RootsTech 2022 - 5 Days To Go

There are only 5 days until the start of RootsTech 2022 on March 3rd. Have you registered? Registration is FREE and easy, just visit the RootsTech website, enter your name, how you would like to receive updates and then hit the Register button. That is all you have to do to join the world's largest genealogy conference with over 557,000 participants registered as of February 24th..  

So, what can you expect from RootsTech?

1. Most of the presentations from RootsTech 2021 will be available for you to watch.
2. Approximately 700 new presentations from 360 presenters will be available for RootsTech 2022.
3. More than 600 demos and classes will be available in the Expo Hall.
4. There will be 53 class series (2-3 related classes which build upon each other).
5. There will be 60 live sessions that you can join and participate in the discussion. A calendar of all the live events can be found at this website.
6. The Expo Hall will have nealry 100 exhibitors' booths. You can visit each one, talk with the exhibitors, and see if they have any special deals available for RootsTech participants. The Expo Hall will open at 10am Eastern on March 3rd.
7. 11 companies will participate in the Innovators Portal which will begin Friday, March 4th at noon Eastern.
8. March 3rd and 4th will be the Archives and Record Custodian (ARC) Symposium. The ARC Symposium will have 5 live speakers, 15 round table discussions, and a variety of pre-recorded sessions. Information on the ARC Symposium will be available on March 3.

That sound like a lot, but don't worry, some of the content, including the RootsTech 2021 and 2022 presentations, will remain online after the end of RootsTech. So you may want to focus your viewing on the sessiosn that will not be availabe after March 5th, such as the live discussions, Expo Hall events, ARC Symposium, and Keynote Speakers.

In my January 23rd blog post, I mentioned three of the Keynote Speakers - Diego Torres, Matthew Modine, and Apollonia Poilâne. But now we know the rest of the Keynote Speakers that will be at RootsTech and we know the schedule for their presentations.

• Thursday, March 3rd, at noon Eastern, RootsTech will be opened by Steve Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch. He will be followed by Apollonia Poilâne.
• Thursday, March 3rd, at 10pm Eastern, Maysoon Zayid and  Matthew Modine will be telling their stories.
• Friday, March 4th, at 4pm Eastern, Diego Torres and Thaís Pacholek will tell their stories.
• Saturday, March 5th, at noon Eastern, Molly Yeh and Azumah Nelson will tell their stories.

You may not be familiar will all of these names since they represent cultures from across the globe. But you can find more information about each one on the FamilySearch Blog as you click on their names.

So, how international is RootsTech? You can tell the international influence by looking at the approximately 700 presentations that will take place. These presentations include 255 about North America, 174 about Asia, 164 about Europe and Latin America, 33 about the Pacific, 27 about Eastern Europe, 17 about Africa, and 9 about the Middle East. Classes will be available in 30 languages and will have live translations through YouTube so you can watch presentations from speakers across the globe. RootsTech will also be broadcast on television in Africa (5 channels) and the Philippines (2 channels) for those who may not have reliable internet access.

How many cousins do you have around the world? RootsTech participants can see if they are related to any of the others registered for the conference. The new Relatives at RootsTech application lets you see who they are, where they are from, how you are related, and you can also leave them a message. Check to see how many people you are related to. Currently, I have 80 cousins on the list but I always have low numbers compared to everyone else.

And the RootsTech Store is open so you can get all of your RootsTech swag. Everyone needs a RootsTech t-shirt, or how about a mug.

There are so many things that you can do at RootsTech but you will need to know how to navigate the RootsTech website. Lucky for you RootsTech has a blog post to help you find your way through the website and help you select the classes and presentations that you are looking for.

Don't miss out on RootsTech this year. Take the opportunity to attend classes, meet thevendors, discover new cousins, and network with the speakers and other attendees. It will be an incredible event.