Friday, March 25, 2022

RootsTech Follow-Up - What's in it for Family History Consultants?

RootsTech ended about 3 weeks ago but the presentations are still available for you to watch. They had well over a million people join them for the inspiring and educational talks. 

When I set up my playlist of presentations I usually focus on three topics; New Technology/Innovations, German Research, and Information for Family History Consultants. As the leader of our local German Genealogy Interest Group, I provided a recap of the German Research presentations to my group a week after RootsTech.

I also provided a follow-up of my favorite talks to our Stake and Ward Family History leaders. I haven't had a chance to look over all of these yet but they are on my list to view sometime over the next several months. When I sent out the list, I suggested that the recipients please pass this information along to any Temple and Family History Leadership (including consultants, Elders Quorum, Relief Society, Youth Leaders, Stake Leaders, and Bishoprics) that I may not have included on my email list.

So what were the presentations that I sent to them?

Of course the first was going to be the Temple and Family History Leadership Session: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/temple-and-family-history/leadership-instruction?lang=eng

Then I focused on the presentations that will help them share their experiences, find people to help, and overcome the hurdles we often experience when talking to people about family history.

Sharing Your Faith Using Family History: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/sharing-your-faith-using-family-history

How to bring the Power and Blessings of Temple Covenants into our Stakes, Wards, and Homes: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/how-to-bring-the-power-and-blessings-of-temple-covenants-into-our-stakes-wards-and-homes

Finding People to Help: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/finding-people-to-help

Overcoming Common Objections: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/overcoming-common-objections

Strengthening Love of the Gospel through Family History: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/strengthening-love-of-the-gospel-through-family-history

I often see questions about how to encourage the Elders Quorum and Relief Society to take a more active role in family history. So I provided links to the following talks to help encourage more involvement.

Improving Elders Quorum and Relief Society Meetings with Temple and Family History: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/improving-elders-quorum-and-relief-society-meetings-with-temple-and-family-history

Bringing the Power of Temple Covenants to Elders Quorum and Relief Society: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/bringing-the-power-of-temple-covenants-to-elders-quorum-and-relief-society

The next topic that I often see questions about is how we assess involvement and how do we use the Ward Temple and Family History Plan more effectively.

Finding and Using the Family History Activity Report: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/finding-and-using-the-family-history-activity-report

Unlock the Mystery of the Ward Temple and Family History Coordination Meeting: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/unlock-the-mystery-of-the-ward-temple-and-family-history-coordination-meeting

The Ward Temple and Family History Plan: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/the-ward-temple-and-family-history-plan

We often have people newly called to family history and some who have been around for a while who aren't sure of their responsibilities. The following presentations should help them get started.

"My Calling" Pages on churchofjesuschrist.org: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/my-calling-pages-on-churchofjesuschrist-org

The Ward Temple and Family History Leader-Important Principles: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/the-ward-temple-and-family-history-leader-important-principles

And then there is the question of how to involve the youth in family history. This is something that I need to work more on. We had youth consultants prior to COVID but since then, some have left and others have just stopped doing their family history work. So we need a restart.

Ward Youth Consultants Share Super Successful Family History Activities: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/youth-consultants-share-super-successful-temple-and-family-history-activities

Youth Serving as Temple and Family History Consultants: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/youth-serving-as-temple-and-family-history-consultants

Guidance When Calling Youth Temple and Family History Consultants: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/guidance-when-calling-youth-temple-and-family-history-consultants

Mission: Possible - Engaging Youth in Family History: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/mission-possible-engaging-youth-in-family-history

Family History for Youth: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/family-history-for-youth

And lastly, many members don't know how to use FamilySearch or incorporate family history into their lives. If we can show them how family history isn't really another thing they have to do but something they can enjoy with their families, we should be able to get them more actively involved. I believe the following presentations will help to do that.

Using Your Phone, Submit Ancestors Names to the Temple, Then Discover More About Them: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/using-your-phone-submit-ancestors-names-to-the-temple-then-discover-more-about-them

What's New on FamilySearch for Members: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/whats-new-on-familysearch-for-members

What's Coming on FamilySearch for Members: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/whats-coming-on-familysearch-for-members

Weekly Family History Activities - A Come, Follow Me Companion: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/the-come-follow-me-companion-correlated-family-history-activities-for-each-week

Helper Resources on FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/helper-resources-on-familysearch

Elder and Sister Soares Keynote: Family Discovery Day: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/special-session/elder-and-sister-soares-keynote-family-discovery-day

I know that this seems like a lot of presentations but if you space them out over the year you will learn so much more from the experience of others and have a more successful family history program.


