RootsTech & Innovator Summit 2015

Posted on February 11, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

I spent the day at Innovator Summit (part of RootsTech). If you aren’t lucky enough to be at RootsTech too you can catch some of it live. You will find the streaming schedule here. If you don’t have time to catch them live you can watch these presentations later on the RootsTech website. I love that they do this. What a great way to share with the world.

They recorded some of the sessions at Innovator Summit but I haven’t figured out where those are available for viewing yet. I’ll post it when I figure that out. Have I great week, I’ll be back on Monday.

RootsTech 2014 – registration now open

Posted on August 28, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Registration is now open for RootsTech 2014, which will be held February 6-8, 2014 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. This annual family history conference, hosted by FamilySearch, is a unique global event where people of all ages learn to discover and share their family stories and connections through technology. Over the past three years, RootsTech has grown in popularity with attendees to become the largest family history event in the United States!

Whether attendees are just beginning their family history, an avid hobbyist, or an experienced researcher, RootsTech has something for everyone:

Classes and Computer Labs —Over 200 classes and computer labs taught by knowledgeable experts and enthusiasts in family history.
Getting Started Track —A track of over 30 classes designed to help beginners start their family tree. Passes start at only $19.
Developer Day —A preconference event on Wednesday, February 5, for developers to innovate and collaborate with other engineers and family history industry experts.
Expo Hall —A huge expo with over 100 informative vendors and interactive booths where attendees can record a family story, scan a book or photo, or create a visual family tree.
Family Discovery Day —New! A day of free inspirational classes for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to learn more about strengthening family relationships across generations through family history.

Pass Pricing and Discounts

Various pass options are available, with pricing set to make RootsTech an affordable experience. Early Bird pricing discounts for a Full Access Pass ($159) and a Getting Started Pass ($39) are available until January 6, 2014.

An additional $20 discount is available for a limited time. Attendees can get a Full Access Pass for just $139 simply by using the promotional code RT14EXCLSV before September 9, 2013.

To get more information and register, visit rootstech.org.

Using Metadata to Organize Photos and Documents

Posted on July 18, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

One of the classes I took at RootsTech 2013 in February was on metadata by Randy W. Whited. From what I’ve learned using metadata makes the most sense of all the ways to organize your photos and documents digitally. I’ve tried the long name files with date and name of the person but by using the metadata you can include so much more information and all of it is searchable. What I didn’t realize is how easily you can use the metadata. You don’t have to have a special app, your operating system is all you need. Just right-click on the file (in Windows) and open the properties panel. You can reach the metadata there and add to it.

There are photo organization programs that make it easier to get access to the metadata and edit it. I’m planning on using Adobe Bridge when I finally get around to using the power of metadata. At the moment it isn’t even on my to do list, but maybe I should go and change that. Then I could post with some real world experience instead of the few minutes I played around with metadata in the hands on RootsTech class.

OK, now it is actually on my to do list. I’m going to start with adding metadata to all the photos I have of our puppies in training. Back in May while I was working on Zodiac’s book I realized that it can be hard to tell him and Yakira apart once Zodiac grew up. Two black labs can look a lot alike depending on the angle of the shot. I’ll report back after I get started on it, maybe next week.

Here is the outline for the class I took.

Here is a short video on what metadata is.

Have you every used metadata? Have you even heard of it before?

From Paper Piles to Digital Files

Posted on July 16, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

This was a great class at RootsTech 2013 about using technology to help organize all your family history stuff. Valerie Elkins has some really good ideas to not only help you get organized but to stay organized.

Ok, so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but this video show the whole second day of RootsTech. The class I want to share starts at 6 hours and 30 minutes.

Here is a link for Valerie’s Class.

If anybody knows how to fix this problem please let me know.

Last day of RootsTech

Posted on March 23, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Wow! What a conference. This morning’s keynote speaker was David Pogue. He was awesome. They don’t have the videos up yet for today but I’m sure they will be up soon. He was great! My classes today were:

Creative and Fun Ways to Cherish Your Family History
365 Days of Story Prompts
Beyond Home Movies: YouTube Genealogy
Digital Storytelling: More Than Bullet Points Lab

I think my favorite class today was the one YouTube. But all of them had some great information. Digital Storytelling was my least favorite. It was about using Power Point to make a video and I learned some stuff because I’ve never used Power Point. Overall I liked my three hands on classes the least. I think because everyone moves at such a different pace on the computers and so the class has to move at the pace of the slowest person. It felt like I was exposed to the least amount of info in my hands on classes.

Overall it was a great conference and I’m looking forward attending RootsTech next year, on February 6 through the 8th. I can’t wait to start digesting this stuff and applying the things I learned.

RootsTech Day Two

Posted on March 22, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Lots more great stuff at RootsTech today. You can catch the presentations on the main stage at RootsTech.org. I must make time to at least see the beginning of the keynote speakers this morning. We got there late and missed the first part. The classes I took today were:

Social Media Part 1
Social Media Part 2
Digital Photo and Document Organization: Understanding Metadata Lab
Do Your eBook right: Self Publishing Secrets for the Family Historian

I learned good stuff from all of them but I think my favorites today were the social media classes. I’ve not joined any of the social media things yet but I can’t put it off too much longer and I learned more about Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+ today which well help me make more informed decisions about where to put my energy when I’m ready to make the plunge. It is tough to choose classes. There are so many great options. Just one more day of RootsTech.

RootsTech: Day 1

Posted on March 21, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

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!

Posted on March 20, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

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

Posted on March 19, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

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!