RootsTech2023 - Focus on The Family History Guide, Bronze Sponsor

Disclaimer: I am the Education Director for The Family History Guide. This is a volunteer position for a non-profit organization. I receive no compensation for my posts.

The Family History Guide is a Bronze Sponsor for RootsTech2023 along with others such as BillionGraves, BYU Pathway, FileShadow, Forever, GEDMatch, GenealogyBank, Generations, GENXT, Rootsmagic, and Vivid-Pix. You can read more about these Bronze Sponsors on the RootsTech blog.

The mission of The Family History Guide is to greatly increase the number of people actively involved in family history worldwide, making their journey easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable. 

The Family History Guide has had a spot in the RootsTech Expo Hall since 2016. I have worked that booth both in-person and virtually over the years that I have attended RootsTech. This year, the booth is located adjacent to the FamilySearch booth so it will be easy to find. For those who will be attending in person, you will be able to ask questions about The Family History Guide and our website, and discuss ways you can use The Family History Guide in your group and as a training tool.

The Family History Guide will be broadcasting live for an hour each day beginning at noon Mountain Time. Virtual viewers will be able to stop in and see what is going on. On Wednesday, you will be able to watch us setting up the booth. On Thursday and Friday, you will be able to watch the booth activities. On Saturday they will be broadcasting our cornhole activity. Tune in to see what is going on each day.

For those attending virtually, you will be able to watch the following presentations from The Family History Guide's staff:

• Mining U.S. Census Records for Family History – Miles Meyer
• Working with the 1940 U.S. Census – Miles Meyer
• Map Your Way to Genealogical Success, Part 1 – James Tanner
• Map Your Way to Genealogical Success, Part 2 – James Tanner
• Map Your Way to Genealogical Success, Part 3 – James Tanner
• Welcome to The Family History Guide – Bob Taylor
• Tools for Consultants and Trainers in The Family History Guide – Bob Taylor
• Why We Need Our Family Story Now More Than Ever - Scott & Angelle Anderson

If you are attending in person, you will be able to see several presentations from staff of The Family History Guide.

On Thursday, March 2nd they will have the following class:

• 9:30am - James Tanner: Understanding and Researching the Records of the Great Migration, 1915-1970 (Room 155B)

On Saturday, March 4th they will have the following classes:

• 8:00am - Scott & Angelle Anderson: Opening the Heavens - A Live Panel Discussion With Young Adults From Around the World (Webinar)
• 8:00am - Bob Taylor: Introduction to The Family History Guide (Room 251)
• 8:00am - Texas Connect Panel Discussion (recorded session)
• 3:00pm - Scott & Angelle Anderson: You've Got This! Ideas, Resources, and Encouragement for Those with Ward Temple and Family History Callings (Room 251)
• 4:35pm - The Family History Guide Sponsor Highlight (Virtual)

In addition to all of these presentations, there will be live and recorded classes at the booth in the Expo Hall each day. Stop by their booth to see what is scheduled for the day.

RootsTech2023 - Focus on MyHeritage, Platinum Sponsor

Disclosure: I have been a member of the MyHeritage Friends group since 2018. As such, I get advanced notice of upcoming information and early access to MyHeritage releases. I do not receive compensation from MyHeritage for any of my posts or feedback.

Click on the logo for a special deal
for new subscribers to MyHeritage
Available February 24-28, 2023

MyHeritage is one of the Platinum Sponsors for RootsTech2023 along with Ancestry and Storied. As such, you will see MyHeritage representatives around the Expo Hall and in 15 lectures during the conference. But before the conference even starts, Daniel Horowitz, an Expert Genealogist with MyHeritage, will be doing several presentations on his way from Isreal to Salt Lake. 

On February 24th, he will be giving two presentations at the Oakland Temple Visitor's Center at 4766 Lincoln Ave, Oakland, California. At 10:30am he will be presenting Genetic Genealogy and the MyHeritage DNA Test. At 12:00 he will be presenting Advanced DNA Tools to Analyze MyHeritage DNA Matches.

On February 25th, he will be speaking to the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society and the Jewish Genealogy Society of Southern Nevada at Pasco Verde Library, 280 S Green Valley Parkway in Henderson, Nevada. That presentation will be at 10:30am and is Exploring Billions of Historical Records on MyHeritage's Search Engine. 

On February 26th, he will present two talks at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Center at 509 S 9th Street in Las Vegas, Nevada. Those presentations will be Research Jewish & Isreal Genealogical Resources on the Internet at 1:30 and MyHeritage Latest Features Overview at 3:30.

On February 27th, the Utah Jewish Genealogical Society has invited Daniel to speak at the FamilySearch Library, main Floor Classroom B, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He will be presenting Why is my grandmother's record private? at 6:00pm.

That's six presentations in four days prior to even arriving at RootsTech. I know the last conference I spoke at resulted in me losing my voice for about a week after presenting three talks in three hours. I hope Daniel will still be able to speak after all that.

