Saturday, February 21, 2015

Sharing My Thoughts About FGS/RootsTech 2015 in Salt Lake City, February 10-15, 2015



Attending Roots Tech for the second time this year was a treat. It was special because the Federation of Genealogical Societies, FGS, partnered with Roots Tech to make their partnership and collaboration very magical for all of us.


I registered with FGS and paid a smaller amount of money for Roots Tech as an add-on to take advantage of both sides of the conference.


There were general opening sessions each of the four mornings with D. Joshua Taylor, Mary Tedesco, Kenyatta D. Berry, Laura D. Bush and daughter Jenna Hager, Donny Osmond, A. J. Jacobs, founder of the Global Family Reunion on June 6, 2015, and others.


I attended all of the presentations I could fit into My Schedule using the mobile app furnished by the conference choosing from FGS, Roots Tech, and six Lab courses. Each of the speakers hooked their audiences with wonderful and useful information, and shared handouts and links to other resources on the web from their downloadable or printed syllabi.


I appreciate purchasing the FGS Syllabus book so that I can peruse all of the class offerings during and after the conference. There were 47 FGS speakers who made 100+ FGS presentations to the interested attendees. There were 200 FGS and Roots Tech speakers who made 150+ presentations to the interested attendees. I noticed that many FGS members presented technology type programs and so were included in the Roots Tech booklet for registered members.


It was great to register on the Tuesday before the conference began. I had pre-registered online back in September, 2014, and was able to add a lab class and a luncheon in January, 2015. That way I “beat the crowds” in the registration lines for Wednesday that was Society Day, and Thursday, the first day of both sides of the conference. Last year I attended the Innovators Summit, but decided to forgo that opportunity this year.


I enjoyed a great first day, and will share the presentations I attended on Society Day in my next entry.