Category Archives: Ideas & Inspiration

RootsTech: Day 1

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Open day of RootsTech is over! At least for me. There was an evening activity at The Leonardo followed by a concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir about the music of Irving Berlin. But I didn’t buy a ticket to The Leonardo and I was too tired to wait around for the concert but I sure it was wonderful.

After the keynote speakers I went to the welcome for the Story@Home part of the conference. I went to the first Story@Home conference last year so I’m excited that they are now part of RootsTech. There seems to be a lot more emphasis on the story telling aspect of family history which I love. I wanted to go to “The Future of Genealogy” panel but since it was being streamed I decided I could always watch it later.

All of the presentations that were streamed live today are not available to watch on RootsTech.org. I’m looking forward to watching all the videos over the next few weeks. After lunch I went to three more classes.

  • Simple HTML/CSS for Weebly
  • The Cool Parts of Genealogy: Engaging My Teenagers Case Study
  • Content Planning for Genealogy Bloggers: How to Stay Organized and Never Be Without Post Ideas Again

The last class was my favorite of the day. Implementing what I learned there should help make this blogger better. I’m exhausted now and looking forward to good night sleep and all the learning opportunities that tomorrow will bring.

If you can jump over to RootsTech.org and pick one of the videos from today to watch. If you like a good storyteller, I’d try “Tell it Again” by Kim Weitkamp. She is very entertaining as well as informative.

 

 

Tomorrow is RootsTech!

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I’m so excited for tomorrow (except having to get up way earlier than I normally do). For the most part I think I’m ready. I’ve made arrangements for a puppy sitter for Dune. She is not ready to be at work all day with Bill and way to young to handle an event like RootsTech. Zodiac will go with me. It will be a great socializing opportunity for him. I’ve gone through the classes and narrowed down my options. Some sessions it wasn’t hard to pick a couple but other hours I had trouble and only got down to seven options. I’m signed up for one hands-on workshop each day so that will be cool. I’ve got clothes picked out to wear so that is covered. I still need to coordinate with my friend, who is going to RootsTech too. Her very dear aunt died on Sunday afternoon and the funeral is today. So her life is in an upheaval. But we will get that worked out. I wish I could figure out how to pick up my registration materials tonight instead of in the morning. But I can’t justify the time it would take to make the trip downtown just for that. I should probably download the RootsTech mobile app to my phone. I’m still new to the smart phone thing and it would be good for me to learn a new way to use my phone. I don’t have a data plan on it so depending on how well the WiFi functions might decide how useful it is.

In a perfect world I’ll get posts written every night about RootsTech. But I might just be way too tired to get anything posted. So don’t hold your breath. I know I’m going to learn lots of great things in the next three days. I’ll try to pass on as much as I can here.

Two Days to RootsTech

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One of the keynote speakers at RootsTech is Jyl Pattee of Mom it Forward. She put together a book called “Family History – 40 Ideas for Capturing your Family’s Story”. You can download the eBook for free on her website. It has lots of great ideas. I can’t wait to try some of them. Jyl says that “preserving your family’s life story doesn’t have to be a daunting or overwhelming task. The project can be as easy as capturing simple yet meaningful moments every day.” And I agree!

 

Three Days to RootsTech

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Even if you aren’t attending RootsTech you can still enjoy some of the speakers. Each day of RootsTech there will be free live streaming available. Go to RootsTech.org to join in the fun.

Live Streaming Schedule (Mountain Time)
Thursday
8:30 AM Keynote – Dennis Brimhall, Syd Lieberman, Josh Taylor
11:00 AM The Future of Genealogy – Thomas MacEntee and panel
1:45 PM Tell it Again (Story@Home) – Kim Weitkamp
3:00 PM The Genealogists Gadget Bag – Jill Ball and panel
4:15 PM Finding the Obscure and Elusive: Geographic Information on the Web – James Tanner
Friday
8:30 AM Keynote – Jyl Pattee and Tim Sullivan
9:45 AM Researching Ancestors Online – Laura Prescott
11:00 AM FamilySearch Family Tree – Ron Tanner
1:45 PM Google Search… and Beyond – Dave Barney
3:00 PM From Paper Piles to Digital Files – Valerie Elkins
Saturday
8:30 AM Keynote – David Pogue and Gilad Japhet
9:45 AM Using Technology to Solve Research Problems – Karen Clifford
11:00 AM Digital Storytelling: More than Bullet Points – Denise Olson

Six Days to RootsTech

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Part of RootsTech is a big exhibit hall with tons of booths. This week I got an email with some of the great vendors who will be there.

Activities and Special Offers at RootsTech

There are many exciting activities and offers available at RootsTech this year. Some activities require an RSVP. Check out the details below!

