The Turning of Generations

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

RootsTech 2018 – Day Zero

Tuesday, February 27^th, the day before RootsTech. The RootsTech folks send out a notice to “avoid the lines” and pick up registration materials early at noon. They gave away a prize to the first 4,000 people. This was part of the result:

It was a zoo! But an organized one. Everyone I spoke with said the lines went quickly. So kudos to the organizers and many volunteers.

At the media dinner we got some great insights I’d like to share with you. And some trivia.

· On Sunday, the new season on Relative Race begins. I’ve never seen it but it sounds sort of like Amazing Race with a different theme. A member of each Relative Race team took a DNA test and has a question about family they are hoping to answer. The show is based on clues each team must follow to find their family. The Amazing Race team even brought their Amazing Race cars.

· The season premier is Sunday on the BYU channel. Also you can go to byu.org or relativerace.com.

Trivia:

· As of Tuesday, 14,200 ticket sold. And counting.

· People from every state and 42 countries are attending.

· There are 380 computers at RootsTech.

· Over 8,000 feet of cable.

· Over 300 classes.

My personal highlight:

We were encouraged to try the FamilySearch Family Tree app’s new feature called, Find Relatives at RootsTech. One of my genealogy buddies is my cousin! When we looked at our family trees, we saw it was a line we have researched. So we are pretty sure it’s a legitimate (correct) cousin relationship. So glad to have a new cousin!

#RootsTech

Disclaimer: I (Michelle Goodrum) am a RootsTech 2018 Ambassador and received complimentary registration to RootsTech along with other perks. All opinions are my own.

URL for this post: https://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2018/02/rootstech-2018-day-zero.html
© 2018, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

RootsTech 2018 is Here! A Few Last Minute Tips

It's the day before RootsTech. If you are attending either in-person or remotely, there are a few things you should check off your to-do list if you haven't already.

Download the RootsTech app. Then read, "7 Ways the Mobile App Will Enhance Your RootsTech Experience."
Download or view the handouts for the sessions you're attending. See my instructions for this at the end of this post.
Read "A Survival Guide to RootsTech 2018." It's short and has the critical things you need to know.
Drink lots of water. Seriously. It's dry here in Salt Lake City. Really dry. I'm from the Arizona desert and I think it's dry. In past years they've had water stations throughout the Salt Palace. Use them. You'll be glad you did. If you're attending remotely, drink water anyway. It's good for you.
Stay tuned in. I'll be posting throughout the conference.
Have fun!

How to download session handouts:

When you first open the session on the RootsTech app. This is what you will see. Scroll all the way to the bottom.

Tap on "Handout." Then tap on the session name. You will be presented with options to download the handout, email it, or take notes on the handout.

While we are at it. Be sure and rate the session. See the image below. Speakers are not paid and they put a ton of time and effort into their presentations. If you like the talk, give them the highest score. RootsTech gives speakers a "bonus" if enough attendees score them highly.

Disclaimer: I (Michelle Goodrum) am a RootsTech 2018 Ambassador and received complimentary registration to RootsTech along with other perks.

#RootsTech #RootsTech2018

URL for this post: https://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2018/02/rootstech-2018-is-here-few-last-minute.html

© 2018, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Twenty-Six Days to RootsTech 2018

...not that I'm counting or anything!

If you haven't registered for RootsTech 2018, there's still time.

The app is out. It can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store for free.

I'll be scouring the schedule in the next week to see which sessions I want to attend and which vendors I'm interested in. Stay tuned for some thoughts here in the days to come. For now, just know that I'm looking forward to all of the keynotes. Especially, Henry Louis Gates, Jr and Scott Hamilton.

If you are a blogger, or even if you're not, hop on over to GeneaBloggers Tribe and read Laura Wilkinson Hedgecock and Elizabeth Swanay O'Neal's post titled, "Bloggers Guide to #RootsTech."

Disclaimer: I (Michelle Goodrum) am a RootsTech 2018 Ambassador and received complimentary registration to RootsTech along with other perks.

URL for this post: https://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2018/02/twenty-six-days-to-rootstech-2018.html
© 2018, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

SLIG 2018 - It's Hump Day!

Monday morning about 40 students gathered at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy for the GPS and DNA course. That's short for A Practical Approach: Establishing Genealogical Proof with DNA. We were bright-eyed and anxious to learn.

