RootsTech

What is RootsTech you ask? 

A gathering of individuals passionate about family history in all its aspects, and technology to facilitate the gathering, and preserving of records. There were classes and workshops to satisfy most any interest or need. The sponsors were many of THE names in Genealogy, such as Ancestry.com. This years conference attracted ~ 6700 registered attendees with booths from hundreds of sponsors and venders. Everything was bigger this year than last, with about a 50% increase in attendance. This is the third year and there were exciting announcements concerning access for those who could not attend. Some of the sessions were streamed live and that concept will be expanded at future gatherings. The logistics of offering classes without knowing who would attend, did not always work out. There were classes that were too popular for the venue assigned to the class. The presenters used the latest equipment to make their presentations interesting and informative. Many of the presenters are well known in the field and their classes were well attended.

 I particularly enjoyed a main stage work by Ron Tanner from FamilySearch. They have just released Family Tree to the general public to use, and he was explaining how to best use it. There are still improvements that will be added that are in the works, but it is much better that what it is replacing. With the tree, you can get a pedigree of your family, as part of the World Tree. It is designed to be a pedigree of the entire human race. You can add people to the tree, add relationships, pictures and documents and make corrections in the data. We are encouraged to work together as families to make the record as correct as possible and to document everything we can.

If you have not checked it out, I would encourage it. Bear in mind that it is a work in process, and is still being tweaked. There is a place to report problems: use it if you find something wrong.

Happy Hunting!