Roots Tech 2021 Friday Day 2

For Day 2 I tried to listen to all of the Key Note speakers I missed the day before. There were 24 Key Note speakers and 8 Heritage Highlights which I saw only the second one. My favorite speaker was Sharon Leslie Morgan. Then I added to my Playlist for future viewing in the coming year. Of the 1,000+ sessions within eight different tracks there is quite a variety available. Some are a series of sessions. I choose 127 sessions, which means viewing two or three a week. They do vary in length. It is highly recommended that the overall list be examined prior to such an event. One thing about a virtual conference with so many new components is there is little time during the actual event for organizing. There were not really any structured breaks, so knowing the overall schedule one wants to follow is important. 

I spent a lot of time working in Relative Finder. What I loved about the Relative Finder was finding that I match with Pat Richley-Erickson , Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, David E. Rencher, Thomas MacEntee, Judy G. Russell, Karen Stanbary, CG, Thomas Jay Kemp, Tom Jones, Randy (CA),  Ce Ce Moore and over 46,000 others of the one million plus who attended this historic conference. Surely one of the miracles of this pandemic. This group all connect with me and the Tidd family. Another large group of matches are eleven for the Rounds and Strong families. Many of us hope this feature is available in the future!

Roots Tech 2021 Saturday Day 3

It was certainly a great conference. The last session with Elder and Sister Holland was the best. What a sweet couple and their special family. The entire conference was wonderful. From the Main Stage to the Song Contest excitement filled this experience. There were 1500 songs submitted and one could view the musicians and participate in voting. The Graphics, the staging for the interviews, great transitioning were all key to the flow of the conference. The total number of registrants was over one million and from 226 countries. Be sure to check out the Expo Hall, Discovery and Activity Pages. The Guide Me section is extremely helpful and if you have questions use the Help button.  

To the coordinators and everyone who worked so hard at creating this first class experience, Thank you so very much!

 

Roots Tech Wednesday 24 February 2021

Roots Tech Wednesday 24 February 2021 and Thursday 25 February 2021

Just spent two hours at Roots Tech and did not even get to the exhibit hall! The first keynote speaker was great, but there were Internet difficulties with reception problems. Then I moved on to the view some of the pages. On the first page it shows there are 501,203 participants and a map of the 226 places they are globally from. In the Connections portion there are 267,803 people with a total of 55,838,115 matches having been made. There is a map showing where matches are concentrated. The best surprise was when my youngest daughter showed up as my closest match. I have a total of 300 matches, one close relative, two 3rd cousins, twelve 4th cousins, some 5th cousins and the rest 6th and beyond. There is a map showing all of them being from the United States. Then I just kind of looked over the website and took a tour of the Family History Library to see how things have changed there. I will try later to view the keynote speaker. My final stop was the Song Contest where I listened to twelve artists in three categories perform their songs. They are very talented. I look forward to seeing who the winner is. I submitted three, one for each category. Now to get some rest so I will be ready for a full day tomorrow.

RootsTech 2013 Live Streaming Classes Part 2

The classes shown through live streaming are listed in my previous post. Here is a brief overview of each of the ten classes.

Friday March 22

Researching Ancestors Online by Laura G. Prescott

Genealogy Research Online – Sites and Strategies That May Surprise You

This class should be a must see for any serious genealogist. Laura first covered some positives and then some negatives of genealogy research on the Internet. She discussed, How to be a responsible contributor and user of online genealogical information.

Her list of Usage Rules includes: Share, Be accurate, Double check data received, Respect copyrights, Ask Permission, Cite Your Sources, Respect privacy, Take your time, explore, get wonderfully lost and have fun.

The syllabus includes a list of eleven commonly used websites many of which require subscriptions. She also referenced 101 Best Genealogy Websites for 2012 and Professionally Preferred Websites for Family History.

Some of the free websites that she demonstrated included: Cyndi’s List, The US GenWeb Project, DoHistory, Library of Congress, NUCMC, Academic Archives, Dead Fred, One-Step Webpages, Find A Grave, Bureau of Land Management, LibraryThing, and HistoryLady.

Rootstech 2013 Live Streaming Classes Part 1

RootsTech 2013 Live Streaming Classes

The classes shown through live streaming are listed in my previous post. Here is a brief overview of each of the ten classes.

Thursday March 21

The Future of Genealogy – Moderated by Thomas MacEntee, panel: Lisa Louise Cooke (Genealogy Gems Podcast), Dick Eastman (Eastman’s Online Newsletter), Daniel Horowitz (My Heritage), Alan Phillips (Unlock the Past), Dear Myrtle (Dear Myrtle Podcast), D. Joshua Taylor (findmypast.com)/brightsolid

RootsTech 2014 Live Streaming Key Note Presentations

For my own benefit this is a quick review of what I learned and discovered watching the three keynote sessions. My next blog will be about the ten classes.

First I want to note the great emcee Shipley Munson. It felt almost like he was introducing a game show and he did a fine job covering the basics each day. As head of marketing for FamilySearch, one can feel the enthusiasm he has for the family history audience.

RootsTech Conference Oregon Style

Tomorrow begins the first of three days of RootsTech Conference classes in Salt Lake City. For those of us not able to attend in person there is the wonderful option of viewing some of the classes through live streaming on the Internet.  The live streaming offers the keynote address and four classes each day, except Saturday when there are only two classes. My family understands that for these three days they will not see very much of me. To sign up and download or print the syllabus material for classes go to RootsTech.org.

RootsTech - As Seen From Oregon

For three days last week I attended the RootsTech conference while sitting in my office at home. I am not a Techie person, so this conference did not compel me to go to Utah. But, when it was offered to view fifteen of the sessions online for free, I felt it was too good a deal to pass up. To the sponsors and those involved in putting on the conference I want to express my heart-felt appreciation.

RootsTech, PMC and FamilySearch Orders

For those currently working in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, you might want to press forward in your efforts as the cost of ordering microfilm and microfiche from the local Family History Center is increasing. When I go to the FHL I like to keep a count of how many microfilm and microfiche I use and calculate the money I saved in the process. This figure usually covers the expenses of my trip. With the increased prices it makes the trip to SLC to do research even more economical. The increase in costs to provide the service is understandable. Posted at the end of the blog are the upcoming changes.