We've listened to lectures. We've worked at getting Genomate Pro set up. We've all had challenges with the install and import of our data. But we're getting there! It's like climbing a mountain and hopefully, we're at the summit or pretty darn near. Because today is Wednesday, hump day, and some of us are starting to run out of steam from climbing the mountain.

We had some great lectures today and some good laughs. Michael Locopo educated and entertained us with his Hoosier Daddy case study. Then he gave an excellent presentation on the methodologies we should be using as we work our way through DNA cases. Paul Woodbury energized us after lunch with balloons to explain endogamy. Then he entertained us with a song from Into the Woods about endogamy. Paul can sing! For real!

This is how I am feeling tonight. I'm looking forward to a good night sleep!

#SLIGexperience

URL for this post: https://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2018/01/slig-2018-its-hump-day.html
© 2018, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Sunday, January 21, 2018

SLIG - Tech Day

This year SLIG held its first Technology Day on Saturday, January 21st. From my perspective and from comments made by other attendees, it was a resounding success.

I attended two sessions. Here's something I learned in each session:

Spreadsheet Tips and Tricks, by Kimberly Powell
When we get a spreadsheet (such as search results we've exported from FamilySearch) the names often are in one cell. This makes it impossible to sort by surname. We need to have first, middle and last names in separate cells. Excel's "Text to columns" feature takes care of this issue. On a Mac its under the Data tab.

Using Google's "My Maps" as a Research and Analysis Tool, by Cari Taplin
I love this tool but wasn't using it effectively at all. This hands-on workshop resolved that! My favorite takeaway was literally something I could take home and share with family members. Did you know you can add photos to the places you pin on the maps you make? I sure didn't. We took a trip last summer to visit ancestral homes, cemeteries and other sites. I added the pictures I took, along with background and descriptive information. Now I have something to share with a couple of family members who are interested in where we went and what we found.

Classes start in the morning. I'm in A Practical Approach: Establishing Genealogical Proof with DNA. It's going to be intense. That equals exhausting. But I am excited. Stay tuned!

#SLIGExperience

URL for this post: https://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2018/01/slig-tech-day.html

© 2018, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Friday, December 22, 2017

Creating Shareable URL's for Family History Photos + Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is Keynote Speaker at RootsTech 2018

Do you have pictures you want to share with others? You can create a shareable link to your picture using Google Drive. The Genealogy Reporter, Amie Bowser Tennant, created a short how-to YouTube video. You can view it at, "Creating a Shareable URL for Your Family History Photos," at her blog, The Genealogy Reporter. You might want to share your photo with family and friends in this manner or enter it in the RootsTech Photo+Story Competition.

RootsTech is giving out some great prizes. So check it out, if you are so inclined. The rules are here. The deadline to enter is December 29th. In any case, creating a shareable URL is an easy way to share your photos.

Amie is a speaker for RootsTech so you might want to check out her talks on the RootsTech schedule.

I'm also giving a fun talk titled, Google Photos: Collect, Organize, Preserve and Share on Thursday, March 1st at 1:30 (session RT9886).

If you have the Getting Started pass you can also hear that talk (with a slightly different title: Collect, Organize, Preserve and Share with Google Photos) on Friday at 3:00 (session GS9886).

If you haven't registered for RootsTech 2018, being held February 28 - March 3, 2018, in Salt Lake City, there's still time. Hop on over to the RootsTech website to register.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, March 3rd. I am especially excited to hear Dr. Gates as I'm a huge fan of his PBS show, Finding Your Roots.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

And the Winner of the RootsTech 2018 pass is...

Angela Rodesky!

The three sessions Angela is interested in are:

· "You're on Social Media. Now What?" (Amy Johnson Crow)

· "Using MyHeritage to Drive Genealogical Discovery" (Michael Mansfield)

· "Get 'Twitterpated' with Twitter for Genealogy" (Amie Browser Tennant)

Great choices, Angela! The MyHeritage talk looks pretty interesting. I might just have to go to that one too.

There's still plenty of time to register if you are planning to attend RootsTech 2018. And plenty of Ambassadors are still giving away free passes on their blogs too! You can find a list at ConferenceKeeper.org.

Congratulations Angela! I will be in touch soon with registration details.