 4 weeks to get everything organised. My clothes, my autograph book, my research, find all my US plugs, decided what tech toys I’ll take, and then wonder how it will all fit into one suitcase!

RootsTech at home
Oh and for those who can’t make it to RootsTech, keep en eye out on their website for the livestream schedule. They’ve done it before, and I’m sure they will again, where they livestream a number of the keynote talks. Also a number of other talks are filmed and put up on their website or YouTube to watch later. So you still get to experience some of RootsTech from home.

For more on RootsTech:
Check our their website www.rootstech.org
Have a read of 7 Reasons to Attend RootsTech 2017
And 5 More Reasons to Attend RootsTech 2017

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A huge attraction of going to any genie event for me is meeting the people. Catching up with friends that you see only occasionally, and making new ones along the way. And that’s exactly what I did again while I was at the RootsTech/FGS Conference this year.

So here’s a photo collection of the “people I met” from RootsTech 2015 …

Click on each for a larger image. And if you choose to use any for your own use, I just ask that you acknowledge that it was mine originally. Really, it’s just plain courtesy.

Anyway, Enjoy !!

Saturday was the last day of the RootsTech, which was Day 3 for many (and Day 4 if you had attended FGS as well) – either way, the days of talks and walking the Expo Hall (or in my exhibiting), followed by social events in the evening were starting to catch up with everyone.