Expo Hall Fun Pass

Complete the Expo Hall Fun Pass to be eligible to enter a drawing for an Apple iPad and other great prizes! Simply get the pass filled out, turn it in to the Expo Hall Help Desk, and attend the prize drawing on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the Backblaze Demo Theater to see if you’re a winner! You must be present to win.

Print Your Fan Chart

GenealogyWallCharts.com – Booth #631

Last year GenealogyWallCharts.com printed over 400 genealogy fan charts during RootsTech.

Family ChartMasters – Booth #135

Family ChartMasters has a free decorative working chart for you! Just take the coupon in your RootsTech registration bag to their booth and you will receive a free 20×24 fill-in-the-blank chart worthy of being framed.

Scan a Book, Document or Photo

FamilySearch Book Scanning 

FamilySearch is pleased to offer free book scanning at RootsTech again this year.  They will have book scanners on site and will scan a digital copy of your family, county, or town history.

Mocavo Document and Photo Scanning – Booth #513

Mocavo is pleased to offer RootsTech 2013 attendees free document and photo scanning as part of an effort to bring them online for free.

You can bring any paper documents, photocopies of original records, paper family trees or other historical documents, and they will scan them safely for free! Within only 30 days of the conference you will be able to download your digitized record.

Simply drop off your documents at booth #513 on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday and they will contact you when your document is ready to be picked up. Click here to find out more details about Mocavo’s free scanning and what kind of documents they can and cannot accept.

Record Your Personal Story with a Video or Audio Recording Session

“Bring Your Stories to Life” 

Story@Home is pleased to sponsor the “Bring Your Story to Life” booth. Receive a free personal consultation and video/audio recording session to preserve your own personal family story or interview in the soundproof recording booth.  Once you have completed your recording session, you will receive a copy on a flash drive for your personal use.

Hire a Photo Detective for Free

 “Bring Your Stories to Life” 

Also available in the “Bring Your Stories to Life” booth, you can schedule a free 10 minute, one-on-one session with the Photo Detective, Maureen Taylor. Maureen is an internationally recognized photo identification and family history expert.

Earn the Boy Scouts of America Genealogy Merit Badge 

BSA Genealogy Booth 

Boy Scouts can sign up for a 20 minute workshop to complete the requirements for their Genealogy Merit Badge. Click on the links below for available session times. Workshop capacity is 40 participants per session time.

Backblaze Online Backup – Prizes and Discount Codes

Backblaze Booth – #530

Backblaze Online Backup is excited to help sponsor RootsTech 2013! They backup all of your precious photos, videos, and files to preserve your memories! Backblaze is the easiest solution available, you simply go to www.backblaze.com, create an account, download the client, and they will start backing up all your data right away!

Please visit the Backblaze booth #530 and they will be happy to tell you all about it! They’ll have prizes and discount codes, so stop by! Their social media guy Yev will also be emceeing the Backblaze Demo Theater, so check that out and see all of the other awesome products and services at RootsTech 2013!

One Week to RootsTech

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In just one week I’ll be at RootTech! Each morning at 8:30 a.m. there is a General Session with keynote speakers. Some of them I’ve heard speak before but most of them it will be my first time. One thing I really like about RootsTech is the variety of presenters they offer. Here is who will be speaking at this year’s General Sessions:

Thursday Generl Session Sponsored by findmypast.com

Keynote Speakers:

Dennis Brimhall

Dennis C. Brimhall is currently the President and CEO of FamilySearch International.  FamilySearch International is a worldwide organization helping individuals find, preserve, catalogue, and search genealogical information.  FamilySearch International is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He was formerly the President and Chief Executive Officer of University of Colorado Hospital.

Syd Lieberman

Syd is a nationally acclaimed storyteller, an author, and an award-winning teacher. Many of his best-loved stories deal with growing up in Chicago and raising a family in Evanston, Illinois. Also known for his original historical pieces, Syd has written stories for some of America’s leading institutions and agencies, including the Smithsonian; Historic Philadelphia, Inc.; NASA; and the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.

D. Joshua Taylor

D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS is the Business Development Manager – North America for brightsolid online publishing, the creator of findmypast.com. A nationally known and recognized professional genealogist, lecturer, genealogical author, and researcher, Taylor is the current president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the former Director of Education at the New England Historic Genealogical Society.
Friday General Session

Sponsored by Ancestry.com

Keynote Speakers

Jyl Pattee

Jyl Johnson Pattee is the founder of Mom It Forward Media, a digital agency and network of social media influencers. Currently, she sits on the Mom Advisory Council for ONE.org, is a Shot@Life Champion with the United Nations Foundation, was named one of Parent Magazine’s Top 10 Power Moms, and is on Babble’s list of Top Twitter Moms.

