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 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.

RootsTech London 2019 Announcement

The first keynote speaker has been announced today and you can register to attend here.

Will you be there to listen to his story. He was one of the keynote speakers at RootsTech 2015 the first conference I managed to attend and was a hit with the audience. 

You may need to be prepared to join in with a song or two.

You may already be aware of his Welsh roots as he was on the first BBC Wales TV programme Coming Home in 2007.

Last month I had a chance to meet up with many of my fellow Guild of One Name Studies members who will be ambassadors for RootsTech London and here is a photograph of us at the Guild 40th anniversary conference in Leicester.

This is only a fraction of the members of the Guild who will be involved with this event as many of the members will be involved in giving presentations at the event.

Stay tuned for more posts.

I look forward to meeting you there.

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 London Exclusive Pricing

Are You Coming?

This October RootsTech is coming to London and registration is now open with exclusive pricing during RootsTech in Salt Lake City.

If you want find out more and take advantage of this take a look here

RootsTech 2019 News

With RootsTech coming to London in October 2019 preparations are well underway. Last week the call went out for those who may be planning to attend. If you think you could be a Presenter or would like to be an Ambassador here is your chance Sign up to be a Presenter or Ambassador here.

If you read my previous post regarding RootsTech 2019 you will know that I am an Ambassador and have a free pass for one lucky person.

If you are planning to attend RootsTech 2019 in Salt Lake City and would like the opportunity to win a free registration only (you pay for your own accommodation and transport ). Then follow this link, to answer a couple of short questions about why you would like to attend and whether this would be your first RootsTech conference, leave your name and contact email. (as last year all information will be deleted after the winner has been drawn other than that required to maintain contact with the winner) If you are a winner, but not a blogger, I will be happy to publish your feedback from the event, particularly if it was the first time you were able to attend. 
Good Luck everyone.
I will be closing the entries on Monday 19th November 2018 at 12:00 GMT/UTC.
Winner will be announced later that same day.