2020 RootsTech Day 1 Recap
I had all good intentions of getting to an 8am Power Hour session, but my East Coast body said, “Nope.” So I grabbed a few minutes more of much needed sleep while my body was still adjusting to Mountain Time. This is my first year at the Radisson and I love that they give free breakfast to RootsTech attendees. Having a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, coffee and fruit, got me ready for the day.
Sessions
I began with my friend, Amberly Beck’s session called, “After the Scan: Online Preservation Your Family Can Find.” I needed this session so much. I turned my daughter, Sara’s, room into my scanning room after she moved out. I moved everything that needed to be scanned into the room. And then I was totally overwhelmed. Amberly gave some great tips on how to take thing is bite-size pieces and just focus on one box, one book.
I goofed off a bit to take some photos of the What’s Your Story board, and then got some sunshine and took a few photos of the Salt Palace until lunchtime.
After lunch I attended Lisa Lisson’s “Put a Face To a Name- Finding Old Family Photos.” Can you see a pattern here? My focus lately is definitely organization and preservation. What I loved about Lisa’s class were her ideas of thinking out-side the box in where to find family photos. And I also learned something big! I did not realize that when you Google images, it will not include photos on Flickr. You need to search Flickr independently. I never knew that.
I ended the session day with Crista Cowen’s “Ancestry Tips & Tricks.” No matter how much I use Ancestry, I always feel like I have more to learn as far as search methods.
Keynote Welcome
To wrap up the day, the welcoming keynote from Family Search CEO, Steve Rockwood, took place on the Main Stage. Steve talked about the theme, The Story of You and reminded us that our stories matter and we should be sharing them however we can. We were treated to a look back at the last 10 years of RootsTech, and a really wonderful surprise ending with confetti, pyrotechnics and a stage filled with children as a symbol of the legacy that will carry on our family stories.
The night ended with a boisterous and jam-packed Virtual Genealogical Association meet-up at the restaurant, Gracie’s. It was nice to connect with some many virtual friends…in person! Thanks to Sam Williams for permission to use this photo.
DISCLAIMER: I am a RootsTech 2020 conference Ambassador. One of my responsibilities as an Ambassador is to promote the RootsTech 2020 conference before, during and after. In return for promotion, I receive a free pass to the RootsTech 2020 conference. My airfare, accommodations and other expenses are not compensated.