RootsTech 2018 - Synopsis

As I promised in my previous post, here is a highlight of the social life at RootsTech. By the way, it took me a couple days to recover from the exhaustion and jet lag. It is an exhausting week.

Many people attend RootsTech to catch up with old and new friends. Those friends may be personal friends from around the country or world, or they may be virtual friends from our social networks. This picture includes a personal friend, relatives she has found while researching, and a Facebook friend. We all managed to meet up at RootsTech.

RootsTech had an app which identified your relatives attending the conference. Many people discovered new relatives while they were at the conference. I, on the other hand, had no relatives attending.






Beyond finding friends, many attendees love the entertainment that is offered. These pictures are of the BYU Ballroom Dancers performing a tribute to "The Greatest Generation". The BYU Jazz Band performed the music. The audience of several thousand enjoyed the big band music and some even were dancing in the aisles.

Other entertainment included Natalia Lafourcade talking about her heritage and singing on stage, and talks by Scott Hamilton and Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

MyHeritage sponsored an After RootsTech Party featuring a jazz band, lots of dancing, food and fun. We all appreciate the work MyHeritage puts into their events. It gives us an opportunity to wind down and network with our fellow researchers.

Many of the sponsoring groups have lunches during the week. The picture to the right was MyHeritage's Friends Breakfast the morning after their After Party. Many of us were very tired but it was a great breakfast and we got to talk to other researchers about our ideas.

And finally, the closing ceremony. We were at the Conference Center where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed with several Hispanic dance and music groups to celebrate the cultural heritage of our neighboring countries to the south.

By the way, what does it take to put on such a large conference? See the info graphic to the right for a general ides.

All-in-all RootsTech is not only a great place to learn research techniques but is also a social experience beyond compare. The days can be long, but the rewards are great. If you have never been to RootsTech I recommend that you add it to your bucket list.