Then, once their team gets to RootsTech they will be very busy. 

On Thursday, March 2nd they have the following presentations scheduled:

• 8:00am - Marie Cappart: Social Networks 101 (Room 255E)
• 1:30pm - Marie Cappart: Research in Europe (Ballroom H)
• 1:30pm - Maya Lerner: Innovations & Tech Forum (Hall E)
• 3:00pm - Daniel Horowitz: In Pursuit of My Family in the Arolsen Archives (Room 155D)
• 3:00pm - Myko Clelland: Understanding British & European Cemeteries (Ballroom A)
• 4:30pm - Tal Erlichman: An Overview of Recent MyHeritage Photo Feature Releases (Ballroom A) and Virtually

On Friday, March 3rd, they have the following classes:

• 8:00am - Marie Cappart: Aspects of Adoption (Ballroom B)
• 9:30am - Gal Zrihen: The Latest Research Tools to Assist with Your DNA Matches (Hall E) and Virtually
• 1:30pm - Gilad Japhet: Address from the Founder and CEO of MyHeritage (Room 155A)
• 3:00pm - Daniel Horowitz: The Three Things that Matter in Genealogy: Location, Location, Location (Room 155E)
• 3:00pm - Myko Clelland: Tracing Migrating Ancestors: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How (Room 254)
• 4:30pm - Marie Cappart: MyHeritage's European Collections (Room 150)

On Saturday, March 4th, they have the following classes:

• 8:00am - Marie Cappart: COVID-19 and Us: How to Document, Preserve, and Share What We Experienced (Room 155E)
• 8:00am - Uri Gonen: Different Ways to Work with Your Family Trees (Ballroom A) and Virtually
• 1:30pm - Myko Clelland: Are You Related to Royalty? (Ballroom A)

Additionally, MyHeritage will have classes in their booth every 30 minutes each day. That is over 40 classes at their booth. The current schedule is listed below.

Speaking Schedule for MyHeritage at RootsTech 2023

As you can see, there are many interesting classes being presented by MyHeritage. Their presentations alone would make for a great conference. I hope to see some of you in these classes.

RootsTech 2023 - Coming Soon!

Can you believe it? We will be able to attend RootsTech in person again next week! I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone face-to-face again and be able to sit down and chat with you all between classes. I realize that some of you will be attending RootsTech virtually. According to recent registration numbers there are over 6,000 paid attendees and over 300,000 virtual attendees. And there are expected to be another 20,000 free attendees in the Expo Hall and other events, many of them will be there on Saturday for the Family Discovery Day.

There is still time to register for RootsTech if you haven't done so already. All you have to do is visit the RootsTech website and select In Person or Virtual. However, the early bird price for in person registration will be expiring soon so you better hurry.

So what can you expect this year? As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Jordin Sparks will be on the Main Stage on Thursday at 11:00. They have also announced the Friday and Saturday Main Stage speakers. On Friday, Me Ra Koh will be speaking. Me Ra Koh is a photographer and author of several books that inspire the soul spiritually and creatively. On Saturday, it will be Sean Astin. You may know Sean from his roles in movies such as Goonies and Lord of the Rings where he played Samwise Gamgee. The MC for the Main Stage events will be Kirby Heyborne. You may know him from several movies (The Singles Ward and The Best Two Years) and as host of the BYU show Making Good. I would recommend that you show up early for the Keynote Speakers since there is usually a line outside the doors waiting for them to open and the best seating is towards the front. For those of you watching virtually, the Keynote Speakers will be livestreamed so find a good chair, grab your snacks, and prepare to be entertained.

As far as classes, there are a large number from which to choose. For those attending in person, you will have over 250 classes with 16 classes each session. For those watching virtually, there are more than 300 classes with over 200 pre-recorded on demand videos, 67 webinars, and 37 live streamed classes. The virtual classes can be found on the RootsTech Calendar page where you can build your Playlist. In person classes can be found on the RootsTech Schedule page where you can create your Show Planner. You will still have access to the virtual content for the next year through RootsTech365 once RootsTech 2023 is over.

Between classes you can visit the Expo Hall. There is a virtual Expo Hall for those of you watching from home. There will be over 155 exhibitors in the physical Expo Hall. Some of those exhibitors will also have a presence in the Virtual Expo Hall along with other companies that will only be present virtually. Be sure to visit them, see their videos and classes, and ask questions. They really want to interact with people during the conference.

Have you started to use the Relatives at RootsTech app? The app looks at your family tree on FamilySearch and locates your relatives who will be attending RootsTech. I currently have 48 relatives at RootsTech. This is a good number for me, but I am sure that yours will be higher. My wife has over 9,200. You can view your relatives, see how you are related, and message them to set up a meeting while you are at RootsTech.

I hope that you find some useful bits of information in this post and I look forward to seeing you at RootsTech.