Thoughts on RootsTech

Much has already been written about the RootsTech Conference, which was held last week in Salt Lake City. Randy Seaver has compiled a list of Geneablogger posts in his post RootsTech 2013 Geneabloggers Review. But I thought I'd add my two cents worth...

I managed to arrive on time for the keynote speakers on Thursday morning in spite of having to remove two inches of heavy, wet snow off of Van Dora and then driving in "rush hour" traffic through the valley. That drive stressed me out so much that I decided to forgo the keynote addresses on Friday and Saturday - knowing too that they were being recorded and would be available for viewing later.

I'm not going to give a run-down of the sessions that I attended but will just say that with 6700+ people in attendance, most rooms were crowded. There were several sessions I wanted to attend but couldn't because the room was already at capacity when I arrived 5-10 minutes before they were due to start!

This year I decided to attend sessions on topics that I knew very little about. For the most part, that strategy worked out well. However, I had a big issue with the descriptions of some of the sessions and the fact that very few were identified as Intermediate level. The bigger issue, however, is that several sessions identified as Intermediate were definitely not. And, the titles of some sessions were misleading.

One session, billed as "using technology to solve research problems," was very disappointing. In my opinion, it was a basic beginners level overview of how to do your genealogy - the only "technology" mentioned was the use of the internet and genealogy software. In fact, the speaker, after polling the audience to determine our research level, stated that she expected more beginners to attend.

Some of the highlights... learning about the Genographic Project, picking up some ideas from Denise Olson on using Powerpoint (or other presentation software) to tell short family stories with pictures (photo above), and learning that Thomas W. Jones utilizes online family trees in his research process.

On that latter point, the Thomas Jones session "Can a Complex Research Problem Be Solved Solely Online?" was worth being stuffed into the smallest room available. The session was unlike any other I attended - an interactive experience with the audience responding to questions regarding resources that might be used and then learning from 'the master' what was actually used. Can you imagine getting an email from Tom Jones inquiring about the sources  for your online tree?

Will I attend RootsTech next year? Doubtful. But then, that's what I said last year! I think a better option for me is to watch the sessions that are live-streamed and archived for later viewing. Also, if they follow through on their plans to have 600+ locations holding sessions locally at the same time in conjunction with live-streaming - well, that would be awesome.

The downside of attending virtually, of course, is that you miss out on the interaction with other attendees and spending time with friends. But if RootsTech grows in attendance next year like it did this year, the current venue would be impossibly crowded...

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Thoughts on RootsTech," Kinexxions, posted March 26, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/03/thoughts-on-rootstech.html : accessed [access date])

RootsTech :: Day Two

It was another busy and mind-boggling day at RootsTech. I didn't do much socializing since I attended presentations all day long!

As with yesterday, the keynote address was impressive with a nearly full room of attentive genealogists. Given by an enthusiastic and very dynamic speaker - Josh Coates – the topic was “Exabytes, Social Clouds, and Other Monstrosities.”

I've never tried Voice Recognition Software but after listening to Luana Darby in “Can You Hear Me Now? Voice Recognition Software and Genealogy” I may just have to give it a try! Someday. (I'm not sure my little netbook is capable of effectively using the software.) I have a lot of obituaries, deeds, wills, and estate files that need transcribing and it seems it may be easier to read/dictate them into the computer rather than trying to type up the documents myself! The obits could probably be done by scanning then doing OCR on them but that always seems to require some cleaning up of the text. It seems that Voice Recognition Software has come a long way in the last 10 years or so. The software still requires “training” to your voice and your manner of speaking but she says the accuracy is quite good.

Jill Ball did a great job directing the panel in “Genealogy 2.0: International Panelists Discuss Their Use of Social Media to Connect With Cousins, Collaborate on Projects, Discuss Issues, Market and Promote Genealogy Services and Perform Acts of Genealogical Kindness.” Jill, Amy Coffin, and Audrey Collins offered up examples and opinions on the various topics listed in the title of the presentation.

I seem to be attending sessions on topics where I have limited knowledge. Kinexxions is on blogger but I went to the presentation on Understanding WordPress by Amy Johnson Crow. Each platform has it's pros and cons and since I've got five years worth of posts on blogger, I don't think I'll be switching it over to WordPress. However, I would certainly consider using WordPress for a new blog – if I ever decide to start another one!

My last presentation for today was “Google's Toolbar and Genealogy” by David Barney. I learned so much during this presentation that my head was spinning! If you get a chance, I highly recommend watching this one when it becomes available on FamilySearch. It should be available soon along with the keynote addresses and other sessions.

I didn't take any photos today other than the one below...

Elyse Doerflinger and Michele Goodrum were “caught” doing what many other genealogists did after the sessions were over for the day! Michele is holding a wand scanner that she had been using to scan pages of a book – she says it works great once you get the hang of working with it.

As you can see, the place was pretty busy. I decided not to attempt any research since I'll be staying in Salt Lake City for a while after the conference is over. I also opted to not stay for the viewing of “Who Do You Think You Are?” though I did watch the show from the comfort of my motel room!

RootsTech :: Day One

The day began with the Keynote Address by Jay Verkler (with a little assistance from a few other people). It was rather mind-boggling listening to his vision for the future of genealogy research – if only it were possible to live to 2060 to see if his vision becomes reality! Wow. Mr. Verkler has recently stepped down as President and CEO of FamilySearch. In that capacity he helped guide and transform FamilySearch into a leading genealogy-tech company that is bringing online so many wonderful digital documents.

Along with many of the other 4,000+ attendees, I went into the Exhibit Hall after the keynote address The hall was absolutely packed! I found Thomas MacEntee handing out the geneablogger beads and picked up mine.

Michele Goodrum and I were chatting away like old friends when a “crew” came up and asked if they could interview one of us. I said sure, and then literally pushed Michelle in front of me as I stepped aside!

Luckily, Michele didn't hold that against me and graciously allowed Bart Brenner to take our photo.

And, here is Bart...

The first session I attended was Mining Newspaper Archives. It was a little disappointing as it was mostly about the process of getting the newspapers digitized and online. They also only discussed two of the sites available for newspaper research.

After lunch with Michele, it was off to the RootsTech Genealogy Idol presentation. Each of the contestants did a great job and congratulations go to Marian Pierre-Louis for winning the most votes and becoming the first Genealogy Idol.

I must say, I was very impressed with the enthusiasm and style of Elyse Doerflinger. She is going to make a wonderful teacher.

Evernote was the topic of the next session I attended. I had heard of Evernote but had never taken the time to learn anything about it. I think it definitely has possibilities for research purposes.

As with Evernote, I knew almost nothing about tablet computers so was hoping that Jill Ball could tell me all about them in her “Galaxy Girls” presentation. Jill discussed some of the benefits of the Samsung Galaxy tablets as well as their limitations. Then went on to talk a little bit about some of the apps and widgets that are not specifically genealogy apps but can be useful in doing research.

All in all, it was a good day – attending interesting sessions and seeing “old friends” once again!