10th Anniversary RootsTech 2020 Day 1 and more news

RootsTech started today and this year is the 10th anniversary of the conference which started in 2011.

I was fortunate to be able to attend for the first time 5 years ago in 2015 and again in 2018. I had intended to go this year but have not left the UK.

In a short while the first Keynote Steve Rockwood CEO of Family Search will take to the stage to recap the last ten years. 

You can view it here

Here he is in London last October. 

He will also be making an announcement.

RootsTech is coming back to London! 5 – 7 November at the ExCeL. Take advantage of exclusive early bird pricing and get your 3-day pass for only £79 or a 1-day pass for only £39. Register here     

RootsTech 2020 News and Winner Announcement

Keynote Speakers for 

Friday, February 28, 11 a.m. 

White House Photographer David Kennerly to Keynote RootsTech 2020

and 

Saturday, February 29, 11 a.m.

Dallas Cowboys' Emmitt Smith to Keynote RootsTech 2020

Take a look at the links to find out more about the 2 keynote speaker that have been announced and don't forget to register if you have not yet registered.

One person who has managed to register for free is 

The Winner of my 4 day pass

Graham Walter

When asked why he wanted to attend RootsTech 2020 this is what he said

"It's a good time to catch up with fellow genies and celebrate 10 years of Rootstech. Also many interesting classes to take..."

Thank you to everyone who entered and those who didn't win don't forget that others may still have contests running and take a look at Conference Keeper.

RootsTech 2020 4 day pass Giveaway

As an Ambassador for RootsTech  2020 I have the privilege of giving one of my followers a pass covering the registration for all 4 days of the conference. This just covers the cost of registration. 

To enter just tell me in a single paragraph why you would like to attend the conference.

Fill in this form which requires you to leave your email address. 
All contact details will be deleted after this closes and the winner has accepted.

The closing date is 23 December 2019 at 1700 GMT.

The winner will be announced on this blog and may be drawn and/or announced on Mondays with Myrt on 23 December 2019 or shortly thereafter.

RootsTech London Review Day 1 (Part One)

My RootsTech Experience

I was so busy at the conference that I had no time to sit down and write a post. If you follow me and others on Twitter or watched the live stream you will have got a taste of the conference.

Having been to RootsTech in Salt Lake City twice I already knew that the experience was going to be full-on even before the conference started and it certainly was an experience I would not have wanted to miss.

The first evening I was invited to join some of my antipodean friends and others I had not previously met including the winner of my RootsTech London registration pass Rosemary McKenzie.

Here are a few candid photos I took that evening

The first day started with an Ancestry breakfast meeting but I only took one photo and it did not flatter so not sharing.
We were told about the upcoming programmes they had sponsored entitled Ant & Dec's DNA Journey which were shown this week on ITV and will be repeated for those in the UK this Friday and Saturday and are also on the ITV hub.

There was one class before the keynote session and I decided to attend the talk by Myko Clelland entitled Beyond the British Census. This was my takeaway message from this presentation. We can use these records but not in isolation.

The break before the keynote gave me time to catch up with some friends from WikiTree and grab a drink. Then we were off to the first keynote of the conference welcomed by Steve Rockwood and introduced by Nick Barratt was Dan Snow.

I was part of a group interviewing both Nick Barratt 

and Dan Snow and will share some of what I recorded in my next post.

RootsTech London Next Week

Will You Be There?

I have not posted for a while but wanted to update any of you who are still "sitting on the fence" about attending.

I also want to be sure that those who are coming or who are too far away to attend in person know more about what is going on and what they can see on the live stream. 

Here are the keynote speakers and the entertainment for the Friday evening.  

You can find the various passes on this page including free access to the exhibition hall  

You can find the free livestream schedule at this page

You can also purchase a Premium virtual pass and see what it includes


As well as the big companies there will be local family history societies in the exhibition hall. I am a member of a few.  
Hampshire Genealogical Society will be there launching their updated website.
They told me that the website is now much easier to navigate and has a search function that helps you find information, this includes both the Research Centre catalogue and online shop which offers the Hampshire Village Booklet range.
For HGS members, online databases include Home Guard Names in the Hampshire Record Office, Monumental Inscriptions – Small Churchyards andMuster Roll of the 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment.To mark the launch they're adding the Wills Beneficiary Index.
All their information is compiled from work done by the volunteers over the last 45 years. There are many more indexes and datasets to come!

Looking forward to meeting friends and making new ones.

Don't forget to download the app

The maps of the ExCeL venue and of the exhibition hall are now loaded into the app. You'll see an icon that says 'Map' and that's where these PDFs are located.

Keynote Speakers RootsTech London

We know that Donny Osmond is going to be the keynote on Saturday but who else is coming to keynote on Thursday and Friday?

So who do we have here Dan Snow, Steve Rockwood, Nick Barratt and Donny Osmond.

You can read more about them all here

The Winner of my RootsTech London 3 day pass Draw is.....

I am pleased to announce that my winner of a 3-day pass for RootsTech London is Rosemary McKenzie.

She will be visiting from Australia and loves RootsTech in SLC, USA and now wants to see how it's done in London.

I know there is quite a contingent coming from Australia and Rosemary tells me she will announce that she has won on the Downunder Genies at RootsTech 
London FB page.