Tim Sullivan

Timothy Sullivan has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer and as a director of Ancestry.com, Inc. since September 2005. Prior to joining Ancestry.com, Mr. Sullivan was Chief Operating Officer and then President and CEO of Match.com. Mr. Sullivan holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Saturday General Session 

Sponsored by MyHeritage

Keynote Speakers

David Pogue

David Pogue is the weekly personal-technology columnist for The New York Times. He is also an Emmy Award-winning tech correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning and the current host of NOVA ScienceNow. Merging his musical background with his scientific knowledge, David Pogue delivers unique presentations that generally end with him sitting at a piano performing a couple of his famous tech-industry song parodies.

 

Gilad Japhet

Gilad Japhet is the Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. A rare mix of hardcore genealogist, hands-on technologist and visionary, Gilad is one of the most influential people today in the advancement of online genealogy. Gilad has grown MyHeritage into the world’s second largest genealogy company with 72 million registered users and 1.5 billion family tree profiles.

Book of the Week – The Story of John Alexander Moncur

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I really like how Joe Sisco organized this book “The Story of John Alexander Moncur.” Each spread covers a ten-year span. This seems like a very doable way to cover someone’s life history. I also like how the bottom of the page shows significant events in the world each year. This is what Joe had to say about his book.

The idea for this endeavour evolved from the simple concept that people’s life story’s need to be told. Life by the Decades Incorporated allows people to create lasting memory books filled with photos, mementos, and many interesting facts about a life well-lived. With our help, you can share your story with your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. All of your loved ones can share in the experience of a life of love, laughter, loss and a tapestry of memorable moments. Intended as a celebration of life, our memory books provide a chance to bring loved ones together through the process of gathering photos, sharing stories and recounting the great memories unique to your life.

While it looks like the business attempt did last, I’m going to file this idea away for future reference. It has lots of possibilities. He also did another book showing the life of a couple.

Two Weeks to RootsTech

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March is well on its way and RootsTech is in just two weeks. I’m very excited to get to go again this year. I feel lucky to have such a great family history conference just a few miles away from where I live. If you have a chance to come to RootsTech it is well worth it. They have so many different kinds of classes. They have added tons of new things this year. I’m sure it is going to be tough to decided which classes to go to. Having a clone those three days would be handy. If any of you happen to be at RootsTech let me know. We can meet up somewhere.

Here is some of what RootsTech offers:

Where Families Connect

RootsTech is 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. Learn how to find, organize, preserve and share your family’s connections and history. Read More…

New at RootsTech 2013

The 3rd annual RootsTech conference 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.

  • NEW! Getting Started Track – learn the basics, start your family tree, and get help with your family research (starts at only $19) Learn More
  • NEW! Story@Home – discover how to preserve and share your family stories Learn More
  • More Classes, More Speakers — choose from over 250 informative sessions and interactive workshops Learn More
  • 40% Bigger Expo Hall – visit many exciting exhibitors to discover the latest products & services Learn More
  • Developer Day – consolidated track specifically designed for technology developers Learn More

 

Book of the Week – “That’s My Daddy”

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I came across this book while doing research for a book I’m working on about my dad’s years in the Navy. That’s My Daddy by L. Douglas Keeney is full of great images and just a little text. The preview only shows the first 15 pages, which makes me sad. I wish I could see more of the book. Guess that is more reason to by it. Here is what the author said about his book:

A visual feast for those who love modern military aviation — and a tribute to the airmen and aviators of the United States Air Force, Navy and Marines.

Originally intended as a best-of-military-flight-photography book for my friends, this book instead became a portrait of American heros, a portrait that answers the timeless question — “what does daddy do?” — with the timeless squeal of delight — “that’s my daddy!”

For the author of Secret Messages (Simon & Schuster) This is Guadalcanal (Wm.Morrow), The Doomsday Scenario (Zenith Press) and No Easy Days (Doubleday).

Thank you Douglas Keeney for this inspiring project!

L. Douglas Keeney Books on Amazon

 

 

Book of the Week – “One Owen-A-Day”

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This is a fun little book with one photo each day of a little boy from his second birthday to his third. It is neat to see how much of his personality and his family’s culture comes through. I think the idea could be shifted to a photo a year or a photo a month as a way to tell the story of someone’s life. There are lots of ways to share your story. You don’t always have use words.

Here is what author/photographer Ben Udkow said about this project:

I’m taking a photo-a-day of both Maya and Owen. Maya’s daily photo is called My Maya-A-Day and Owen’s daily photo is called One Owen-A-Day. Every day since they were born …

In addition, any photos that don’t make the cut as My Maya-A-Day or One Owen-A-Day will be posted under the month they’re taken in Monthly Maya and Owen. All three of these collections, as well as photos of firsts, movies, etc can all be viewed under Maya and Owen in the main The Udkow Family Photo Gallery at www.udkow.com