RootsTech Adventures: Day 4

The last day of RootsTech was amazing! Instead of posting about it I have made a video. It contains pictures from all throughout the conference. I also have videos of interviewing Sheri Dew, Wendy Nelson, and Mike Leavitt. Hopefully sometime before next year I can post them. 

RootsTech Adventures: Day 2 and 3

Guess what happens when you write a post and then forget to post it? You combine it with the next.

My second day of RootsTech was amazing. Starting off bright and early at 7:30 AM for an expo hall tour.

Soon after we were escorted to our seats for the keynote. The keynote addresses for today were awesome. Steve Rockwood, the CEO of FamilySearch was the first speaker. His main focus was on using memories and stories to help others “convert” to family history. He said: “This is where I’m convinced non-enthusiasts will engage.”

Stan Ellsworth the host of BYUTV’s American ride announced Paula Madison the second keynote speaker, as well as talking to us for a few minutes. Paula’s keynote address was amazing as was her story about finding her family. I would highly recommend her book. She went all over the world to be with her family. Her family got separated all over the world, and so when they finally got together, they were Chinese and African-American. But I love how she says: “Family is family and race doesn’t matter.”

Bruce Feiler closed the session for us. He taught us the importance of knowing where you come from. Studies have proven that children who know who their ancestors are, and where they came from, are able to get through challenges in life. He also taught us three important principles that help families to be stronger:

1-   Write a family mission statement

2-   Storytelling games in family

3-   Tell your family history

His keynote was one of my favorites, after the keynotes ended I had an interview with the LDS youth Instagram, and the Mormon channel. It was really neat to be able to share my experiences.

Finally I was able to attend classes. There were so many cool classes I went to today. I think my favorite was: Helping others take the next step. There are so many new, neat ways to help people!

I had a great time at RootsTech today! I can’t wait until tomorrow!

Day 3:
Today was amazing, but unfortunately I got stuck in traffic and I was late for the keynote session. So I really can't say much about it. But I've heard it's amazing! I did get to hear part of Josh and Naomi's and I really loved it. David Isay also spoke. Their focuses were all about documenting your story. After the keynote, I went backstage with the other ambassadors and media for pictures with the speakers.

My first class started shortly after. It was on research strategies. I liked it a lot. Shortly after lunch my dad and I started roaming the expo hall. We stopped at the FamilySearch booth and they taught my dad about descendancy view. 

Apperntly all that hard work wore him out. Because during our last class of the day he took a little nap. :)

One other cool thing we found in the expo hall was the worlds largest family history pedigree:

Well, thats it! Two days worth of RootsTech adventures. I can't wait for tomorrow. It's going to be amazing. The speaker lineup is awesome!

RootsTech Adventures: Day one

I didn't attend innovators summit today, but I still had some fun experiences. The highlight of the day was the media dinner. It was amazing. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected to actually meet some of the people I got to talk to. A.J. Jacobs and Steve Rockwood were just a few.

At the media dinner they announced the innovator showdown finalists:

-AncestorCloud

-JRNL

-Studio

-The History Project

-TapGenes

-Twile

On Friday at 10:30 in Hall D they will battle for the prize money. Rumor has it that even the audience can vote using the hashtag #Innovatorshowdown

I can't wait until Day 2. See you at RootsTech tomorrow! 

*Remember that even if you can't personally attend every hour sessions will be streamed...