RootsTech 2017 – Scenery, Socialising and Finding Ancestors...

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...

RootsTech – The People You Meet...

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 !!      1. Tessa Keough, yours truly (moi), Fran Kitto & Nancy at the Commonwealth Dinner pre-RootsTech [sed with permission from Pauleen Cass] 2. Jill Ball (aka GeniAus) 3. Tim Firkowski (aka Sherlock Holmes and The Genealogy Assistant) 4. Alan Phillips from Unlock the Past Cruises with Dick Eastman of EOGN   5. Liza Alzo (aka The Accidental Genealogist) 6. Caroline Pointer (of 4 Your Family Story) at the FGS stand   7. Caitlin Gow and me outside the Family History Library 8. Paul Hawthorne found me and took a quick photo before heading off to the next talk [used with permission from Paul] 9. some of the Aussies just before the geneablogger tour: myself, Jenny Joyce, Caitlin Gow, Sharn White and Pauleen Cass [used with persmission from Helen Smith] 10. I was so pleased that I was able to catch up with Janet Hovorka from Family Chartmasters, she’s lovely   11. I met up with Laila Christiansen, a geneablogger from Norway who I first met at RootsTech 2013 12. and I finally got to meet Linda Robbins   13.  the one and only Thomas MacEntee 14. Pauleen Cass, Sharn While and...

RootsTech – Day 3 All Good Things Come to An End...

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. However Saturday was always billed as being the “biggest day”, with an estimated 20,000 people attending on that day alone. I don’t know the figures, but it was busier, primarily as it was ‘Family Day’. There were many families with their young kids there. An attraction for them no doubt was Studio C, who I will admit I’ve never heard of (they haven’t made it big internationally yet), but this sketch comedy group have a show on BYUtv, and they also have a huge following on YouTube. And when they performed, which fortunately wasn’t in the Expo Hall I was told that the security personnel were kept very busy with screaming fans. I know their stand in the Expo Hall seemed busy all the time, not to mention the cardboard cutouts of the actors which people could get photos with – they were a big attraction. Anyway I had a few people wander through the Expo Hall and ask me if we’d just set up as they hadn’t seen our stand before. I had to assure them we’d been there the whole time, but had missed us in their earlier walk throughs. But that gives you an indication of just how much there was to see. I had to take a quick break from the stand as the geneablogger group were trying to organise a group photo – but with talks finishing late, and organised...

RootsTech – Day 2 The Fun Continues...

Day 2 of RootsTech fell on Friday the 13th, but it certainly didn’t bring any bad luck to attendees at RootsTech. With a full day of talks that began at 8.00am and continued through until late afternoon, and the exhibit hall open from 10.00am until 7.00pm – today was the day to see, hear and do as much as you can (or as much as you feet let you)! My day was pretty much a case of being at the stand when I could, and when others were there I went out and about to meet other exhibitors, and others I wanted to meet. During these times I made good use of my autograph book and my collection continues to grow. 😉 Here’s a few photos from the day … I know I’m using the word ‘AMAZING” a lot in these posts, but it is true. How else can you describe a genie event that not only has tens of thousands of attendees, hundreds of exhibitors, Big Ben, a Scottish pipe band, old shoes, karaoke and people in awesome vintage costumes just to name a few (other than Who Do You Think You Are? Live anyway) … And I finally got to meet THE Ian Tester. The one from Findmypast. I’ve known of him for some time, but have never met him until now, so that was very cool.  Both having the same surname, we were hoping to meet up, and we did. And you never know, one day we may find a connection to our families. At least they’re both in the same county. Being from Australia is obviously an attraction for the Americans. I had two young guys who came up, one wanting to know if we...

RootsTech – The Bling!...

Genealogy conference bling is something that I first learnt about at RootsTech 2013 as it’s not something that we do in Australia, though I’d love it if the idea was picked up, but somehow I doubt it. Anyway I find that the conference bling is part of what makes the conference so much fun. Blogger beads, conference ribbons, badges (or buttons at the US folk like to call them), and ever wristbands it’s all part of it! And here’s my stash of conference bling from RootsTech 2015 … And I also have to find room for these three t-shirts in my suitcase … And although not “bling”, I wanted to share with you the books that are making it home with me as well … 1. Mind Maps for Genealogy: Enhanced Research Planning, Correlation, and Analysis by Ron Arons 2. Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900 by Maureen Taylor 3. Elements of Genealogical Analysis: How to Maximise Your Research by Robert Charles Anderson So with the bling, the t-shirts and the books, I may have to pay for an extra suitcase or excess luggage. But it was totally worth...

RootsTech – Day 1 It Begins!!...

