RootsTech-Story@Home Contest

Want some help in learning to tell your family stories? Have you been wanting to preserve the oral histories and family memorabilia sitting around your home? Want to know how to publish those stories and traditions?

Here's your chance -- and a great one at that! A new addition to RootsTech this year is Story@Home who will be offering class sessions with award-winning storytellers, performers, and speakers to help us all explore ways to use the power of story to connect with our families.

Our friends at Story@Home are running an Instagram Photo Contest with a chance to win a $79 value registration to attend the Story@Home plus the Getting Started sessions at RootsTech, March 21-23, 2013, in Salt Lake City, Utah!

The contest will run from February 20th to 24th. To participate, snap a picture you think tells a story. Examples include family, friends, places, events, mementos-anything that has meaning for you. Upload the photo to Instagram and share what the photo tells. Include the hashtags #tellyourstory and #storyathome.

The winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced on the Story@Home Facebook page Monday, February 25th. "Like" Story@Home on Facebook to find out if you've won at Story@Home on Facebook.

Be sure to spread the word and let your friends and family know! See you at RootsTech!

RootsTech Early Registration Extended One Week

SALT LAKE CITY—The $149 early bird registration for the RootsTech 2013 Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been extended until Friday, February 22, 2013. RootsTech, a family history and technology conference, is designed to help attendees discover the latest family history tools and techniques, whether they are an avid genealogist, just getting started, or looking for new solutions to better connect with their family. For more information, go to RootsTech.org.

The registration fee includes three full days of conference attendance with over 250 classes, conference materials, and an exciting exhibitor hall with hands-on labs and demonstrations from 100+ product and service providers. Attendees can also register to attend evening events, such as the opening social hosted by FindMyPast, a mini-concert performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and extended hours at the Family History Library.

The 3^rd annual RootsTech conference has something for everyone. New this year is a Getting Started track designed to help those new to family history learn the basics, start their family tree, and get help with family research. A new Story@Home selection of classes helps attendees discover the art of storytelling and provides new ways to preserve and share their family stories.  And a new, consolidated Developer Day provides a collaborative environment for family history technology developers to impact future technology innovations in the family history industry.

About RootsTech

RootsTech is a unique conference focused on helping individuals learn and use the latest technology to get started or accelerate their efforts to find, organize, preserve and share their family's connections and history. The first annual conference was held in 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by leading genealogical organizations, the conference includes hands-on demonstrations and forums to provide a highly interactive environment and accelerate learning. Content is geared to young and old, beginner to advanced levels.

And the Rootstech Registration Winner Is...

Jackie Bogedahl! Congrats! You win a full-three day registration to RootsTech!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the contest to win the registration to the RootsTech Genealogy Conference being held March 21-23 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I had so many more people participate this year which is exciting to see! Interest is growing and hopefully those of you who didn't win this year will still go ahead and register for the conference -- you won't be sorry! There is still a couple of days left to register at the discounted price. Take advantage before the rates go up.

There are so many options to attend this year -- from as little as $19 for a one-day pass to "Getting Started" classes to the full access three-day package. Jackie will have access to over 250 classes and everything else RootsTech has to offer with her 3-day registration. Register and you can join in the fun! To check out the packages and to register, click here.

Entrants to the contest were asked to tell me which "Getting Started" classes they would most be interested in. I got a variety of answers which covered most of the Getting Started classes.. The ones stirring up the most interest are the class from Don Snow about Organizing and Presenting Your Photos: Picassa and other Freeware, and 50 Google Searches Every Genealogist Needs to Know by Barry Ewell.

If you are a genealogy enthusiast of ANY LEVEL you will find something to suit your interests!

Besides the Getting Started classes this year, RootsTech is introducing an exciting new schedule from Story@Home. You can take a Journey of Self Discovery; learn about Photo Editing, Curating and Preserving Your Family History Memorabilia; all the way to creating your story and publishing your family history.

Learn to Evaluate Databases and Overcome Errors or learn Different Paradigms for Overcoming Lost Records Using Technology by attending classes from the Main Schedule.

Come join in the fun this year! We'll see you there!

Riverton FH Library Free Seminar

The Riverton FamilySearch Library Hosts Free Seminar on

February 16th from 9:00 A.M. to Noon

Focusing on the Baby Steps to Genealogical Maturity

RIVERTON, UTAH¾As a budding genealogist, have you ever wondered what sources are best to use? Where are they found? How do I cite published sources, online sources, and manuscripts? Come learn baby steps to take as you grow and mature in your use of sources and citations and your ability to make your genealogy verifiably correct. Popular speaker Robert Raymond will help you navigate your way in his keynote presentation, “Baby Steps to Genealogical Maturity.”

