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.