This week, in Salt Lake City, RootsTech gets under way. I’ve gone to that conference four times but elected not to attend this year. (I’ll be following the hashtag #notatrootstech on Twitter in my spare time to see what my fellow non-attendees are up to.)
Instead of RootsTech, this year I’ll be attending the National Genealogical Society 2019 Family History Conference, which will be held May 8-11 in St. Charles, Missouri. It’s just a half hour from my home, so I can avoid the expense and inconvenience of travel. I registered last week!
By attending NGS over Rootstech, I’m not sacrificing education for convenience. NGS is a terrific conference, chock full of educational opportunities. I attended in 2015 and had some great takeaways. It was there, for instance, that I was inspired to order my three union Civil War ancestors’ pension files, which were game changers. And I learned how to process them. That was huge.
So I’m very excited for the conference. I can’t wait to find out what my big takeaways are.
Will you be attending? If you are, and you’d like to meet, please leave a comment and we’ll figure out how to meet. One thing I love about going to conferences is meeting readers, who often become friends!
I’m not going to either this year, although I usually don’t miss NGS and I have attended RootsTech. Instead I’m going to an international German conference in California in June. Anyone else?
Carol
How cool that you’re going to a new conference this year! I hope it’s excellent. Sorry I won’t be able to see you at NGS this year.
I usually attend the NGS conference, but went to Rootstech last year because a new descendant was due to be born in May last year (He’s adorable!). I also live nearby so don’t need to travel. I guess we’re neighbors! I think there is not much difference in the educational offerings. The main difference was in the “show” aspect of Rootstech and the enormous number of people. When one vendor offered a discount at Rootstech, people nearly stampeded to get it. I felt sorry for a couple of older people pushed out of the way, which caused me to skip the discount. It wasn’t worth anyone getting injured. That said, I may choose to attend Rootstech in the future, but I like the fact that NGS moves around from city to city. St. Charles is a nice place and if you go, you will enjoy it. Plus, the new museum at the Arch is a must-see, and the Missouri History Library and Archives is a must-do if researching any French colonial St. Louis ancestors, or anyone else who passed through St. Louis. The staff at the St. Louis County Library History and Genealogy Department at their HQ branch is very knowledgeable too. They never fail to help me in some way.
Leslie, those are all great points about the added attractions of coming to NGS in St. Charles. As a proud St. Louisan, I should have made them myself. Thank you so much!
I agree with you that the class offerings are similar at NGS vs RootsTech and the biggest difference is the size of the crowd and the size of the exhibit (which I guess go hand in hand) If you’re going to NGS this year, please let me know!
I plan on trying to attend the convention, I’m a teacher and will be going on Saturday. I’m in St. Louis also. Would love to try and meet up.
Excellent, Suzi! I’ll shoot you an email with my mobile number and you can text or email me when you know your plans.
I just registered! It’s my first time! I’ve never been to RootsTech, either, so I’m not sure what to expect. Lucky for me, this one is ‘home’ so I get to commute each day.
That’s great, Kim! Prepare yourself for some great learning opportunities! I look forward to seeing you there.
It would be fun to meet all of you. I usually attend by myself so it would be nice to make some genealogy friends.
Leslie, it is fun to make genealogy friends! One of the greatest perks of having a blog is that I get to meet readers (some of whom become friends) at conferences. We’ll have to figure out a way to all meet up. I’ll email you my cell phone number.