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.

RootTech Salt Lake City Review

A Review from Afar and Why you should come to RootsTech London

When it was announced that RootsTech was coming to London this October I made the decision that this year I would watch from home and post on Facebook and Twitter during the conference.

How about you join me in London in October you can register here, then maybe you can see one of these.

Last year I had a busy week at RootsTech and made lots of memories before, during and after the conference. One place I can recommend is a restaurant/bar called Zest, if you have allergies or dietary restrictions it is the place to go, and where I ate 3 times last year.  

But it is not just the great food that I missed this year. I love the interaction with other genealogists making new friends and catching up with old ones.

Last year the rooms and hallways in the conference centre were full and crowded. From what others have said this year with a smaller attendance and larger rooms these problems were hopefully eliminated.

There is a lovely video review available here. 

Or if you would like to read the daily blog reviews take a look here.

If you missed any of the live-streamed videos they are available here.

You can purchase a virtual pass for other recorded sessions here.

My 2 favourite sessions of those I managed to see this year were Myko Clelland's Uncovering Family Stories with British and Irish Historic Newspapers and Janet Horvorka's Heirloom, Documentation or Junk: What to Keep or Toss.

The older we get the more we need to think about what others will do with what we have collected and will they be able to access the important information. Creating the stories to pass on to the next generation, those things that they will treasure, because they have particular importance to the family.

The older generation may not be here as long as you may think and with them go those unrecorded memories. Particularly relevant to me as I know what it is to no longer have parents to ask about their experiences, and even their siblings are going, soon I will be the older generation.

I hope to share more about my visit to Salt Lake Last Year and hope it will "whet your appetite" for this year's RootsTech event in London.

RootsTech 2019 Free Live Stream Schedule

Are you planning on watching Live?

If like me you are unable to attend the RootsTech 2019 conference in person this February/March. 

You may be one of the many #NotAtRootsTech that enjoy watching the Live Stream.

So the schedule is published but these are the times in Salt Lake City. 

Do You know what time it will be where you are?

I don't have the time to convert for everyone but as I live in the U.K. and we are on G.M.T. I am going to convert the times to this. Hopefully, this will make it easier for you, my readers, as well as me.

Wednesday 27th February

• 16:30 What’s New at FamilySearch?
• 18:00 Hear Them Sing! Social History and Family Narrative 
• 20:30 Uncovering Family Stories with British and Irish Historic Newspapers (Sponsored by Findmypast) 
• 22:00 Connecting Your DNA Matches
• 23:30 Wednesday General Session and Opening Event 

Thursday 28th February 

• 15:00 Making the Leap—Becoming a Professional Genealogist (Power Hour)
• 16:30 Finally! German Church Records and How to Use Them on FamilySearch 
• 18:00 Thursday General Session: Patricia Heaton 
• 20:30 What You Don’t Know about Ancestry (Sponsored by Ancestry) 
• 22:00 “Jumping the Broom,” Oil, Inheritance, and African American Marriage in the South 
• 23:30 Perilous Assumptions: Revisiting Those First Finds

Friday 1st March

• 15:00 Why and How to Put Yourself into Your Family History (Power Hour) 
• 16:30 Essential Considerations for DNA Evidence 
• 18:00 Friday General Session: Saroo Brierley 
• 20:30 Getting the Most Out of Billions of Records on MyHeritage SuperSearch (Sponsored by MyHeritage) 
• 22:00 Discover Your Japanese Ancestors 
• 23:30 The Research Road Map: Your Path to Success 

Saturday 2nd March

• 15:00 Trace the Story of Immigrant Ancestors in 3 Steps (Power Hour) 
• 16:30 Examining Your DNA Matches with DNA Painter 
• 18:00 Saturday General Session: Jake Shimabukuro 
• 20:30 Leading with Science at 23andMe (Sponsored by 23andMe) 
• 22:00 The Silent Language of the Stones: Reading Gravestones through Symbols and Carvings 

I have also put them on a Google Calendar