Robert Raymond is a deputy to FamilySearch Chief Genealogical Officer, David Rencher, and is a director of the National Genealogical Society. Robert works to increase genealogical soundness of FamilySearch products.  He also helps set the record collection acquisition and publication strategy.  He is a popular speaker and the shadow writer of a top ten genealogical blog. Robert is a genealogy technologist with more than 40 years experience in genealogy and 30 years in technology. He holds over a dozen technology patents and has earned a Master’s degree in Electrical (Computer) Engineering from BYU, where he was honored as a Kimball Scholar.

Following the keynote presentation from 9:00–10:00 a.m., there will be two blocks of four classes each that will cover topics of interest to beginning, intermediate, and advanced family history enthusiasts.

Classes to be held from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. are:

·         “German Life Events and Their Records"¾Tamra Stansfield

·         “Assembling Complex Evidence”¾Warren Bittner

·         “Researching Your Scottish Ancestors”¾Raymon Naisbitt

·         “Your Ancestors in the Newspapers? Read All About It”¾Ron Ray

  

The classes available from 11:00 a.m. to noon are:

·         “Using Online Storage in Family History”¾Tom Stubben

·         “Preserving Evidence”¾Warren Bittner

·         “Quakers and Their Records”¾Lisa Arnold

·         “Research, Collaborate, and Learn On-The-Go Using Mobile Devices”¾Sue Maxwell

Registration is not required for this free seminar. The Riverton FamilySearch Library is located in the LDS Riverton Office Building at 3740 Market Center Drive. The facility is near the intersection of Bangerter Highway and 13400 South, just east of The Home Depot.

Win a RootsTech Registration!

Here comes RootsTech! And do I have a deal for you!
   I want someone to attend RootsTech next month for FREE!

RootsTech is for EVERYONE! Many of you have taken the leap in the past and enjoyed the experience. This year will provide more speakers, more classes, a 40% bigger Expo Hall where you can visit with all the vendors, and a new Getting Started Track! So there really is something for everyone.

I want to give one of you an opportunity to attend the conference for FREE. All you have to do is go to RootsTech.org, find the Getting Started Schedule, and send me (1) the name of the class and (2) the person teaching the class that you are most interested in, (3) as well as your name. Send the info to me and I will randomly draw the name of the winning person. 

See that CONTACT ME button over on the right column ---------)-  Just click on it and send me your info. I am going to make this a very quick contest so get your entry in quickly. I will draw the winning email on Tuesday, February 12th. 

If you have attended RootsTech in the past or you just cannot attend this year, forward this on to your friends and family. Give someone else the opportunity to attend.
Hope to see you all there!! March 21-23!

RootsTech - Never Attended? Give it a Try!

   "Are you going to RootsTech this year?"
           "No, I don't know enough about genealogy to attend a conference."                      "Well, that's exactly why you should attend!"

RootsTech is almost here and this is the perfect week to register before the early-bird pricing goes away on the 15th of February. That's only one week to take advantage of this great value. 

RootsTech is coming up fast and will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 21-23, 2013. With several thousand attendees each of the first two years, the 2013 conference is shaping up to be the biggest and best yet! 

RootsTech, hosted by FamilySearch, offers an opportunity unlike any other to discover the latest family history tools and techniques, connect with experts to help  you in your research, and be inspired in the pursuit of your ancestors.  You will learn to use the  latest technology to get started or accelerate your efforts to find, organize, preserve, and share your family's connections and history. 

New in 2013! A full track of Getting Started classes and labs will help those new to family history learn where to start, how to build their family tree, and how to use technology to explore their connections.Now there really is something for everyone:

• Learn the basics of starting your family history

• Discover 10 activities you can do to get started

• Get hands-on experience with family history tools

• Recording and preserving family stories

• Use your smartphone or other devices for family history

• Using Google search to help find your ancestors

Additional classes will be offered for LDS Church members where they can learn the importance of family history, the basics to build their family tree and all the great resources to begin.
RootsTech provides an opportunity unlike any other! The conference offers you the perfect environment for learning the basics with access to world-class classes and content, presented by experts who incorporate all the latest technology and research tools in the industry.

• Register NOW and Save $70 with Early-bird Pricing!
  Registration Options

  Full 3-Day Pass Access to everything RootsTech has to offer (250+ classes).	$219 $149 (Early-bird Pricing)
  One-day Pass Full admission for just one day.	$89
  Student 3-Day Pass Student ID required.	$39
  NEW! Getting Started 3-Day Pass Beginner track with access to over 30 classes.	$49 $39 (Early-bird Pricing)
  Getting Started One-Day Pass A selection of fundamental classes to help get you started.	$19
  Developer Day Pass (March 22) A full-day technology program just for developers.	$89

  Learn more and register at  www.rootstech.org.
  RootsTech has something for everyone, whether you are an avid genealogist, just getting started, or simply want to discover the latest technologies and solutions to better connect with your family. At RootsTech, come prepared to experience world-class content from speakers all over the country, an exciting exhibitor hall, and great keynote speakers.
  
  
  Remember -- the early-bird pricing goes away very soon!
  And don't forget -- if you are a Family History Consultant you qualify for a special deal. Contact me if you have questions.