Thursday 12th of February was the first day of RootsTech. The first day that talks started, and the first day that the Expo Hall was open for business. And to say it was a crazy day would be an understatement. The place was swarming with people. The day started early with my roommate Helen Smith and I up early to be in time for the Geneablogger Tour of the Expo Hall at 7.30am. Paul Nauta from FamilySearch was our tour guide, and lead a bunch of maybe 40-50 bloggers around explaining how there was over 180 exhibitors, and based on those who had pre-registered for RootsTech, they come from 37 different countries. Everything about this conference is HUGE. The size of the Expo Hall, the number of talks, the number of people – even the facilities!! A Media Lounge for the Ambassadors of the conference, that is all the Official bloggers, as well as Official Tweeters and Facebookers. There was a Cyber Cafe where anyway can go an get free drinks, as well sit down and recharge your device/s. That is if you could find a seat. Then there was the demo theatre. This wasn’t some little room to do product demos. Nooooo. This was in the Expo Hall iteself, and has a heap of super comfy lounge chairs that you could sit on while listening to the vendors do their sales pitch. There were multiple scanning areas around the hall. And FamilySearch even had “Phone A Relative” which was all about phoning a reli, asking them questions about their part, and recording the conversation. They also had “Share a Memory” booth. These were soundproof booths for you to go and verbally record your memories, and if you felt...

RootsTech – Setup Day (and a Few Talks)...

Wednesday the 11th of February was setup day for exhibitors at RootsTech. Wednesday the 11th of February was also the first of four days of the FGS conference. Going as an exhibitor (Unlock the Past Cruises), obviously my focus was the setting up of the stand. I must say that having been involved in exhibitions for many, many years, the actual setting up is often a drag, but seeing the setup, and everything getting organised is really exciting. As our stand was surprisingly easy one, thanks to being largely limited to what we could fit and carry in suitcases, we actually had it all done before lunch. So as that gave me a free afternoon, I decided to check the scheduling to see what talks were on in the afternoon, and I actually made it to three. Each day has a ‘theme, and Wednesday talks were aimed at Societies, and how to do this and that for your society. So the three I went to all  had a society focus: The Ethical Genealogist (Judy . Russell) Tips for a Robust Society Website (Cyndi Ingle) Society Media for Societies: It’s not a Bandwagon, It’s a Freight Train (Roray Cathcart) Now even though I am a member of a number of Societies, I’m not a board member of any. So I could have simply dismissed these as not being relevant. However as I always find, I did get something out of every talk I went to. Judy, who is also known as The Legal Genealogist, kept the packed room enthralled with her talk on ethics. Starting with What does ethical mean? Being moral. What does being moral mean? Concerned with goodness or badness. She explained that there are 21st century dilemmas...

Pre-RootsTech – A Wander Around Salt Lake City...

The FGS Conference runs for four days (Wednesday-Saturday), while the RootsTech one is three (Thursday-Saturday). So with a day to spare before set up and the FGS Conference talks start, it was nice to have a quiet day (which in some respects probably translates to trying to get over jetlag). So after a good sleep, and yummy buffet breakfast, it was off to wander Salt Lake City and see what I could see. Two years ago when I was here it was snowing. However they’ve had such a mild winter in Salt Lake City this year, so there’s no snow in the city, and only a little on the mountains. And the weather for my day of wandering, was but rather a sunny/cloudy cool day. I would call it a Tasmanian weather day. Anyway here’s a few pics from my day out and about....

RootsTech – Let’s Do It Again...

RootsTech is one of those events that has been on my bucket list ever since I heard how exciting the first one was. One of those “would-be-nice-to-do- but-never-really-expecting-to” things. Afterall America is SUCH a long way away (over 24 hours of flying), and it does cost a small fortune just to get there. So am I really going to spend all that to go to one event? I could use that money on a mega-lot of certificates instead. While getting more certificates is certainly tempting, the attraction of RootsTech is compelling to say the least. And I was fortunate enough to see my dream become a reality, when I attended RootsTech back in 2013. To say this was fun, is a total understatement. And there are no genie events here in Oz that I can compare it to. Though I’m thinking that it might be along the lines of someone going to Comic Con (though I haven’t been to one myself) – but I think you get the gist of it anyway. I was helping out on the Unlock the Cruises stand, and when I wasn’t there I was wandering around the Exhibition Hall seeing who I could see. And basically in awe of being in the same room as so many big name people. You can read about my 2013 experiences here … RootsTech: Only a Few Days & 14,000kms Away A Day in Salt Lake City Next Stop Hollywood Genealogy Royalty and the Autograph Book Conference Bling From RootsTech Gotta Love the Geneablogger Community One thing I remember from then was that as soon as it was over I said “let’s do it again!”. You know, just like you would when you’re a kid going on a...