Thursday, March 3, 2022

RootsTech 2022 - Day 1 - What Did I Learn?


RootsTech is an incredible family history conference. More than 1 million people have registered for RootsTech, are you related to any of them? Check out the Relatives at RootsTech page to see how many you are related to. I currently have 132 relatives at RootsTech. That is a small number compared to most people but it is significant to me. There are so many things to learn while attending the various venues.

FamilySearch has a short 6-minute video to introduce you to the new Get Involved! initiative. This video talks about their use of handwriting technology to increase the number of records that are being made searchable. They have been focusing on the Spanish language baptisms with this handwriting technology. For Indexers, this allows them to review the information instead of having to type it in. Computers can process a million records each day so there is a need to increase our capacity to review those records. In order to address this need, FamilySearch developed the Get Involved app which is available in the Google App Store. You can currently use this app to review English and Spanish language records. But, in April, you will be able to work on the 1950 US Census with the app! You can watch the video introducing the 1950 US Census project and how the Get Involved app will be used at the FamilySearch booth in the Expo Hall. You can also learn more about how you can get involved by clicking on the Get Involved tab at FamilySearch.org. The site is active and you can start testing this technology by getting involved with US probate records project and then switch over to the 1950 US Census once it is ready.

1950 US Census Project

Last year MyHeritage announced Deep Nostalgia during their RootsTech presentation. Deep Nostalgia added animation to your photographs. The application went viral overnight and people from across the globe were adding animated ancestors to their social media feeds. This year they announced Live Story which creates an animated video narrative of your ancestor telling their own story. Live Stories can be created automatically from the data linked to your ancestor and their family. You can select from various voices and edit the story as you like. MyHeritage also announced the Date Estimator for historic photos which will be live soon. The Date Estimator uses artificial intelligence to estimate the date of the photo based on various characteristics in the photo. Another new announcement is the Relationship Diagram and the Family Tree Timeline which help you visualize your family tree and find errors more easily. Additionally, MyHeritage added 4 billion new records to their collection in 2021. You can learn more about these announcements on their Main Stage Keynote presentation.

MyHeritage's Live Story


Family Tree Timeline

These are just a few of the things that were announced at RootsTech today. I will continue to add more information to my blog throughout the RootsTech conference.

RootsTech 2022 - Day 1 - Pace Yourself

RootsTech is finally here. Some may have noticed that it actually started last night for those in the US. That was done so that others around the world would be able to start viewing sessions on March 3rd their time. Actually, there are several start times for RootsTech that people may not realize. The first was the soft release at 10:00pm EST March 2nd for pre-recorded sessions. The second was the Archives and Records Custodians Symposium which started at 8:00am EST this morning. At 10:00am EST the Expo Hall has their preview. The first General Session officially opening RootsTech 2022 is at 12:00pm EST.

There are so many things to do at RootsTech that you need to find a way to pace yourself. One thing to remember is that the pre-recorded sessions will be available after RootsTech is over. You can still view many of the sessions from 2021. What is the benefit of watching these sessions during RootsTech? One major benefit is that you can chat with the speaker during RootsTech. The chat will remain for a period of time after March 5th but you probably will not be able to chat with them several months from now. However, many of the speakers have provided their contact information in their presentation or handout and you can contact them that way if you have questions.

Many of the live sessions will also be recorded and available afterwards. You can tell if it is being recorded by reading the session description. Look at their schedule and see which ones fit into your time. If it is inconvenient for you to watch live you can come back and watch it later but you will miss the live real time interaction and questions.

All of the Keynote speakers were previously recorded and will be available on demand. But you may want to watch them live to experience the excitement of RootsTech.

There are some important pages at RootsTech that you should keep track of:

My major piece of advice is to take your time, watch what you are interested in, chat with presenters and other attendees, and remember to have fun.

I will be adding posts about what I am doing and what I have learned during RootsTech so keep an eye on this spot for more to come.