Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Registration open for RootsTech 2022 (entirely virtual!)

By 4 Comments

Last summer, RootsTech announced that its 2022 conference, to be held March 3 to 5, 2022, would once again be virtual. The pandemic caused the 2021 conference to go virtual and, according to RootsTech, it was such a success that they envision always having a virtual component to this popular conference. For safety reasons 2022 will be entirely virtual and I look forward to seeing what they do in the future to combine virtual and in-person attendance.

As it was last year, RootsTech will be 100% free of charge. I just signed up and it couldn’t be easier. Just go to the RootsTech website, fill in your name and how you want to be contacted (email, text or both), your email address and/or mobile number then click Sign Up for Free. You’ll be taken to a page that offers you an All Access Pass (also free) that requires a (free) FamilySearch account. One more click and you’re done.

The sessions for RootsTech 2021 sessions are still available for viewing, right from the RootsTech website. This was a great reminder of all the education I have not yet taken advantage of and I think I have until about the first of March to watch the classes from 2021 that I’m interested in. I’m going to try to create a routine of watching at least a class or two each weeek until then. (I also noticed that some keynotes and general sessions from past in-person conferences are available for viewing by clicking on the Previous Events in the footer.)

I did not propose to present a class at RootsTech 2022–I think I was in the middle of some sort of crisis when the proposals were due. I’m confident there will be another terrific slate of speakers and topics!

Here’s the video about RootsTech that you can also see on the RootsTech website when you register.

RootsTech 2022 will be virtual (and free!)

By 4 Comments

RootsTech announced on Wednesday that they have decided to make their 2022 conference virtual once again. As in 2021, it will be free of charge. It will be held March 3 to 5, 2022.

Here’s the video announcement.

Also mentioned in the video is the fact that they have chosen not to do an in-person RootsTech London this fall.

I loved hearing in the video that they will be highlighting a RootsTech 2021 session each week in their newsletter (which I believe I receive simply because I have a Family Search account). I think that’s terrific, because it will prompt me to watch RootsTech sessions. I’ve had a really hard time remembering to watch the sessions (and making the time to do it). If I can watch just one a week I know it will enhance my genealogy education.

I’ll be thinking about topics I might propose to present at the virtual conference. If you have any ideas for me, don’t hesitate to tell me in the comments!

How to watch RootsTech Connect

By 10 Comments

As you may know, the 2021 all-virtual RootsTech conference (dubbed RootsTech Connect this year), is going on right now. I have not been able to watch much of it yet, despite it being on my calendar for months. But I have explored the website a little bit and I’m blown away with the learning opportunities.

The great news is that most of the sessions will be available to watch until next year’s RootsTech in March 2022 (which is scheduled to be held in person). You can watch as many sessions as you want now. They’re available on demand. Live keynotes are available on a schedule. My understanding is that the keynotes will be available to watch after the conference.

But there are features that are probably going to be available only during the conference (that is, through Saturday). They include:

  • Chat, where you can interact with like-minded genealogists
  • Relatives at RootsTech, where you can see how many people who are registered for the conference are related to you through the Family Search tree. So far, I have 37,376 relatives attending the conference! (A quick tip: I found that when I clicked on “See Your Relatives” using Safari, I got an error message. But it works just fine in Chrome and Firefox.)
  • Searching for your friends who are attending see how you might be related (my dear friend and podcast co-host, Shannon Wilkinson, and are 9th cousins once removed!)

(I don’t know for a fact that these will be going away after the conference, but I don’t want to take any chances.)

There are lots of ways to approach participating in RootsTech, but here’s what I suggest (and this is what I plan to do this weekend when I’ll have more time):

  1. Go to the Rootstech website.
  2. Login to your Family Search account (or create one if you don’t already have one).
  3. Click on Menu, then Relatives at RootsTech to find your relatives and see how you’re related. If you want, send relatives a message either by clicking on Send a Message under their name or through the little Connect box at the bottom of the home screen.
  4. Click on Guide Me for some suggestions on what you might want to watch or if you’re feeling confused, watch the Website Tutorial by clicking the button near the top of the screen.
  5. Alternatively, if you know what you want to watch, click on Sessions and search or browse for sessions.
  6. Add sessions to your Playlist, so you watch them at your leisure.
  7. Join a chat room by clicking on Connect, then Chat Rooms. Click on the little magnifying glass to search for a particular group or interest.
  8. Explore the Virtual Expo Hall. You can browse or search for particular vendors.

The whole thing is free of charge and it’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss. I have always been blown away by how well organized RootsTech is. This RootsTech Connect conference takes it to another level.

I want to be clear, because my emails indicate there is some confusion, that I am not affiliated with RootsTech. I’ve been a speaker twice and I’m an enthusiastic  attendee, but otherwise I have nothing to do this amazing conference. I just want to make sure my readers are making the most of it!

 

 

 

 

RootsTech 2021 streaming schedule posted

By 20 Comments

I just noticed that the schedule for the live-streamed main-stage talks at the RootsTech virtual conference February 25-27 has been posted! Here’s the link.

This is a truly global conference and the first thing that jumped out at me is that the conference actually starts on February 24 for those of us in the United States. See the graphic at the top of this post (from the RootsTech website) for the starting day and time where you live. The virtual Expo Hall Preview is from 7 to 11 pm EST on February 24.

In addition to the streaming schedule, there is an 18-page pdf of all the English-language sessions that will be presented. Times aren’t indicated for those, which makes me think that some, if not all, of them will be available on demand. I read on the website that all recordings and videos will be available on demand throughout the year. That’s amazing.

If you’re anxious to learn more before the conference opens next week, check out the Road to RootsTech videos on YouTube.

As I’ve mentioned before, this year’s RootsTech conference is free of charge. (Go to Rootstech.org to learn more and to register if you haven’t already.) It’s an amazing learning opportunity and I commend RootsTech for innovating a whole new type of conference when the pandemic made it impossible to have the usual gigantic in-person conference. I look forward to learning more about how it will unfold.

The last flight I took was on March 2, 2020, when I flew home from RootsTech. It’s hard to believe that at the end of February I was with tens of thousands of people under one roof. It feels almost unimaginable. I look forward to being under a virtual roof with hundreds of thousands of genealogy enthusiasts later this month!